A Call to Action: Progressive Policy Approaches to Effectively Engage Men and Boys in Countering Backlash on Rights, Gender Equality and Democracy

A practical policy tool designed for policymakers and gender equality advocates working to engage men and boys to address backlash. 

Co-created by Men, Masculinities and Countering Backlash collective — organisations with diverse experience doing policy advocacy in the context of backlash, this tool bridges the gap between theory and action to counter backlash, reclaim political ground, and advance systemic gender justice.

It emphasizes the critical need to confront patriarchal masculinities and engage men and boys as agents of change in advancing rights-based policies and resisting rollbacks driven by ultra-conservative actors.

This resource provides analysis and adaptable strategies for both domestic policymaking and international diplomacy. It equips gender justice advocates and policymakers to counter how backlash actors weaponize patriarchal narratives and structures to undermine universal human rights.

Ultimately, the tool aims to advance coordinated policy action, reframing how to approach men, boys, and masculinities in policies for development and equality. It provides concrete recommendations across a range of policy areas including climate justice, work, foreign affairs, and media and digital spaces. 

Who will find this resource useful?

This tool is designed for strategic actors working at the intersection of gender justice, human rights, and policy advocacy. It is particularly valuable for:

Policymakers & government officials

• Local, regional, and national representatives looking for legislative frameworks to counter anti-rights backlash.
• Policy advisors and institutional actors who need evidence-based arguments and strategies to protect and advance progressive gender legislation.

Gender equality & LGBTQIA+ advocates

• Civil society organizations (CSOs) and activists working to advance gender justice in contexts of anti-rights backlash.
• Coalition builders seeking to integrate a focus on patriarchal masculinities into their existing advocacy strategies.

Organizations working with men & boys

• Practitioners and field experts who want to align their policy work with feminist agendas and embed accountable and gender-transformative approaches in their work with governments.
• Program directors looking to align national or community-based masculinities work with global human rights, intersectional feminist standards.

Researchers, think tanks, & funders

• Academic and policy researchers analyzing global efforts to transform patriarchal structures in the context of anti-democratic and anti-feminist backlash.
• Funding partners looking to influence policy and identify interventions that are gender-transformative and feminist informed.

About the authors

This document was developed by the Men, Masculinities and Countering Backlash Collective, a group of civil society organizations committed to addressing the backlash against gender justice and rights through the lens of men and masculinities.

Convened by MenEngage Alliance, the collective was active from 2025 to 2026. It formed around a shared belief that engaging men and boys is a key part of the solution.

The Collective included — Institute of Development Studies, the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI), Feminist Foreign Policy Collaborative (FFPC), and La Fundación para Estudio e Investigación de la Mujer (FEIM), among others who choose to remain unnamed due to risk associated with public visibility of their work on these topics.

This publication was the final collective action taken by the Collective. It was first launched to civil society and policy makers at a Side Event at the 70^th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) in March 2026. 

Find out more:

Click here to browse all our policy advocacy tools and resources around engaging men and boys. 
Click here to learn more about our joint advocacy efforts