Emma Watson: HeForShe Impact

Join Emma Watson, UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, as she delivers powerful speeches on gender equality and the HeForShe movement. In these speeches, Emma addresses world leaders at the World Economic Forum and presents the IMPACT 10x10x10 program at the UN, highlighting the importance of concrete commitments to gender equality. Learn how you can make a difference and support the movement for a more equitable world.

SPEECH 1

Since the HeForShe launch in New York last September, I think it would be fair to say that my colleagues and I have been stunned by the response. The HeForShe conference was watched over 11 million times, sparking 1.2 billion social media conversations, culminating in the HeForShe hashtag becoming so popular that Twitter painted it on the walls of its headquarters. And men from almost every country in the world signed up to our commitment. Everyone from Desmond Tutu to Prince Harry to Hillary Clinton to Yoko Ono have issued their support or contacted us since September 20. Everything from marathons being run, merchandise being created, 15-year-old boys writing to national newspapers deploring female discrimination, young girls collecting hundreds of signatures. It’s all happened in the last four months. I couldn’t have dreamed it, but it’s happened. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for watching, and thank you so much for your support.

So what is Impact 10x10x10? It’s about engaging governments, businesses, and universities, and having them make concrete commitments to gender equality. But I want to hear from the human beings that are behind these organizations. I spoke about some of my story in September. What are your stories? Girls, who have been your mentors? Parents, did you make sure you treated your children equally? If so, how have you done it? Husbands, have you been supporting your female partner privately so that she can fulfill her dreams too? Young men, have you spoken up in a conversation when a woman was casually degraded or dismissed? How did this affect you? How did this affect the woman you stepped up for? Businessmen, have you mentored, supported, or engaged women in leadership positions? Writers, have you challenged the language and imagery used to portray women in the media? CEOs, have you implemented the women’s empowerment principles in your own company? What change have you seen? Are you someone that has been persuading men to become HeForShes and collecting their signatures for our website? How many have you got? We want to know. We want to hear from you.

One of the biggest pieces of feedback I’ve had since my speech is that men and women want to help, but they aren’t sure how best to do it. Men say they’ve signed the petition. What now? The truth is, the what now is down to you. What your HeForShe commitment will be is personal, and there is no best way. Everything is valid. Decide what your commitment is. Make it public, and then please report back to us on your progress so that we can share your story. We want to support, guide, and reinforce your efforts. Impact 10x10x10 is about concrete commitments to change, the visibility of these commitments, and the measurability of them too.

How has the campaign impacted me so far? I’ve had my breath taken away when a fan told me that since watching my speech, she has stopped herself being beaten up by her father. I’ve been stunned by the number of men in my life that have contacted me since my speech to tell me to keep going, and that they want to make sure their daughters will still be alive to see a world where women have parity economically and politically. While I would love to claim that this campaign and the results of it are a result of my incredible speech writing skills, I know that it is not. It is because the ground is fertile. It is my belief that there is a greater understanding than ever that women need to be equal participants in our homes, in our societies, in our governments, and in our workplaces. And they know that the world is being held back in every way because they are not. Women share this planet 50/50, and they are underrepresented, their potential astonishingly untapped. We are very excited to be launching 10x10x10 to bring HeForShe into its next phase.

If you’re a HeForShe… and I’m assuming that you are, because otherwise you’d be in somebody else’s press conference right now… I’m here to ask you, what is the impact you can have? How? What? Where? When? And with whom? We want to help. We want to know, and we want to hear from you. Thank you very much.

SPEECH 2

Thank you, Irina, for such a generous introduction. And on behalf of the entire HeForShe team, I also want to thank UNESCO for all of its support. It’s meant a lot to us. Thank you all for being here for this important moment. These men from all over the world have decided to make gender equality a priority in their lives and in their universities. Thank you for making this commitment.

I graduated from university four years ago. I had always dreamed of going. And I know how fortunate I am to have had the opportunity to do so. Brown became my home, my community. And I took the ideas and the experiences I had there into all of my social interactions, into my workplace, into my politics, into all aspects of my life. I know that my university experience shaped who I am. And of course, it does for many people. But what if our experience of university shows us that women don’t belong in leadership? What if it shows us that, yes, women can study, but they shouldn’t lead a seminar? What if, as still in many places around the world, it tells us that women don’t belong there at all? What if, as is the case in far too many universities, we are given the message that sexual violence isn’t actually a form of violence?

But we know that if you change students’ experiences so they have different expectations of the world around them, expectations of equality, society will change. As we leave home for the first time to study at the places that we have worked so hard to get, we must not see or experience double standards. We need to see equal respect, leadership, and pay. The university experience must tell women that their brainpower is valued, and not just that, but that they belong within the leadership of the university itself. And so importantly right now, the experience must make it clear that the safety of women, minorities, and anyone who may be vulnerable is a right, and not a privilege, a right that will be respected by a community that believes and supports survivors, and that recognizes that when one person’s safety is violated, everyone feels their own safety is violated. A university should be a place of refuge that takes action against all forms of violence. That’s why we believe that students should leave university believing in, striving for, and expecting societies of true equality. Societies of true equality in every sense, and that universities have the power to be a vital catalyst for that change. Our 10 Impact Champions have made this commitment, and with their work, we know they will inspire students and other universities and schools across the world to do better. I’m delighted to introduce this report on their progress, and I’m eager to hear what’s next. Thank you so much.