He For She speech by Emma Watson

Big round of applause for Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka

Phumzile, thank you very much

Your words truly truly inspiring

an excellent way, an inspired way

to kick off our He For She campaign.

He For She, I must say is a solidarity movement.

A partnership between women and men

based on a shared commitment to fight against

the persisting inequalities faced by women and girls.

And now let's turn to a young woman

who has chosen to lend her voice

to this very important solidarity movement.

She's a leading british actor

an advocate for gender equality in her own right.

She's been involved with a promotion of girl's education

for several years.

As part of her humanitarian efforts,

she's visited Bangladesh, Zambia,

recently returned as we just heard from Uruguay

on her first mission with UN women.

Ladies and gentlemen please join me in welcoming to the stage

our cohost and the UN Women's Global Goodwill Ambassador

Emma Watson.

(applause)

Your Excellencies, UN Secretary General,

President of the General Assembly,

Executive director of UN Women,

and distinguished guests.

Today we are launching a campaign called He For She.

I am reaching out to you because we need your help.

We want to end gender inequality.

And to do this we need everyone involved.

This is the first campaign of it's kind at the UN.

We want to try and galvanize

as many men and boys as possible

to be advocates for change.

And we don't just want to just talk about it.

We want to try and make sure that it's tangible.

I was appointed as Goodwill Ambassador

for UN Women 6 months ago.

And the more I've spoken about feminism,

the more I have realized

that fighting for women's rights has too often

become synonymous with man-hating.

If there is one thing I know for certain

it is that this has to stop!

For the record, feminism by definition

is the belief that men and women

should have equal rights and opportunities.

It is the theory of the political, economic

and social equality of the sexes.

I started questioning gender based assumptions

a long time ago.

When I was 8, I was confused, being called bossy

because I wanted to direct the plays

that we would put on for our parents.

But the boys were not.

When at 14, I started to be sexualized

by certain elements of the media.

When at 15, my girlfriends started dropping

out of their beloved sports teams

because they didn't want to appear muscly

When at 18, my male friends

were unable to express their feelings,

I decided...

that I was a feminist.

And this seemed uncomplicated to me.

But my recent research has shown me

that feminism has become an unpopular word.

Women are choosing not to identify as feminists.

Apparently, I am among the ranks of women

whose expressions are seen as too strong...

too aggressive, isolating and anti-men...

...unattractive even.

Why has the word become such an uncomfortable one?

I am from Britain

and I think it is right that I am paid

the same as my male counterparts.

I think it is right that I should be able to make decisions

about my own body.

(applause)

I think it is right that women be involved

on my behalf in the policies and the decisions

that will affect my life.

I think it is right, that socially

I am afforded the same respect as men.

But sadly, I can say that there is no one country

in the world where all women can expect to receive these rights.

No country in the world can yet say

that they have achieved gender equality.

These rights I consider to be human rights.

But I am one of the lucky ones.

My life is a sheer privilege

because my parents didn't love me less

because I was born a daughter.

My school did not limit me

because I was a girl.

My mentors didn't assume that I would go less far

because I might give birth to a child one day.

These influences were the gender equality ambassadors

that made me who I am today.

They may not know it

but they are the inadvertent feminists

who are changing the world today.

We need more of those.

And if you still hate the word,

it is not the word that is important,

it's the idea and the ambition behind it.

Because not all women have received

the same rights that I have.

In fact, statistically very few have been.

In 1997 Hillary Clinton made a famous speech in Beijing

about women's rights.

Sadly, many of the things that she wanted to change

are still true today.

But what stood out to me the most

was that less than 30 percent of the audience

were male.

How can we affect change in the world

when only half of it is invited

or feel welcomed to participate in the conversation.

Men...

I would like to take this opportunity

to extend your formal invitation

(applause)

Gender equality is your issue too.

Because to date, I've seen my father's role

as a parent belng valued less by society.

Despite my needing his presence as a child

as much as my mother's.

I've seen young men suffering from mental illness

unable to ask for help,

for fear it would make them less of men

or less of a man.

In fact, in the UK,

suicide is the biggest killer of men,

between 20 to 49

eclipsing road accidents,

cancer and coronary heart disease.

I've seen men made fragile and insecure

by a distorted sense of what constitutes

male success.

Men don't have the benefits of equality either.

We don't often talk about men being

imprisoned by gender stereotypes.

But I can see that they are.

And that when they are free,

things will change for women

as a natural consequence.

If men don't have to be aggressive

in order to be accepted,

women won't feel compelled to be submissive.

If men don't have to control

women won't have to be controlled.

Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive.

Both men and women should feel free to be strong.

It is time that we all perceive gender

on a spectrum

instead of two sets of opposing ideals.

(applause)

If we stop defining each other by what we are not,

and start defining ourselves by who we are,

we can all be freer

And this is what He For She is about.

It's about freedom.

I want men to take up this mantle,

so that their daughters, sisters and mothers

can be free from prejudice.

But also so that their sons

have permission to be vulnerable and human too...

...reclaim those parts themselves, they abandoned.

And in doing so,

be a more true and complete version of themselves.

You might be thinking,

"Who is this Harry Potter girl?

and what is she doing speaking at the UN?

And it's a really good question.

I've been asking myself the same thing.

All I know, is that I care about this problem,

and I want to make it better.

And having seen what I've seen

and given the chance

I feel it is my responsibility to say something.

Statesman Edmund Burke said,

"All that is needed for the forces of evil to triumph

is for good men and women to do nothing.

In my nervousness for this speech

and in my moments of doubt

I told myself firmly,

"If not me,...?

Who?

If not now...?

When?

If you have similar doubts

when opportunities are presented to you

I hope that those words will be helpful.

Because,

the reality is

that if we do nothing

it will take 75 years,

or for me

to be nearly 100

before women can expect to be paid

the same as men,

for the same work.

15.5 million girls will be married

in the next 16 years as children.

And at current rates

it won't be until 2086

before all rural African girls

can have a secondary educaton.

If you believe in equality,

you might be one of those

inadvertent feminists that I spoke of earlier.

And for this, I applaud you.

We are struggling for a uniting word.

But the good news is

that we have a uniting movement.

It is called He For She.

I am inviting you to step forward

to be seen

and to ask yourself,

"If not me, who?

If not now, when?

Thank you very very much.

(applause)