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I met my first male ally of gender justice when I was a child – My Dad, who championed gender equality in our home, in small and big ways. He was a clerk. He could barely make ends meet. But that didn’t come in the way of my dad ensuring my mother graduated from a university after they got married. Or for him to ensure that I had equal access to education as my brother.
He pushed my boundaries, constantly telling me never to be fearful and never to shy away from fighting a good fight.
He nudged my mom and me to learn how to drive cars and ride bikes, skills not many women, especially in rural areas, hold even today. He ferried me without fail to my athletics training every single day. And most importantly, he cooked most meals in the house and scrubbed and cleaned.
Wouldn’t any dad do all of this and more for their daughters and wives? Apparently not!
Reality hit when I grew up, and left home to graduate and find a job. Very soon I realised that these were not things that most men do in their families or work places. Preventing women from pursuing education, blocking opportunities for professional growth, engaging in workplace sexism, creating unsafe public spaces that prevented women from finding employment – the subtle and not so subtle toxic masculinity was everywhere!
But given my childhood experiences, I could never stop dreaming of a world where, like myself, every woman finds her male allies in her own home. And a world where, like my dad, there are more and more role models of male allyship who normalise positive masculinity.
Decades later, as the Co-Founder of Nguvu Collective, I see a glimmer of hope. In Kenya, male allies are becoming stronger, more visible, and are turning gender allyship into a movement. Our own male change leaders like Kerry Mwita, Dambalash Ermiyas, Peter Luya and others, who are fighting against femicide, widow’s rights, female genital mutilation, are seeding narrative transforming and behaviour changing campaigns that show how men can be powerful advocates of gender justice.
They have taken publicly visible positions against gender based violence, toxic masculinity, and discrimination against women. They have been consistently advocating for far-reaching changes that will transform how women’s roles have been envisioned in homes and workplaces.
Our change leaders are not alone. In recent times, gender justice organisations in Kenya are creating unique strategies for engaging Men & Boys on behaviour change and awareness, and have launched regional initiatives on positive masculinity. The Kenyan media is making space for spotlighting male role models who are challenging the role of men in propagating female genital mutiation, HIV-AIDS, and other critical sexual, reproductive, maternal health issues prevalent in the country. This is laudworthy.
Establishing an equal world needs the 50% of the world’s population that has reaped the benefits of patriarchy, to become aware of their responsibility to make space for the other 50% that has traditionally been excluded. For generations, the fight for gender equality has largely been led by women. But there are strong indicators that this is shifting, indicators that show men and boys playing more significant roles in holding each other accountable while fighting for gender justice.
Recent developments show that the larger systems change ecosystem is Kenya is gearing up to create new gender perspectives involving men and boys, and to build the leadership of male role models with the intention of normalising male allyship.
In April 2025, UN Women, the Kenyan State Department for Gender and Affirmative Action, and other women’s empowerment stakeholders announced that they facilitated the first draft of a National Male Engagement and Inclusion Strategy. This is a huge leap towards creating a more inclusive and equal world.
Kenya is making significant strides in the right direction with a men and boys engagement strategy, but with femicide still a grim reality, it is a long road ahead before the country shows true progress on gender justice.
Durga Nandini is the Co-Founder and Chief Advisor at Nguvu Collective. She is an award-winning journalist, and campaigns and communications expert who writes on gender rights issues.
