Emma Watson is continuing her HeForShe equality campaign, launching the IMPACT 10x10x10 initiative at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
UN Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson continues to tackle gender equality issues, using her prominent position in the media to fight against sexism and discrimination against women.
The Hogwarts alum first launched her powerful #HeForShe campaign in September 2014, urging men to stand up for women’s rights and join the fight for equality.
Now, Watson and her team are taking their campaign to the next level, using the 2015 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland as a platform for introducing IMPACT 10x10x10:
In her powerful speech, Watson defines IMPACT 10x10x10 as being about, “Concrete commitments to change, the visibility of these commitments, and the measurability of them, too.”
Her initiative seeks to engage governments, businesses and universities, urging men and women around the world to make concrete commitments to gender equality.
Related: Emma Watson’s gender equality speech at U.N. presents important take on feminism
And Watson wants all of our stories, urging individuals in a variety of positions to give concrete examples of how they have integrated HeForShe into their lives.
“I spoke about some of my stories in September. What are your stories?” Watson asks the crowd.
“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?”
She extends her invitation to people from all walks of life: “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.”
“The truth is, the ‘What Now’ is down to you.”
Watson empathises that there is no “best way” to contribute to HeForShe — “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,” she repeats.
The actress describes having her breath taken away when a fan shared a touching story about the 2014 speech empowering her to stop herself being beaten up by her father.
And although there has been an unfortunate backlash, too, she says, “I’ve been stunned by the amount 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 that their daughters will still be alive to see a world where women have parity — economically and politically.”
“I couldn’t have dreamed it, but it’s happened,” says Watson. “Thank you so much for watching, and thank you so much for your support.”
Women’s potential is “astonishingly untapped.”
Watson believes that the ground is fertile for change, and that the desire for equality is stronger than ever.
The world, she claims, is suffering from the marginalization of female voices, and she hopes that IMPACT 10x10x10 will inspire concrete change.
“We want to help, we want to know, and we want to hear from you,” Watson says.
Only by working together can men and women, “bring an end to the persisting inequalities faced by women and girls globally.”
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