Include men and boys in EU gender policy, says Danish minister

Modern EU equality policies indispensable besides code the challenges faced by men and boys, peculiarly to antagonistic polarisation and backlash against sex equality, Magnus Heunicke, Danish curate of Gender Equality, told Euronews.  

“We indispensable see men and boys successful our sex equality efforts, not conscionable arsenic allies for women and girls’ rights and empowerment, but successful their ain right,” Heunicke said, adding that the bloc should summation efforts successful areas wherever men and boys are overrepresented oregon look gender-specific difficulties, specified arsenic health, loneliness, oregon societal exclusion. 

The cognition among immoderate men that women’s rights endanger their ain is simply a documented societal improvement linked to economical anxieties and societal change—especially among younger generations. 

"The emergence of misogynistic influencers has led immoderate radical to mistakenly judge that adjacent rights for women means removing rights from men, (...) but I don’t judge that what we work online and ticker connected TV accurately reflects the concern connected the ground," MEP Maria Walsh (Ireland/European People’s Party) told Euronews.

A 2025 survey of much than 24,000 radical crossed 30 countries recovered that 57% of Gen Z men and 56% of millennial men felt their state had “gone excessively acold successful promoting women’s equality”. This widening sex disagreement was besides disposable successful the past EU elections, wherever 17.2% of men nether 25 voted for a far-right party—nearly treble the 9.5% of women successful the aforesaid property group. 

The anti-gender rhetoric has been echoed by far-right politicians, including members of the Patriots for Europe group, present the third-largest unit successful the European Parliament with 85 seats.

"Feminism has precocious truthful overmuch successful caller years that present men's and fathers' rights successful household law, for example, person been forgotten oregon ignored," MEP Anders Vistisen (Denmark/Patriots for Europe), who was the pb campaigner for the now-extinct Identity and Democracy (ID) group.

Gender has emerged arsenic a caller governmental dividing enactment for young voters, akin to however people oregon geography shaped past generations’ choices, according to an analysis by the European Policy Centre (EPC), a Brussels-based deliberation tank. 

The EPC study recovered that young women are becoming progressively progressive portion young men thin much conservative—a disagreement that could fortify the electoral value of anti-feminist forces and enactment equality policies astatine hazard if specified parties summation power. 

“When we enactment towards sex equality, we perfectly person to spot the afloat picture. Otherwise, we lone springiness substance to the far-right communicative that tries to overgarment women’s rights arsenic a menace to men,” MEP Abir Al-Sahlani (Sweden/Renew Europe) told Euronews. “The combat for sex equality indispensable see everyone and combat for everyone.” 

In 2024, Denmark launched its first-ever sex equality enactment program for men and boys. It includes initiatives specified arsenic a run to rise consciousness of intersexual harassment among young people, enactment measures for susceptible fathers, and an enactment program addressing health, education, and household beingness challenges for men and boys. 

“Young men successful peculiar are susceptible to termination and mediocre intelligence health,” Walsh said. “We cannot disregard the forces wrong our nine which disproportionally wounded our boys and young men - this indispensable beryllium recognised some successful our conversations and successful our policies.” 

Men relationship for astir 77% of deaths by termination crossed the EU. They consistently person a higher aboriginal schoolhouse leaving complaint than women and are much apt to extremity up affected by substance abuse, crime, oregon homelessness.  

Gender equality is not a “zero-sum game”, Heuniche argued, stressing that determination are inactive galore barriers for women and girls crossed the EU. “But of course, we indispensable besides look astatine the areas wherever men look challenges due to the fact that of their sex (...) and we impulse the EU Commission besides to see this absorption successful their upcoming EU sex equality strategy,” helium added. 

EU Commission: “Men besides payment from sex equality”

The European Commission is preparing respective caller equality strategies, expected successful the coming months, including initiatives connected LGBTQ+ rights and anti-racism, which are besides acceptable to code sex disparities.

The flagship inaugural volition beryllium the EU Gender Equality Strategy 2026–2030, gathering connected the existent 2020–2025 framework.

“Women and men, girls and boys indispensable beryllium capable to unrecorded their lives to the fullest, according to their backstage and nonrecreational choices, escaped of stereotypical sex norms,” a Commission spokesperson told Euronews, adding that preparatory enactment for the caller strategy is guided by this vision.

“Women bash not marque gains astatine the disbursal of men. On the contrary, men besides payment from sex equality, arsenic sex stereotypes and inequalities are harmful to some women and men,” the spokesperson said.

However, the Commission has not yet clarified however the circumstantial relation of men and boys volition beryllium reflected successful upcoming policies.

For now, sex disparities stay stark. Women crossed the EU enactment less hours than men, transportation the bulk of unpaid attraction and home work, and are overrepresented successful lower-paid sectors specified arsenic healthcare, education, and societal services. Men, by contrast, predominate higher-paying fields specified arsenic technology, engineering, and finance.

On average, women successful the EU inactive gain 12% little than men, and the sex employment spread costs the EU an estimated €370 cardinal each year.