The men's rights movement has made a lot of progress over the last decade. I know we like to complain a lot, but this proves that with enough perseverance, our voices can be heard, and progress can be made.

A few examples:

  • There have been quite a few domestic violence centers opened for men during the last decade. Examples get posted here fairly often. And this is done without federal funding because the VAWA only affords funding to women's shelters. Academic literature strongly suggests the need for more DV resources, and these calls are starting to be taken seriously. Just the other day, I saw a screenshot posted where a popular DV group in Britain only had resources for women. But a commenter pointed out how their website had since been updated to include resources for men.

  • Two US states: Kentucky, and Arizona, passed default equal parenting laws for fathers, and several more have taken up bills on the topic.

  • Two countries in Europe have equal parenting laws being discussed in their legislative bodies, and the EU officially supports this position for it's member states.

  • Statutes banning infant male genital mutilation are being taken up by lawmakers, and EU guidance is officially against the practice. 

  • Title IX lawsuits in the US have made several key victories against discrimination on college campuses, especially over due process violations.

  • Research into male sexual abuse victims is finally being taken seriously. And there is a lot of discussion about updating our sexual assault laws in light of this. This is especially true in the UK (thanks to several studies published by Lancaster and Cambridge Universities), and recently in Scotland (thanks to member activity here).

  • The annual International Conference on Men's Issues has been growing, and has received semi-positive media attention, especially from the likes of Bloomberg. The 2019 conference organized by the Honey Badgers was especially successful.

  • Likewise, International Men's Day is starting to gain steam as well.

Another indicator that I think represents progress is the amount of awareness among young people who are starting to wake up to this. A lot of teenagers on Reddit (via some of the teenager subs) seem to get what some of the problems are. I imagine it's because schools are becoming more and more feminized. A lot of them have stories about how their teachers are sexist against men and how school policy commonly excludes them.

I think it's important for the movement to be able to point to examples where we've been successful in the real world. All civil rights movements start out slow and initially face resistance. We've been at this for a few of decades, and I think the tides have finally started turning. The progress we have made is nothing to scoff at, even if there is more that needs to be done.

I'm sure there are examples that I've missed, so please post some of your own.

I also want to extend my thanks to everyone who is involved with the men's rights movement. Even if all you do is post on this sub. Believe it or not, your involvement helps. I especially want to give credit to people who are working with lawmakers, contacting government agencies, civil institutions, signing petitions, hanging up posters, running YouTube channels, posting on Twitter, and speaking about your experiences with things like child custody, divorce, domestic violence, sexual assault, and false allegations. Even small, simple things add up over time.

I especially want to recommend contacting your representatives and asking about men's rights issues in your area. There are quite a few equal custody proposals making their way through various lawmaking bodies, and voicing your support may be all it takes for them to succeed.

Let's make the 2020s an even more successful decade than the 2010s.