10 men fighting for gender equality

On International Men's Day, the BBC's 100 Women salutes 10 men who champion gender equality :

Saad Mohseni, Afghanistan's first media mogul/head of Tolo TV

Forty per cent of Mohseni's employees are women. Some have received death threats for broadcasts, including an Indian soap opera with unveiled women; a show in which women compete directly with men and an exclusively female daytime phone-in.

Saad Mohseni says putting men and women on the same set "elevated women to an equal status with men and it allowed men not to be so judgmental of women."

(Image: Shank bone)

Aziz Ansari, American-Indian comedian/ actor

Made sexism the subject of 2014 stand-up show Live At Madison Square Garden; followed up with an interview calling for equality in entertainment industry.

"You're a feminist if you go to a Jay-Z and Beyoncé concert and you're not like, 'I feel like Beyoncé should get 23 percent less money than Jay-Z," says Ansari.(Image: Frazier Moore)

Justin Trudeau, new Canadian Prime Minister

Campaigned as a "proud feminist." His Cabinet is the first in Canadian history to have equal numbers of women and men - at 15 of each.

When asked why he felt it important to have a gender-equal cabinet, he replied "because it's 2015."

Ryan Gosling, Canadian actor

Gosling is the actor who spoke out over different ratings given to depictions of male and female sexuality on film

Says scenes showing men receiving oral sex from women only receive R rating in US, but if roles reversed, they receive higher NC-17 rating - considered disastrous for a film's chances of being shown.

"Mainstream films often depict sex and violence in a manner that is disturbing and very far from reality. Yet, these films are regularly given a more audience-friendly rating, enabling our culture's desensitisation to violence, rape, torture and brutality."(Image: Reuters)

Michael Kaufman, Canadian academic

Kaufman set up White Ribbon campaign to stop male violence after shooting of 14 female students at University of Montreal in 1991

Defined seven 'Ps' of men's violence - patriarchal power, privilege, permission, the paradox of men's power, psychic armour, the psychic pressure cooker of masculinity and past experiences.

"Almost all humans currently live in systems of patriarchal power which privilege men and stigmatize, penalize and oppress women," wrote Kaufman.(Image: Michael Kaufman)

Liang Xiaojun, Chinese human rights lawyer

Liang Xiaojun is a Chinese human rights lawyer and founder member of China Against The Death Penalty

He defends Wu Rongrong, one of five Chinese protest leaders involved in the 'Occupy The Men's Toilets' and 'Bloodstained Bride' campaigns who were arrested in April 2015. A crackdown on lawyers in China began in July.

"Whether the government is detaining lawyers or preventing them from leaving the country, they use the same charge. This is an abuse of the law and a violation of citizens' rights," says Xiaojun. (Image: Philippe Lopez)

Stanley Nhlangothi, South African campaigner

Nhlangothi is zealous campaigner who set up New Image Rover Crew centre in KwaThema township in 1996. His centre cares for vulnerable women who have been victims of domestic violence.

"I have learned to work with women, which is something that I never thought I would do. I can see how they relate to things, how they think - and I now understand their perspective," he says.

Vikas Bahl, Indian director

Vikas Bahl who made a viral video in response to outrage at gang rape and murder of young student on bus in Delhi in 2012

Video showed woman being offered help by group of men after car breaks down on lonely road; although the men seem predatory, they simply give her a lift home. The film's message was the woman's expectations that the men would not hurt her should be the norm.

"I wanted to visualise a utopia for women, where, unlike today, mistrust and fear don't dictate actions and decisions," he says.

(Image: Getty Images)

Ali Erkazan, Turkish actor

Erkazan led protests after the murder of 20-year-old female student, Ozgecan Aslan, in February 2015

Joined Turkish men protesting by wearing miniskirts in streets and on social media after Ozgecan Aslan was murdered by a minibus driver who had tried to rape her.

"The way of thinking that 'a woman wearing a miniskirt deserves rape' is sick," says Erkazan.

(Image: Reuters)

Vittorio Colao, CEO Vodafone, Italy

Colao is the Italian chief executive of Vodafone who champions 'He For She' campaign.

Made gender equality in senior positions at Vodafone, the world's second-largest mobile provider, a corporate ambition.

He launched the foundation project - using networked remote classrooms - to educate three million girls in refugee camps by 2020. (Image: Getty Images)

-BBC