❶ Ask Questions 🙋🏻 
Do so from a place of genuine #curiosity and a desire to learn. Read about allyship and related topics and ask further questions; never assume you have all the answers. Seek to understand the additional challenges faced by #womenintheworkplace. Having asked questions, then…
 
❷ Listen 👂
Do so actively and generously, without judgement or preconceptions. Remember point ❶ - you are there to learn, not to confirm your existing views. Try to avoid thinking about your response - you don’t have to. It’s fine to absorb and reflect and it’ll help you to learn. Don’t underestimate how difficult – and rare – generous #listening is. Men consistently listening to women’s voices in a way that inspires #trust and #respect is vital to good #allyship and was the most consistent theme in all the responses I received.
 
❸ Speak up 📢
Support and promote women in their attempts to effect change. Whether about discriminatory policies or raising awareness around say, the menopause; don’t stand on the side-lines, quietly cheering them on. Get involved and add your voice in support.
Another aspect of speaking up is to call out poor behaviours. I received a suggestion for how an ally could step in if an inappropriate comment is made with a simple - "can you repeat that?" This would most likely make a person think twice in the future.
 
❹ Leave your ego behind 😇
This isn’t about you! Your role as an ally is to amplify, not replace women’s voices or #genderequity efforts. Embrace and encourage views from #diversetalent, including the quieter or less represented voices. Don’t allow them to be smothered by the loudest. Avoid taking centre stage, speaking for women or falling into the dreaded trap of ‘mansplaining’.
 
❺ Be committed 💪
Allyship isn’t a one-off intervention, it’s a shift in mindset, a different approach and a pattern of behaviour. True allyship isn’t a singular act, but an ongoing commitment to change. Once relationships are established that are built on trust and respect, how do you maintain them? Having made progress, how do you double-down and look at what next? Don’t settle for token improvements. Be ambitious for the change you want to see with #fairness and #equity at the front of your mind.
 

Women are dying from male violence every day. If you care about women, this must always be your first concern:

making all women safe, until we all are.