India, Oct. 4 -- Rahool Goswami has been talking to boys and men about gender, equality and consent for the last 10 years. Patriarchy, he tells them, harms not just women but also men by squeezing them into strait-jacketed gender roles: the strong provider who doesn't show his feelings.

How's that been going, I ask the Kolkata-based community assistant for Swayam, a non-profit working to end violence against women. The answer is not encouraging. Over half of the men and boys ask, "What's in it for us? Why should we give up our dominance over our world?"

In the last few years, we've focused on talking to girls, teaching them how to stay safe and tell good from bad touch. We have dedicated phone lines to report crimes, a Nirbhaya fund to ...