A row has broken out at the University of York after it scrapped International Men's Day and said it would continue to focus instead on the 'inequalities faced by women'.

The decision came after 200 academics, alumni and students at York - most of them women - penned an open letter attacking the event.

In it they warned that celebrating the event 'amplifies existing, structurally imposed, inequalities' and 'echoes misogynistic rhetoric that men's issues have been drowned out by the focus on women's rights.'

In light of this, the university backed down and apologised for causing 'unhappiness for some members of the university community who felt that the statement was inappropriate and should never have been issued'.

It explained how its main focus of gender equality 'should continue to be on the inequalities faced by women'.

The University of York has cancelled its International Men's Day event after criticism from students and staff

In a statement, the university said it would continue to focus on 'inequalities faced by women'

The argument started when Dr Adrian Lee, an academic administrator at the university, declared earlier this month it was time a debate on gender equality included 'some of the specific issues faced by men'.

He said men were under-represented at the university and issues around education, suicide, crime, violence and family relationships affected all men.

He wrote: 'In the area of gender equality, the focus has rightly been on raising awareness about – and removing barriers for – women.

'We are, however, also aware of some of the specific issues faced by men.

'Men are under-represented in the student population as a whole; they are also significantly under-represented in a number of academic disciplines across all three faculties.'

He added: 'In academic staff appointments, the data suggests that female candidates have a higher chance of being appointed than men. In the professional support services, there are areas where men are significantly under-represented.

'Likewise in academic departments, the support staff complement is often heavily weighted towards women, with some departments employing no men at all in these roles.'

He also cited challenges faced by men such as how boys are outperformed by girls at school; are 20 times more likely to go to jail; have lower life expectancy and more likely to commit suicide.

The university has faced a torrent of online criticism for the decision to

'PATRONISING BEYOND BELIEF': DIVERSITY OFFICER BANNED WHITE MEN FROM EVENT AT GOLDSMITHS Earlier this year, Goldsmiths university students' union was accused of racism and sexism after banning white people and men from an event to promote equality. Students were invited to the union meeting to discuss 'diversifying the curriculum'. But they were shocked when organiser Bahar Mustafa told white people and men 'not to come' as it was only open to BME [black and minority ethnic] women.' The student union welfare and diversity officer wrote on Facebook: 'Invite loads of BME Women and non-binary people!! Also, if you've been invited and you're a man and/or white PLEASE DON'T COME just cos i invited a bunch of people and hope you will be responsible enough to respect this is a BME Women and non-binary event only.' Non-binary is a term used to describe people who do not consider themselves exclusively male or female. Miss Mustafa, 27, added: 'Don't worry lads we will give you and allies things to do', followed by a wink. The union eventually backed down after a backlash from students, one of whom described the exclusive policy as 'patronising beyond belief'. Elsewhere, in June, Sir Tim Hunt was forced to resign from his post as honorary professor at UCL over a joke remark about the presence of women in labs. Sir Tim, 72, had joked at a conference in South Korea that men and women should 'work in separate labs'. He told the audience: 'Let me tell you about my trouble with girls … three things happen when they are in the lab … You fall in love with them, they fall in love with you and when you criticise them, they cry.' The scientist, who won a Nobel Prize in 2001, later said his comments were light-hearted. High profile supporters, such as Richard Dawkins and Boris Johnson, said Sir Tim had been the victim of a witch hunt. Advertisement

About 200 members of the university staff, students and alumni hit back in an open letter suggesting the reputation of the university could be damaged by aligning itself with the event.

They claimed the reason men were under-represented was 'direct consequence of unfairness and discrimination towards women; secretarial and support work are gendered and demeaned as women's work'.

It went on to highlight the ongoing problems faced by women at university, including sexual harassment and 'lad culture' and the continuing marginalisation of women in academic roles.

The university later apologised and cancelled the event.

This in turn led to a public outcry and a petition to reinstate the event, started by student Ruth Morris, which has been signed by more than 3,000 supporters.

It said: 'It is important that we recognise men's day just as much as women's day.

'True feminists should be fighting for gender equality for both men and women. To cancel men's day is simply hypocritical. Equality is not just for women and should concern both genders.'

Elsewhere Benjamin Leatham, president of the student union, wrote in a blog post that the campaign was well-meaning.

He said it was 'extremely important that we recognise the issues in life and society that specifically and disproportionately affect men, such as higher suicide rates, an under provision of mental health services, lower life expectancy and homelessness'.

Matthew Edwards, a third-year politics student, said the university's U-turn was shameful. He told the Guardian: 'By cancelling the day entirely, they have sent out the message that men's rights are not important, which is astonishing,' he said.

Prospective students have also taken to Twitter to say they would no longer be applying to attend.

A university spokesman said: 'We have withdrawn the original statement about International Men's Day, and do not propose to mark this event formally.

'In gender equality, our main focus has been, and will continue to be, on the inequalities faced by women, such as under-representation in the professoriate.

'At the same time, we will not neglect other aspects of equality, and will take a balanced approach to all nine protected characteristics as defined in the 2010 Equality Act. Our overriding goal is to strive to treat every member of the university community with dignity and respect.'

International Men's Day was launched in 1999 by Jerome Teelucksingh, an academic at the University of the West Indies, to promote male role models and fatherhood.