A hand has been extended to men: it needs to be firmly grasped. On Saturday, Emma Watson launched the HeForShe campaign at the United Nations, calling on men to speak out in support of women. She was then targeted by what appears to be a hoax, a purported threat to leak naked pictures in what seems to be an attempt to shut down the website 4Chan. But any woman who speaks out for equality risks being targeted: just ask British feminist campaigner Caroline Criado Perez, who was subjected to a torrent of violent threats last year. Misogyny is like a cornered rat, lashing out as women fight back. We are going to put this woman back in her box and shut her up – that is all too often the response of misogynists who fear that they face defeat.

But Watson’s speech has prompted a determined push back by men against sexism and misogyny. Already, tens of thousands of men and boys have signed up in support, with celebrities such as Joseph Gordon-Levitt tweeting in solidarity.

In the struggle for women’s emancipation, of course, it is women’s voices that need to be at the forefront. But Watson made a plea for men to speak out, too, for good reason. Partly, of course, it is to stand in solidarity, to ensure men treat women as equals, not as objects to be controlled. “If men don’t have to control, women don’t have to be controlled,” as Watson puts it. On the one hand – to take Britain – there is the scandalous under-representation of women in public life, with women making up just one in five MPs. Then there’s the terrifying statistics of violence: that more than a million British women suffer domestic violence a year, that 400,000 women are sexually assaulted annually, while about 85,000 women are raped. Then there’s the casual objectification of women, whether in newspapers like the Sun or in magazines, or whether it be in leers on the street, as distressingly documented by the EverydaySexism project.

But there’s another key reason that Watson wants men to speak out. “Gender equality is your issue too.” One of the reasons she became a feminist, she says, was because male friends were unable to express their feelings. Sexism – and homophobia – mean that men are expected to conform to a certain repressive stereotype. Those who don’t conform – maybe by not talking about or treating women in a sufficiently degrading way, or by expressing emotions, or by not getting into enough fights – risk being victimised as “unmanly”.

That means when men run into trouble and suffer from mental distress, they are less likely to do something about it. A few weeks ago, I wrote a piece based on the experiences of men who tried to end their lives, discussing how the oppressive expectations of manliness stopped them seeking help or being able to talk about their problems. Watson quoted from it in her speech: that “suicide is the biggest killer of men between 20 and 49, eclipsing road accidents, cancer and coronary heart disease”. Men are being killed by our sexist society. That’s why confronting sexism with our own ranks does not just stop women from being oppressed, but also saves men from suffering silently with mental distress – and even saves lives. “We don’t often talk about men being imprisoned by gender stereotypes”, she says, “but I can see that they are and that when they are free, things will change for women as a natural consequence.”

That’s why men should heed Watson’s call and sign up for the HeForShe campaign. Standing in solidarity with women fighting to be heard, and struggling against sexist oppression; but also to help men, too. Watson’s bravery may prove another inspirational landmark in the generational struggle for equality – for all of us.