Gender Empathy Gap Day was chosen to be 11th July because, in 1995, that was the first day of the Srebrenica massacre (though the slaughter continued for over two weeks). The town was supposed to be under UN protection, but the UN troops made no attempt to prevent the Serbs entering the town. The UN troops had facilitated women and girls being removed to neutral ground but were unconcerned about the fate of the men and boys. The Serbs then set about slaughtering 8,372 Muslim men and boys.

Despite precedents like this, the media and the UN itself continue to downplay harms to males. This is the gender empathy gap.

This day, whose purpose is to raise awareness of the reality and consequences of the gender empathy gap, has been marked now for 7 years. You can read relevant material here.