Advocacy for Safe Communities

Who does it help?

Girls and women living in and around some of the poorest communities in Ndhiwa and those in the wider Ndhiwa Sub County and Homa Bay County area in Kenya.

What does it involve?

  • Community education and training about girls rights, School Related Gender Based Violence (SRGBV) and the barriers to girls education.

  • Teaching and learning resources provided to schools about the importance of gender equality.

  • Training in children’s and girls’ right provided for teachers & parents.

  • Advocacy for girls’ rights in the heart of the community.

  • Research into the root causes of School Related Gender Based Violence (SRGBV) in Ndhiwa.

  • Partnership with the local children’s office and the police to deal with cases of sexual abuse of girls in the community.

  • Action taken against sexual violence against girls or women and girls and their families supported to take legal action.

  • Social workers and Girls’ Advocates to support girls and victims of SRGBV.

  • Football training for girls and boys and sessions on topics such as healthy relationships and good touch vs. bad touch.

Why did we decide to do this?

It’s all very well getting girls in school, but what is the point if their community doesn’t support them or isn’t safe for them? Ndhiwa is very remote and rural and sadly many harmful practices such as child marriage, Gender Based Violence (GBV) and sexual exploitation of girls is widespread.

We need to work closely with the whole community to ensure boys and girls are safe and secure and have the best chance they can to end their cycle of poverty. We need to promote the rights of the child and raise awareness to remove the barriers girls face in school and the community, and change attitudes.

We need to support and work with the local government social services, children’s offices and education offices to improve the quality of education in schools, fill the gaps in provision and uphold the law.

School Related Gender Based Violence (SRGBV)

School-related gender-based violence (SRGBV) is acts or threats of sexual, physical or psychological violence happening in and around schools. This type of violence towards girls in Ndhiwa is often due to gender norms,  poverty and entrenched harmful traditional beliefs.

Fighting SRGBV is a substantial part of our work. In 2015 conducted research into the root causes of SRGBV in Ndhiwa and produced our School Related Gender Based Violence (SRGBV) Report.

 The findings of our report are shocking and despite knowing that we would uncover some worrying statistics, the research highlighted just how serious the problems of SRGBV is in Ndhiwa.

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