Kenya

"Hey, sexy!" Millions of women and girls around the world will have heard that phrase - or something like it - cutting into their daily lives, unwanted and uninvited, as they walk to work or get the bus to school. 

Some might say that it's harmless, just a joke, or perhaps even a compliment. But catcalling is none of those things. It's a violation of women's rights; an explicit demonstration of power, one that is intended to frighten or intimidate the person it's addressed to. It is based in deep-rooted gender inequality, which sees women's bodies as not their own. 

Living in poverty increases the risk of women and girls experiencing violence. But how does poverty cause gender-based violence? Find out more, and see how you can support ActionAid's work.

Find out what UK Aid Match is, how it works, and how ActionAid is helping local women in rural Kenya tackle violence, abuse and gender inequality.

The She Can Project (2014 – 2017), funded by DFID under its Aid Match initiative, aimed to increase safety, mobility and access to justice, and to improve gender-responsive public services for vulnerable women and girls living in cities across Bangladesh, Kenya, Myanmar and Zimbabwe.

Free sanitary towels are to be given by Kenya’s government to schoolgirls - this is a big step for girls’ rights to education. Read our response to this news, marking a major step forward for girls in Kenya. 

Emily, 42, is a local ActionAid worker who lives in West Pokot, Kenya. Committed to changing the lives of women and girls in the region, she works with a network of more than 100 women from surrounding villages to help stamp out female genital mutilation (FGM). Since ActionAid started working there, Emily says fewer girls are facing the cut and many more are staying in school. But, as she explains here, there is still much to do to end the practice for good.