Doris is a mother and an educator about gender-based violence in Ghana.
Nana Kofi Acquah/ActionAid
Violence against women
Globally, women endure violence and discrimination in every sphere of life, simply because they are female.
They may be underrepresented in political decision-making, excluded from economic opportunity, and their labour devalued within the family. This systemic inequality impacts greatly on the rights of women, and makes them more vulnerable to violence, particularly for women who are affected by additional types of oppression, for example LGBTQI women, sex workers, migrants and disabled women.
What we do:
We focus on working on the issues faced by marginalised women and girls, supporting them to develop agency and challenge harmful norms and practices. In particular, we:
- Support the local and global political recognition of marginalised women and their social movements, in policy and in practice
- Collaborate with feminist movements, coalitions, partner organisations and civil society organisations to support them in working with particularly vulnerable women
- Empower and strengthen women and their collectives to demand their rights and hold those in power to account
- Collect robust evidence on a continuous basis and use it to support internal and external engagement.
Across the world, seven out of ten women will experience violence in their lifetime. Public transport is a big challenge for women and girls, whose specific needs are not catered for; leaving them vulnerable to violence.
