KASA! Investing in our collective dream and actions to end sexual violence against women and girls in Africa
Nov 23, 2023
Media Center /
News
In 2021, the Ford Foundation, the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) and the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) joined forces to address and reduce sexual violence, and its deep-rooted drivers, across West Africa. The initiative, KASA! Ending Sexual Violence in West Africa, leverages the growing focus on sexual violence in the region and boost feminist action and advocacy to reduce it. Focusing primarily on Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal, KASA! (meaning ‘speak’ in the Twi language) is hosted by (AWDF) to strengthen and support women’s rights organisations to raise awareness of sexual violence as a violation of human rights and rally support to combat it.
Through the KASA! Initiative, we define sexual violence as any sexual act or attempt to obtain a sexual act, or unwanted sexual comments or acts to traffic, that are directed against a person’s sexuality using coercion by anyone, regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting, including at home and at work. Sexual violence includes rape, marital rape, defilement, sexual harassment, sexual trafficking, sexual slavery and online sexual violence. Sexual Violence, particularly rape, is committed by force, or by threat of force or coercion, such as that caused by fear of violence, duress, detention, psychological oppression or abuse of power, against such person or another person, or by taking advantage of a coercive environment, or committed against a person incapable of giving genuine consent.
We believe that sexual violence is a culture and not an event. It therefore requires a long-term strategic approach that addresses the culture of impunity over the bodies of women and girls which emanates from and is perpetuated by patriarchy. We believe sexual violence is a violation of women’s rights including the rights to health, sexual and reproductive health, non-discrimination, life, dignity, privacy, peace freedom from torture, inhuman and degrading treatment and freedom of movement. We believe ‘the personal is political’. Sexual violence is often perpetrated in domestic spheres and shroud in secrecy. We know that most cases of sexual violence are not reported and for most cases reported, justice is not served.
We are concerned that in Nigeria, 33% of women and girls aged 15-49 have experienced violence in their lifetime and in Senegal 21.5% have experienced violence [i]. In Ghana 24% of women and girls have experience sexual violence [ii]. We lament the persistence of rape culture and high tolerance for sexual violence in Africa; the lack of access to quality survivor centred response and accountability systems. We have noted the shrinking civic spaces and upsurge of conflict and political instability across the Africa continent which do not only threaten to erode the gains we are making in the eradication of sexual violence, but exacerbate the vulnerability of women and girls to sexual violence and shift of funding priorities to restoring peace and security within the continent.
AWDF provides long-term multi-year resourcing and other forms of support to frontline feminist and women’s rights organisations and activists working mainly at the grassroots and national level to foster positive narratives and attitudes toward sexual violence; supporting women, girls and families affected by sexual violence; advocating for legal reforms and the transformation of cultural and social norms and practices that underpin sexual violence; and working to eliminate institution and social barrier that impede access to comprehensive sexual violence response.
As we commence the commemoration of 16 Days of Activism Against Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, we commend our grantees partners who continue to dream and take action towards eliminating sexual violence. We acknowledge the dreams and action of feminist and women’s rights organisations and activists in Africa whose work, especially during the emergence of the COVID 19 pandemic, inspired the KASA! Initiative and other initiatives to eliminate sexual violence on the continent.
We are connecting dreams and actions! In two years, we have resourced 29 women’s rights and feminist organisations and activists in Senegal, Nigeria and Ghana that share in our dream of a world free of sexual violence. Through these partnerships, we are working to prevent sexual violence through listening and learning about risk factors that perpetuate sexual violence on one hand and the protective factors on the other hand; and working together to remove the risk factors and enhance the protective factors. We are supporting accountability through survivor-centered approaches which includes legal and other forms of support to survivors and their families to obtain justice and reparation and ensure the administration of punishment to perpetrators. We are supporting survivor-centered response and care including treatment of injuries, prevention of infection and unintended pregnancies arising from sexual violence, and the provision of psychosocial support and temporary shelter for survivors.
We are making headway! In Senegal Sourire de Femmes and L’Association des Juristes Sénégalaises (l’AJS) have mobilised women and girls to organise despite the closure of civic spaces, an ongoing concern in Senegal. The organisations have adopted a multi-stakeholder advocacy approach encompassing religious organisations, the police, women and girls, and other partners in dealing with and responding to issues of sexual and gender-based violence. Plateforme de Femme Pour la Paix en Casamance is working to strengthen the prevention and response to sexual violence among minors in Casamance. The organisation has provided comprehensive sexual violence response for minors. Perpetrators have been sentenced to 10 years in prison. The organisation has provided shelters and Psychosocial support for the survivors and facilitated their reintegration in school.
We are resilient! In Nigeria, Education as a Vaccine is working with Benue State University to review and implement policies to reduce sexual harassment on campus. Benue State University has reviewed their sexual harassment policy; and developed an implementation plan. About 90% of students and staff engaged learned for the first time that the University had a sexual harassment policy. Female students have been empowered through the project and they are shared their personal stories on sexual harassment. In Nigeria, the Sexual Offences Awareness & Response Initiative (SOARI) is working to reduce sexual violence in host communities in Benue State. The camp/community leaders have set up a Camp/Community Child Protection Committee (CCPC). CCPC is leading advocacy for the prevention and respond to sexual violence and Child marriage in the camps. Cases of sexual violence has been reported for the first time in the camp and survivors are being supported to seek justice.
We are speaking out! Through our partner Women in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF) Ghana, we’ve invested in supporting girls to become assertive, gaining voice and agency on issues around sexual violence and other forms of violence. We’ve also supported investigations, protection, and judicial action in support of survivors of sexual violence. Through our partner Savannah Women Integrated Development Agency (SWIDA), we’ve resourced training of female advocates from educational institutions to advocate for sexual harassment policies and amplify messages against sexual violence. In Ghana, women and girls accessed free post-incident care and support through our partner, the Women’s Initiative for Self-Empowerment (WISE).
We are inspired by the stories of resilience from survivors of sexual violence; and feminist and women’s rights organisations who continues to dream and take action to eliminate sexual violence in challenging contexts. We are also encouraged by our growing community of allies including government officials, the media, religious and traditional leaders, communities, the police, law enforcement agencies and the judiciary, academics, health service providers and others who are dreaming and taking action with us toward ending sexual violence in Africa.
Today, as we join the global movement to reflect on the theme ‘Investing to prevent violence against women and girls:
- We affirm our commitment to upholding our dream of a continent where women and girls live and thrive in societies that are free from sexual violence.
- We commit to sustaining and scaling up our KASA! Initiative to ensure long-term, multiple year and responsive resourcing.
- We commit to increased advocacy within the donor community for the prioritisation of sexual violence prevention and response; and the mobilisation of additional funding for the KASA! Initiative. We have seeded an initial USD 3.75 million for the implementation of the KASA initiative for the initial five years; with the Ford Foundation having contributed USD 3.5 million and OSIWA having contributed USD 250,000. Together, we continue to dream of a USD 10 million fund for the five-year implementation of the KASA! Initiative throughout Africa.
We also invite you to Speak Out! Dream with us and Take Action to ending sexual violence and other forms of violence against women and girls in Africa.
Written by Joyce Renee Ago Djanie (AWDF), Funded Initiative Coordinator – KASA!