KASA! Ending Sexual Violence in West Africa
The initiative, KASA! Ending Sexual Violence in West Africa, leveraged the growing focus on sexual violence in the region to boost feminist action and advocacy to reduce it..The Initiative supported 42 women’s rights and feminist organisations through grant-making, advocacy, and accompaniment, emphasising community-rooted interventions and survivor-centred approaches.
The Kasa! Initiative, led by the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) in partnership with the Ford Foundation and Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), is an ambitious feminist programme working to prevent sexual violence, strengthen survivor support, and shift harmful social norms across Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal. The Initiative supports 42 women’s rights and feminist organisations through grant-making, advocacy, and accompaniment, emphasising community-rooted interventions and survivor-centred approaches.
Our Approach
Kasa! organised its work around three mutually reinforcing pillars:
Flexible, multi-year funding. Core grants that grantees could direct to their own priorities — including overheads, staff wellbeing, and emergent advocacy moments — instead of restricted project budgets.
Movement-strengthening and accompaniment. Peer learning convenings, security and digital safety support, and tailored capacity-building led by African feminist consultants.
Influencing and narrative change. Coordinated advocacy at AU, ECOWAS, and national levels — pairing grassroots evidence with feminist analysis to shape policy and public discourse.
At a glance
“Kasa is not a project. It is a continental conversation.”
Partners in Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal created trusted, recurring forums – school clubs, women’s circles, youth-led dialogues, mosque/church discussions, and call-in radio shows- that moved sexual violence from taboo to public concern. Evidence from KIIs, FGDs, and validation workshop reflections shows reduced victimblaming, increased bystander engagement, and stronger willingness to report. Cultural fluency (faith framing, traditional values, local idioms) amplified reach and credibility.
Behind every number is a person who decided to speak. These are three of the stories told to evaluators during the 2021–2024 review.
