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Copying With Sexual Violence In Kenyan Slums

April 28, 2022 By Nuna

Empowering young women to be self reliant

Imagine if women had equal opportunities for success?
Imagine if all women are empowered? Imagine if all women are set free from jails of cultures and traditions? Imagine if all women believed in themselves? This World would be a better place, but we have a long way to achieve this; the good news is it is achievable; exponential growth is seen when women are empowered.

The shelter also offers case management, counseling, and support groups to young women who are not requesting shelter but still seeking pathways out of the commercial sex industry or continued support in their trauma recovery.

Today we launched the Elevate program for 12 young women in our community. These women are dynamic, industrious, young, innovative, and holding on to hope, but all are still stuck in the history of oppression. We locked our gates at our shelter for them to have a space to just be themselves, took care of their babies as they danced, and allowed them to dream for at least 3 hours without being coerced, the result was very moving. These few women opened up, they cried, they laughed, and most of all, we came up with a plan! Together we will become a beautiful story. Elevate program will empower these women with economic skills, Digital skills, Women’s rights, and how to be self-reliable.


Elevate program aims to improve women’s economic and health conditions. We work together to give them the skills they need to look after themselves, live independently, and work, while still benefitting from being part of a support group. In addition, the program will equip them with the knowledge and awareness to care for their physical and mental health and develop conversational skills such as nutrition awareness and looking after their own homes.
The program also set them on the road to finding a vocation and a job. Our team has developed excellent relationships with prominent local businesses which can offer training programs and, subsequently, jobs to these young women.

Woman writing her business ideas

Stories of these women are painful; some are living in modern slavery, they came to the city in search of green pastures and ended up as domestic workers, “I came to work as a house girl in 2016, my employer husband started forcing me to sex, I had to accept so I could keep my job, later I felt so bad, and I decided to tell her wife, they kicked me out. I could not go back to my village, the employer was there, and she told everybody that I was a husband snatcher, nobody believed me. I have been in the city since then, I found a boyfriend who I have been living with, and I have 2 children, he says I am a burden with my children, he calls me all kinds of names and sometimes slaps me, but I don’t want to report or leave him because I don’t have anywhere to go. I am 24 years, this is not the life I dreamt of, I want to learn and start a small business selling chicken .”

Patriarchy accords men the right to institute practices and codes that, as a first priority, benefits them. The analysis must be made against the background of the male demand and “rights.” More women than men live in poverty. Women hardly have any money at their discretion; therefore totally dependent on their husbands or family members to fulfill their petty needs. Economic disparities persist partly because much of the unpaid work within families and communities falls on the shoulders of women and because they face discrimination in the economic sphere.

Filed Under: Progress Reports, Survivor Stories Tagged With: #endsexualviolence, Copying With Sexual Violence In Kenyan Slums

February 18, 2022 By Lisa

I Will Rise Again – Tiana Story

“The sex work business was never easy because men and police harassed me.”

“ I grew up in the streets of Nairobi after we could not afford rent in our Mathare slum house. My father left us when I was young. My mother was hooked on drugs for us and my brother or me. She introduced me to drugs at a young age and forced me to go and beg in the streets. I was too young to understand the risks of using drugs.
My mother had multiple men who slept with her for food, drugs, and money. She treated me as her bait to get anything she wanted when she was sick or drunk. So I was introduced to some of her men to earn money in exchange for sex. 
As the days went by, I was addicted to drugs like my mother. Then, one day I was gang-raped by street boys while drunk. The feeling of shame overwhelmed me, but I could not do anything but be silent because of their insults.
When I reached eleven years old, my mother became insane and started acting like a mad person. My brother was hit by a car in the city and died. The street families began insulting my mother, and I was always embarrassed whenever I saw her. I decided to go and create a new Life. I met my street friend Stellar who introduced me to her job. She was a sex worker and a pickpocketer.
She introduced me to her clients, and we shared the amount I was paid. Stellar taught me about using contraceptives not getting pregnant when I started my periods. I started earning money to cater to my basic needs. 
The sex work business was never easy because men and police harassed me. One day while at work, I met a very social client. I loved the way we interacted and exchanged contacts.
He insisted that I meet him at a private place the next day, and I accepted. When he came to our meeting point, I  started feeling uncomfortable, but he assured me everything was alright. A few minutes later, two huge men appeared and blindfolded me. They threatened me not to scream or else they will kill me. I was afraid of them, so I did as they told me.
I was taken into a room and locked inside. They told me that I would be recorded having sex with different men, and if I resisted, they would kill me. I was locked inside the room for two months, and other men could come every day. They did not even check if I had any infections. After a few weeks, I started feeling different. Finally, they noticed and confirmed that I was pregnant. One of them proposed that I aborted the baby and brought me some pills. A few hours after taking them, I started bleeding heavily, and they started arguing.
I was taken to the hospital and left there. After a lot of confusion, a doctor approached me, and I told him everything. I was treated and admitted to the hospital. Unfortunately, my baby died, and I was infected with HIV. I also had infections of STDs.
I feel like I am a dead person. My whole life, I have been living like a forbidden person. I am under medication, and investigations are still going on. At night I usually have nightmares and stress. I am not sure if I will live to see another day every time I close my eyes.”

Filed Under: Survivor Stories Tagged With: #beautyinbrokenness, #endsexualviolence, Copying With Sexual Violence In Kenyan Slums, Sexual Violence in Kenya

February 3, 2021 By Penelope P

I AM A FUTURE JOURNALIST- FAITH STORY

Rarely do sexual violence victims, and survivors speak up on turning a new leaf of life and choosing to focus on a positive outlook of the journey of life where survival is for the fittest.

The twenty-one-year-old mother of one was sexually assaulted at the tender age of seventeen years, and the act left her pregnant. She was yet to clear her high school education. Still, against all odds, the young girl proved her resilience by putting on solid armor and completing her high school while carrying her pregnancy to giving birth just a month to the national examination for secondary schools in Kenya.

Faith resides in Mukuru Kwa Njenga, one of the biggest slums in Kenya, With very minimal job opportunities in Kenya, Faith, like many other young women, struggle to secure even menial employment to provide for her sons three meals a day and help her ailing mother with medical bills.

She also looks forward to pursuing higher education. Her dream is to be a journalist, as she seems to inspire the world with her story.

“I hope that one day the struggles will come to an end. I’ll find a job that will enable my family to have a good life; I have always dreamed of becoming a journalist and am passionate about it. I want my kid to have a good life and not the life I have lived.”

Faith is a true definition of perseverance and Strength, her passion to becoming an empowered woman so he can giver her son a better tomorrow speak loud of her strength and hope. She will soon be starting her own small business to sell cakes at roadside near her home with strong believe that she will join University with some of her savings

Filed Under: Survivor Stories Tagged With: Copying With Sexual Violence In Kenyan Slums, Sexual Violence in Kenya, Survivors of Rape

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