Project Summary of “Preventing and Responding to Violence against Women and Girls with Disabilities in Kenya” by Women Challenged to Challenge

Project title: Preventing and Responding to Violence against Women and Girls with Disabilities in Kenya 

Organization: Women Challenged to Challenge 

Country: Kenya 

Budget: $ 215,787 

Project implementation period: 1 September 2018–31 August 2021 (no-cost extension until 31 August 2022) 

This paper summarizes the three-year project implemented by the civil society organization Women Challenged to Challenge with a small grant from the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women.  

The project aimed to increase the protection of women and girls living with disabilities from violence by: increasing their awareness and capacities to seek support; improving responses from service providers; and increasing conviction rates for perpetrators in the counties of Migori, Baringo and Makueni in Kenya.  

Key findings 

The project:  

• significantly increased the capacities of women and girls with disabilities to recognize and react to violence; 
• broke the silence on violence against women and girls with disabilities;  
• empowered women to prevent and respond to violence by training them to: understand their rights, talk about violence against women and girls, and report such violence to local chiefs, the police, village elders or medical staff; and 
• significantly contributed to addressing violence against girls with disabilities in the targeted counties in Kenya.  

Legacy 

The findings and lessons learned from the project are invaluable for other practitioners and partners working to end violence against women and girls. The project's outcomes are also informing the next stage of the project and helping to raise awareness for sustained investment in Women Challenged to Challenge and its efforts to prevent and respond to violence against refugee and migrant women and girls, while promoting gender equality in Kenya.