Thank you for your invaluable interest in and support of the equality effect throughout 2023. Here are five of our favourite 2023 e² equality moments:
1. The electric energy created by the more than 3000 160 Girls Virtual Justice Club (VJC) leaders creating equality change, as they distributed the 160 Girls Justice Journal to more than 20,000 community members. For example, 13 year old Janet taking the initiative to train a group of Homa Bay boda-boda (motorcycle taxi) drivers on the need to respect girls’ equality rights.
2. Having 2023 VJC alum (including Janet!) surprise e² staff by arriving at the 2024 VJC orientation to volunteer to help train the new VJC recruits – true equality leaders! VJC leaders tell us: “I felt that I was the hero of helping people to know what their rights are.”; “As a VJC leader, the community members considered me as a rescuer and that made me as happy as a lark.”
3. Chief Inspector (C.I.) Nancy Oduor was transferred to a Muran’ga county police station faced with severe resource constraints. The station is an old hut serving multiple purposes, including functioning as the Commanding Officer’s office, report office, child and crime office, gender desk, and the workstation for all officers.
Defilement cases were common in the community. The perpetrators were predominantly local motorcycle taxi/boda-boda operators. After the successful prosecution of three defilement cases involving motorbike riders and school-aged children, the riders requested a meeting with C.I. Oduor and her Commanding Officer, and they pledged to stop defiling children. Subsequently, there has been a significant reduction in defilement cases, and the community now values the police station.
C.I. Oduor attributes her success to the training she received from the 160 Girls program, which equipped her with the skills to address all loopholes in defilement investigations.
4. The celebration of 10 years since the release of the 160 Girls High Court decision, which still stands as the high water mark for girls’ rights. We loved the Kenya National Police Service evaluation team organizing a surprise photo trip down the 160 Girls police training memory lane for the Vancouver Police Department and e² staff!
5. The confirmation of the latest 160 Girls measurement results: 74% of defilement victims across Kenya have received initial access to justice, i.e.: an arrest and the initiation of a prosecution in their case, within 3 months of reporting their defilement to the police (1059 victim base group). By way of comparison, the High Court of Kenya found that 100% of the police treatment in the 160 Girls cases (160 girls between 3-17 years old, who had been raped and denied access to justice) was unconstitutional. We are so grateful for the continued loyalty and commitment of e²’s invaluable partners, donors/funders, volunteers, and staff, who make e²’s unique, systemic, human rights work possible.
There is still more equality work to do; your donation today will contribute to holding perpetrators accountable for their sexual violence, and ending impunity for rape – please click here to donate: (donate before 11:59 pm EST, December 31st, to receive a 2023 tax receipt!).
Thank you for your support of e²’s work, making girls’ and women’s rights real – we really couldn’t do it without you. Wishing you a happy and healthy 2024, and looking forward to updating you on more e² progress in the new year.
