Grace, also the chairperson of Bright Future Girls, adds, “The bicycles allowed us to reach remote communities to raise awareness on many issues. Before, we used to walk for hours, brave bad weather and can only cover short distances closer to Yambio.”
“With the continuous campaign, the enrollment of girls has increased in our school from 379 to 782. This gives me hope because it shows how our efforts can influence the communities. This is just for four months. Imagine how many girls we can protect and bring to school in two years or more,” she declares.
A UN report last year indicates that some 65 percent of women and girls have experienced physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime, and some 51 percent have suffered intimate partner violence. Further, the majority of girls and women experience sexual violence for the first time under the age of 18.
Enid Ocaya, World Vision’s Zonal Program Manager says, “This year, as we campaign on 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, let us remember the girls in our community who through no fault of their own due to conflict, were generally exposed to sexual and other forms of violence.”