A Vision Shared: Dennitah, 29, Kenya

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What are the greatest challenges to women's and young people's health and rights?

Traditional cultures that negatively impact women and young girls in Africa are still one of the greatest challenges to women's health worldwide. In Africa, over 2 million girls undergo female genital mutilation (FGM) every year. This is a gross violation of their human rights. Other cultural practices such as wife inheritance, violence against women, and teen marriages also have a negative impact on women's health.

The escalating number of cases of HIV/AIDS in Africa tops the list of the greatest challenges to girls. HIV/AIDS is now becoming feminized so that a greater percentage of the infected are women. Young girls are not spared the agony either! Poverty and increased corruption in most African countries have forced young women to seek other sources of getting an income by involving themselves in risky sexual habits which expose them to HIV/AIDS.

Rape is also increasingly prevalent in Africa. Marital rape, though not spoken about, is prevalent and has affected many girls and women.

What actions are you taking to make the world safer and healthier for women and young people?

I am the founder of the Education Center for Advancement of Women (ECAW) in Kenya. ECAW is a women's rights advocacy organization that provides a safe space for girls and women to discuss matters of importance to them, including reproductive health issues. We lobby the local administration to defend and uphold the dignity of women in Kenya, especially those in rural areas. We partner with other organizations to advocate and lobby against legislation that negatively impacts women. We undertake campaigns and advocate for promotion of the girl child advancement in Kenya. 

At a national and international level, we lobby the government to adopt all international treaties that affect women, so that even rural and marginalized women can have a say and decide their dignity.

In short, I am in the campaign to defend the dignity of women and girls in Kenya.

What are your dreams for yourself and for the world's youth?

I have a dream that all people of the world, women and men, boys and girls, will see a just and peaceful society in which women are respected and recognized equally as men, in their contribution to the building of an African society.

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