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Wangu Kanja of the Wangu Kanja Foundation, an ActionAid partner organisation in Kenya supporting women who have experienced gender-based violence.

Women's rights

Undervalued, underpaid and at risk

Women, who pay the highest price of unjust policies and patriarchal societies, must play a key role in order to bring about social change.

Women’s work is often overlooked, unpaid and undervalued. They work in unsafe conditions and have precarious jobs. Greater corporate accountability for upholding human rights is needed.

Across the world, women and girls are at risk of violence. We must challenge the social and cultural norms that lead to women’s vulnerability.

There are structural causes of violence against women: beliefs, access to resources, and economics. Governments must do more to serve the needs of poor and excluded women, and to protect and advance their rights.

The inspiring story of how rape survivor, Wangu Kanja, used her experience to set up a helpline to support other survivors of sexual violence in Kenya get access to justice.

Latest on women's rights

Given Muwana stands in her farm, her crops are damaged by the drought
Publication

Girls being married off to get their families food, finds ActionAid report on drought in Southern Africa

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ActionAid logo
News

ActionAid “pleased” to see The Gambian parliament uphold its ban on FGM/C

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Women in Lita, Ituri Province
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“When I can’t get sanitary pads, I feel ashamed and uncomfortable.” ActionAid hears from women as millions struggle to access menstrual products and hygiene education. 

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Young Urban Women (YUW) and The Nurses Association of Malawi (NAM) an ActionAid Partner, Norah, a paediatric nurse
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Nurses fight to provide care despite funding cuts in Malawi

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Veronika, a volunteer at Insight NGO an ActionAid partner, with her daughter Daniela at the Insight hub
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The impact of the Ukraine crisis on women, girls, and marginalised groups

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ActionAid Logo
News

‘Deadliest year’: Nearly 40 children among over 230 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces and settlers in 2022.

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ActionAid logo
News

ActionAid “pleased” to see The Gambian parliament uphold its ban on FGM/C

Read more
Women in Lita, Ituri Province
News

“When I can’t get sanitary pads, I feel ashamed and uncomfortable.” ActionAid hears from women as millions struggle to access menstrual products and hygiene education. 

Read more
Veronika, a volunteer at Insight NGO an ActionAid partner, with her daughter Daniela at the Insight hub
News

The impact of the Ukraine crisis on women, girls, and marginalised groups

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ActionAid Logo
News

‘Deadliest year’: Nearly 40 children among over 230 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces and settlers in 2022.

Read more
Afghanistan woman walking
News

ActionAid responds to ban on women working with aid agencies in Afghanistan

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#HerStory
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ActionAid launches first Anti-Modern Slavery Campaign, #HERSTORY

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Panel at WPS
Opinion

Humanitarian action: Women responding, but outside the system 

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General scenes Isaccea entry point on Romanian border
Opinion

On World Refugee Day: Why the world needs to stop being racist to refugees

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ActionAid Staff pictured at sports and recreation center in Chelm, Poland being used as a reception centre
Opinion

Gender Based Violence in Ukraine: The Tip Of The Iceberg

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Samah Kassab is a senior programme officer at ActionAid Palestine who lives in north-west Gaza. She is pictured among the devastation caused by Israeli airstrikes.
Opinion

Palestine crisis: A message from a bleeding Gaza

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Niveen Zam’areh is a midwife working in the Red Crescent Hospital in Hebron
Opinion

Access to a Covid-19 vaccine is a human right no one should be denied

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Girls are hardest hit by school closures
Opinion

We must make sure no girl is left behind due to Covid

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Young Urban Women (YUW) and The Nurses Association of Malawi (NAM) an ActionAid Partner, Norah, a paediatric nurse
Story

Nurses fight to provide care despite funding cuts in Malawi

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Modern slavery
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Why ActionAid is working to tackle modern slavery     

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Lala, 20, student and PAH volunteer who left her country Belarus because of government human rights violations, and now supports Ukrainian refugees at Hebrenne.
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The Ukraine crisis and the key role of youth

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Mona Desir is a nurse and a member of a network of women leaders in Haiti.
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Meet the women on the frontlines of the Covid-19 crisis and rising gender-based violence in Haiti

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Humanitarian Response in Nalolo, Zambia
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World Food Day 2020

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Tamanna is helping her younger sister with her studies
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Has gender equality been put into lockdown?

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Given Muwana stands in her farm, her crops are damaged by the drought
Publication

Girls being married off to get their families food, finds ActionAid report on drought in Southern Africa

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Woman stands in a field looking at the camera
Publication

Pathway to a Feminist Corporate Accountability Framework

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Women work together in an ActionAid supported cooperative in Rwanda.
Publication

The Care Contradiction: The IMF, Gender and Austerity

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Abiba received training from ActionAid Ghana about the importance of good hand washing for preventing the spread of Covid-19.
Publication

Women’s rights to water and sanitation: elements of a joint action agenda

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Gul, 65, carries a bag of seeds she collected from ActionAid Bangladesh’s woman-friendly space in the Rohingya refugee camp at Cox’s Bazar.
Publication

Bargaining for Better: Bringing a Feminist Lens to the Grand Bargain 2.0

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Mavis, a young smallholder farmer in Zimbabwe
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Covid-19 Food Crisis: Monitoring research

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Women's rights in depth

Doris is a mother and an educator about gender-based violence in Ghana.

Violence against women

Globally, women endure violence and discrimination in every sphere of life, simply because they are female.
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Beatrice from Rwanda straps her daughter Queen, 18 months, to her while farming her garden.

Women and work

Work is critical to everyone’s human rights, but women’s labour has always been considered second-class.
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