Here’s to Women’s Equality!
Women’s Equality Day is celebrated every year on August 26 in the US. It’s a declaration of hope in full equality – which is still very much a work in progress. Despite many advances, women in Kenya and around the world still face significant barriers in social, economic, and political life.
SUBMISSION AND SAFETY
In Neema’s region of Kenya, deeply held cultural expectations and limited education make it hard for women to even imagine a world with true equality between men and women.
More than 40% of women in Neema’s region are survivors of violence. One study reveals that “43% of women…believe that a husband is justified in beating his wife.”1
But no young woman should feel she needs to trade her voice, peace, safety, dignity, or earning power. She deserves to understand her legal rights to own property in her own name, to retain custody of her children in a divorce, to decide what to do with her earnings, to have the tools to build a brighter future.
EQUIPPED AND EMPOWERED
Neema offers women an education that can lead to steady jobs and income. The young women gain valuable skills, and in doing so, gain confidence in their ability to provide for themselves, their children, and their futures, without relying on the men in their lives anymore.
Through counseling and spiritual development, young women also graduate with a better understanding of their self–worth. With three years of group and individual counseling sessions, as well as Bible studies and times of prayer together, Neema students learn that their worth is not defined by men or traditions. Nor is their value measured by their obedience and helpfulness.
Today, Women’s Equality Day reminds us that, though significant progress has been made, the fight for gender equality continues across the globe. Empower the young women at Neema in their fight today.
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