Sometimes when we think of where women and girls are at risk, we focus on the risks we know and understand. Our understanding of risk depends on our experiences of safety and danger in our lives. It can be hard to understand or imagine the risks that other people face, especially if, within our cultures, they appear to be actively choosing dangerous behaviours or situations.
It’s important for us to remember that no one deserves to be abused.
These are the groups that we know are most at risk of abuse:
- Children and young people
- Women
- Elderly
- People with health conditions
- People with disabilities
- People living with HIV/AIDS or other stigmatising conditions
- People from LGBTQI+ communities
- People who receive goods, services or benefits from development agencies
- Adult sex workers and their children
- People from a different tribe or ethnic group living in an area predominantly populated by another tribe
People from a different tribe or ethnic group living in an area predominantly populated by another tribe
We know from our work that it’s important to be open-minded. For example, whilst our projects may not actually engage women who are primarily making their income through sex work, it is not unusual for many girls in our countries to meet their needs for school fees or even food through transactional sex. Often this is normalised and has been encouraged by their guardians or peers. We realised that we need to be truly aware of the dangers our girls face – whilst this can often be a simple exchange, we also know it leads to pregnancy, STDs and sexual violence. However ‘normalised’, it often leads to traumas and shame which we must be careful not to perpetuate.
Reflection Questions
- Are these answers the same as yours in the previous section? Why or why not?
- Are you surprised by any of these answers?
- Are you working with young women and girls, or youth workers from any of these groups?