Leah Nyalobo discusses sexual and gender-based violence in Kenya and the role of women's economic empowerment, education, legal rights, and community support in ending exploitation.
Women Empowerment and Gender-Based Violence
The fight against sexual and gender-based violence is central to Leah Nyalobo's daily work because it is rampant in her community. She addresses it by empowering women and girls economically day by day.
Women empowerment is a pressing global issue. It refers to creating an environment where women can make their own decisions for the benefit of society. In Nyalobo's community, girls are sexually abused in exchange for sanitary towels, and women are sexually exploited for food for their children.
LEC Community Organization
In the fight against gender-based violence, LEC Community Organization has empowered women over the years and created a positive impact in society.
Empowering women means increasing and improving their social, economic, and legal strength. LEC has made strides in helping women gain equal rights and the confidence to claim those rights, including equal social status, financial and economic choice, equal opportunity for education, and the right to have their voices heard.
Women constitute about 50% of Nyalobo's community and suffer deeply from gender-based violence due to retrogressive cultural practices, high levels of poverty, and other causes. Women's empowerment is a path toward creating a conducive environment for all and ending sexual exploitation.
Empower a woman, and the whole community is empowered.
Biography
Leah Nyalobo is from Kenya and is the Founder and Executive Director of LEC Community Organization. She has a background in community development and social work.
She studied Women Studies and Women in Leadership at Aga Khan and holds a degree in Gender and Development Studies from the University of Nairobi in Kenya. She believes in a society where women and children are empowered to access equal opportunities.
LEC Community Organization focuses on projects that enhance spaces for women and girls in the community. Through Nyalobo's leadership as Executive Director, the organization has implemented several projects to end gender-based violence.
These projects include a women's economic empowerment project targeting vulnerable women from the Mathare slum and the rural area of Busia, providing life skills and business skills that strengthen their economic capacity to meet their needs and the needs of their children.
The organization also runs an elimination of sexual exploitation of children project, focused on preventing child sexual abuse through awareness, preventive messaging, psychosocial support, counseling, legal aid, and support for victims to return to school.
LEC also supports education sponsorship programs for girls, enhancing educational opportunities for vulnerable girls from Mathare and Busia so they can pursue their career dreams.