30/07/2026
💜 For many girls in Koinadugu District in Sierra Leone, the journey to school was once marked by fear rather than opportunity. Many girls experienced harassment from motorbike riders while travelling to school. For too long, these behaviours were dismissed as normal, leaving girls feeling powerless and unsafe.
Joining International Sierra Leone's Girls Engage Academy, girls gained the confidence to know and claim their rights. At the same time, motorbike riders, boys, teachers and community leaders were engaged in conversations about safeguarding, gender equality and positive masculinity.
As a result, attitudes began to change.
💬 "𝑇𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑦, 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑢𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑛𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑔𝑖𝑟𝑙𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑗𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑦𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒𝑟," says Mariatu, a youth leader.
Girls are now speaking up with confidence, boys are becoming allies, teachers are reinforcing child protection standards, and communities are challenging harmful social norms.
💬 "𝐺𝑖𝑟𝑙𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒, 𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑑. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠, 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠." Mariatu
✨ Ending violence against girls requires more than protecting survivors. It means transforming attitudes, engaging entire communities and creating environments where every girl can learn, lead and thrive safely.
💬 What role do you think communities can play in creating safer spaces for girls?
