Women’s Rights
Across the world, women and girls’ rights are affected the most by poverty. From the moment they are born, girls face inequalities and injustice in almost every aspect of their lives.
That is why we put women’s human rights at the heart of all we do.
Why we focus on the rights of women and girls
Poverty is complex. It’s more than a lack of money. It’s also a lack of choice and power.
All over the world women have less social, economic and political power, which can lead to their human rights being denied. Gender inequality is the root cause of women’s rights abuses. ActionAid supports women to claim their rights.
What is ActionAid doing for women’s rights?
ActionAid supports and campaigns with women living in some of the world’s poorest places as they challenge the root causes of poverty and injustice. Supporting women and girls as they claim their rights and lead their communities out of poverty is the most effective way of changing lives for good. Together we challenge gender based violence. We ensure that local women’s rights organisations are at the forefront of humanitarian response work. And we tackle unfair economic systems that hold women.
Three of our strategic priorities focus specifically on women’s rights, ensuring the lived experience and leadership of women living in poverty and exclusion are at the heart of everything we do.
Our priorities
What about men’s and boys’ rights?
Men and boys also experience abuses of their rights, including sexual and domestic violence. But everywhere, violence is overwhelmingly perpetrated by men against women, making it one of the most widespread abuses of human rights worldwide. That is why ActionAid focuses on this issue.
To end violence against women and girls, men and boys must be involved in changing attitudes and behaviour in families and communities. And because men dominate positions of power and decision-making roles, they are important allies in the fight for women’s rights.
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