International Women’s Day 2022 has as its theme #BreakTheBias. At Power Of Pads our aim is to empower girls by helping them to participate fully in education. UN Women Africa has produced an empowerment index that shows equality for women and girls in Kenya is still far off. Only 29% of women feel empowered and less than half are in rural areas. Bias is shown in small ways such as not being able to afford sanitary protection and not all schools providing separate female toilets with running water. There needs to be dignity in areas of deprivation. How can girls feel empowered if bias is shown at such a basic level?
We have seen, through our partner organisations, how thrilled girls are to receive a pack of reusable washable sanitary pads. The monetary value to us may be very small but to these girls it can be the difference between reaching their potential and dropping out of education completely. With that comes early marriage, multiple pregnancies and unrelenting poverty. It is hardly surprising that rural schoolgirls feel disempowered when they have few successful role models in their communities.
Poverty is multidimensional but it has been shown that where household heads, men or women, have attended secondary education that girls will have greater opportunities for their future. Education gives freedom to all, but accessing it continuously for girls is extra hard. Addressing the bias in small ways is having success, these girls will have more opportunity to grow into empowered, educated women. Join with us to help #BreakTheBias