By 
UN Women is a dynamic and strong champion for women and girls, providing them with a powerful voice at the global, regional, and local levels. It is grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the UN Charter. Towards this end, UN Women works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; empowerment of women; and achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action, and peace and security.
Violence against women (VAW) persists in every country in the world as a pervasive violation of human rights and a major impediment to achieving gender equality. Global estimates show that over 1 in 3 women worldwide has experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime, with this figure being as high as 7 in 10 in some countries. Research shows that violence against women leads to a wide range of physical, mental, and sexual health problems, including death, and it affects families and whole communities. Violence against women also has a significant economic impact and impedes the achievement of any global development goals.
Sexual harassment (SH) and other forms of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) in public spaces are everyday occurrences for women and girls in urban and rural areas in developed and developing countries.
Women and girls experience and fear various types of SV in public spaces ranging from unwanted sexual remarks and groping to rape and gender-related killings. It occurs on streets, buses, and trains, near schools, in parks, public toilets, fields, at markets, and water and food distribution sites, in diverse settings (urban, peri-urban, rural, conflict or post-conflict, etc.).
With leading experts, and in consultation with UN agencies and specialized women’s networks, NGOs and authorities, UN Women developed the “Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces Global Flagship Programme Initiative” in November 2010. The Global Flagship develops, implements, and evaluates tools, policies, and comprehensive approaches to prevent and respond to sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence against women and girls in public spaces across different settings, with over 25 countries participating in the Flagship. These initiatives will be made available to local and national policymakers, the private sector, and civil society for adaptation and scale-up. Given the gap in evaluated approaches on the prevention of VAWG, initiatives developed under the Global Flagship are designed to be suitable for impact evaluation.
In Kenya, the flagship program was launched in 2016, with preliminary work undertaking a formative study on the work in the tea sector, broad scope and breadth of safety issues, and an understanding of the context in Kericho and Bomet. This was followed up with a scoping study, facilitated to unearth and harness women and girl’s knowledge and wealth on issues regarding women’s safety in the tea industry. The findings of both the formative study and the scoping study were used in the program design workshop, which has led to the implementation of a unique program, addressing sexual harassment and other forms of gender-based violence. This program led to the development of the “global women’s safety framework” that was launched and adopted as a cutting-edge tool in enhancing women’s safety in the commodity sector. This is what has enabled the co-creation of the project in partnership with KTDA, as part of scaling u and adaptation in a different setting-different county.
Context
For the last eight years, the tea sector in Kenya has been increasingly at the center of attention concerning issues related to sexual harassment (SH) in public spaces. A report by the Kenya Human Rights Commission “Comparative Study of the Tea Sector in Kenya, in 2008’ cited SH as one of the violations predominantly highlighted by workers interviewed in both Unilever and James Finlay Tea Companies. Further media reporting on the issue prompted each company to respond. Several companies have begun their journey to address these challenges, with positive results. The Kenya Tea Development Authority is a key player in the industry, buying tea directly from farmers. KTDA has ongoing initiatives that seek to enhance the capacity of their farmers such s farmer field schools-where farmers are trained on how to strengthen productivity, financial accounting, and other initiatives. KTDA has also facilitated the engagement of women in the governance of the tea structure-albeit with some gaps in number so women engaged as well as their role within the governance structures.
Women provide not only a huge proportion of the labor market in the Tea Industry but also in some cases have access to land and in a much lower proportion have actual ownership and control of the land. Land ownership and control over resources are a big challenge. Although some women farmers have been allocated land to grow tea by either spouses, parents, or guardians, most do not have actual legal ownership over the land. Additionally, even when they receive the proceeds from the sale of tea, the women do not make decisions on the use of the funds.
Various gaps and challenges face the women on a day-to-day basis, including Sexual Harassment and other forms of SGBV in public places. Most times than not, women do not have a collective bargaining power given that most sell their proceeds individually and not collectively, and when there are violations, they are not able to gain the voice to deal with the issue.
The Project “Enhancing Women and Girls’ safety in Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) Tea Growing Areas” to prevent and respond to sexual harassment and other forms of gender-based violence (GBV) forms part of the Global Flagship Programme Initiative “Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces” and works to adapt and scale up the Global Women’s Safety Framework: guided by Experience in the Tea Sector with its accompanying Guide. This initiative will ensure strategic alliances with government authorities, women’s rights organizations, and a strategy to engage men and boys, focusing on women and girls’ empowerment. The interventions which will be identified in the program design workshops will be aligned to the ongoing farmers’ literacy program as part of ensuring a comprehensive approach to women’s safety in KTDA and Unilever catchment areas.
The project will be informed by a Scoping Study that will inform the program design workshop and help to identify what initial interventions are needed. The study will review any existing quantitative studies conducted in the KTDA 5 areas on GBV and undertake a policy review as part of the desk research. It will also include primary research qualitative methods implemented in the 5 growing areas focused on women and girls’ safety given the nature of violence affecting women and girls in the tea sector, in the selected counties. Focus group discussions and key informant interviews will be held (8-12 participants) including with women and girls and with men and boys in the project sites as well. The scoping study will ensure that:
1. Specific areas of concern have been identified and understood by stakeholders, recommendations for interventions outlined
2. Intended beneficiary groups/agents of change groups have been identified;
3. Beneficiaries/agents of change views on the need for interventions have been identified and articulated in particular on gender norms, forms of sexual harassment, and other forms of GBV affecting women and girls. Given the global pandemic COVID-19, a rapid gender analysis is proposed to gain an understanding of the challenges, dynamics, and implications of COVID-19 and Gender. The perspectives gained will strengthen messaging around COVID-19 and GBV, as well as enhance preventive and response mechanisms. There is already an increase in reported cases of GBV in Kenya during the COVID 19 period, and therefore prevention of further abuse is key.
4. Potential implementing partners have been located and appraised
5. Relevant existing services and projects have been identified and assessed in particular on gender equality, protection of women and girls’ rights, sexual harassment, and other forms of GBV, especially from the perspective of intended beneficiaries/agents of change
6. The intervention area (s) have been profiled to provide insight into their demographic, social, cultural, economic, and other relevant characteristics
7. National and county-level development plans and policies have been identified; gaps analyzed
The scoping study will inform the main stakeholders in the design phase for the development of a proposed three-year program to cover 5 KTDA tea growing areas. KPIs will be determined for each intervention identified under the seed funding provision.
Essential to a rights-based approach is the empowerment of rights holders, in this case, women and girls to know and claim their rights and hold duty bearers to account. They are change agents, who play an active role in bringing about the transformations necessary for sustainable safety and are not passive beneficiaries.
For this to happen, it is essential for women and girls at the grassroots level, especially the most disadvantaged and marginalized, to be able to come together, to learn about their rights, to discuss the problems, and develop ideas for solutions. Their individual and collective voice is their key asset.
Objectives
With this background and context in mind, the scoping study has the following objectives
1. Map out existing policies, programs, and interventions in addressing women’s safety in the 5 counties
2. Identify through harnessing the voices of women and girls their safety concerns, fears, unsafe/safe spaces, protection gaps and opportunities, available services, and ease of access to services
3. Map out existing and potential partners, organizations, and opportunities for engagement in addressing women’s safety
4. Data collection and analysis/assessment on sexual harassment and other forms of GBV
5. Facilitate in the program design for the implementation of women’s safety project
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