Fearless campaign

For millions of women and girls globally, street harassment is a daily reality of going out in public. From catcalling to unwanted physical contact on public transport, when women and girls feel unsafe in public it holds them back. ActionAid recently carried out some polling in the UK, Brazil, Thailand and India that showed a huge majority of women have experienced harassment or violence. 

But women and girls everywhere are speaking up to call out the catcallers – just last week, women all over the world marked 2017’s Anti-Street Harassment Week with dozens of inspiring protests. Read on to see some of our favourite creative anti-harassment campaigns from around the world.

If you switched on the news this weekend, you might have noticed something incredible taking place on the first day of Donald Trump’s presidency: millions of women, men and children in over 60 countries joined the Women’s March – a call for tolerance, inclusion and women’s rights.

We were there at the Women’s March on London, along with more people than anyone expected! The march clearly struck a chord with many of us and, in the aftermath of this global moment, it’s time to ask: what can we do next to stand up for women’s rights?

This Saturday, on the first full day of Donald Trump’s presidency, ActionAid UK will be standing in solidarity with our colleagues and friends in the USA by joining the Women’s March on London. Along with grassroots-organised sister marches in Washington D.C. and around the world, we’ll be marching to protect tolerance, inclusion and women’s rights – values that we feel are under threat now more than ever. Read on to find out how to join us.

If you head to London today you might see something a little unusual. This morning, mannequins appeared in front of Marble Arch to mark International Safe Cities for Women Day. Safe Cities Day is celebrated all over the world from Australia to Zimbabwe, and calls for an end to violence against women on the streets of their cities.

So what’s with the mannequins?

A shocking one in three women will face violence in her lifetime. In the run up to International Safe Cities for Women Day, on 20 May, we’re highlighting just how much of this takes place on the streets of their own cities. Cities can have huge potential for the world’s poorest women and girls, but the constant threat of violence is holding far too many back. Here’s why ActionAid are shouting about it from Australia to Zimbabwe, and how you can show your support.

This World Poetry Day, I want to tell you about some amazing activist poets who have inspired our latest campaign to end violence against women. Read about them below and find out how you can join our global, crowd-sourced poem of hope.