Rape

It starts with a smile and a promise. An offer of help to a struggling mum or show of affection to a neglected child. A golden opportunity to a hardworking girl who wants to free her family from poverty. But behind the human trafficker's apparent kindness is an industry that causes untold misery around the world.

Janet lives in Ghana with her mother, father and five brothers and sisters. When she was just 11, she was brutally raped by a neighbour. Thanks to the swift action taken by her dad, she is now recovering from the trauma. This Father's Day, we want to share the story of Janet and her dad. 

Just over two days. That’s how long you have to make twice the difference to women and girls globally, who are faced with poverty and violence every single day. Until midnight on Wednesday 25 June the UK government will double all donations made to our She CAN appeal. Time is running out and I’m hoping that you will share our sense of urgency and dig deep. 

This week I took part in the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict led by UK foreign minister William Hague and actor and activist Angelina Jolie. Hague said he wanted it to be a “summit like no other”.

It’s degrading, humiliating and destroys a woman’s sexual identity. These are just some of the words that were used to describe sexual violence in conflict - war rape. They came from ActionAid frontline aid workers and actors and ActionAid ambassadors, Sarah Alexander and Helen Worth.

News of the horrific gang rape and death by hanging of two so-called ‘low caste’ girls - 14 and 15 year old cousins from the Dalit community in Uttar Pradesh, northern India shows how vulnerable the poorest women and girls in India still are to violent sexual attack.