Key Focus Areas
Gender-based Violence
In Tanzania, 40% of all women aged 15-49 years have experienced physical violence, while 17% have experienced sexual violence. Of women aged 15-49, 44% have experienced either physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner. Spousal violence prevalence is highest in rural areas, averaging 52% while the prevalence in urban areas averages 45%. Almost 30% of girls experience sexual violence before the age of 18. MEDEA contributes to reduce gender-based violence in the following areas:
Child Marriage
Child marriage is one of the key hurdles for young girls to achieve their dreams. MEDEA works to increase community understanding of Tanzania’s marriage law, which endorses child marriage, and advocates for its amendment. Intensive community engagement in the movement stimulates and speeds up lawmakers’ efforts to amend the law, which was already ruled out to be unconstitutional by the High Court in 2016, in Rebeca Gyumi’s strategic lawsuit against the Attorney General.
Sextortion
In order to create an environment where women and young girls can realize their full potential and achieve economic independence through the use of their skills and talents, we seek to investigate, expose, shatter the silence surrounding, and amplify sexual harassment against women and young girls in higher education institutions and, primarily, in the entertainment industry.
