How has Kenya tackled the country’s horrifying rape problem? Even recently, the situation was so dire that one in four women was a victim of rape. And the perpetrators were often friends, boyfriends, or acquaintances.

One reason for According to No Means No Worldwide (NMNW), a rape prevention organisation, many schoolboys used to think molestation and rape were justifiable if girls and women wore miniskirts, were out alone at night, or were taken out on expensive dates.

However, things in the Kenyan capital Nairobi have changed. Cases of rape have dropped by 50 percent in certain areas, young boys have started to intervene when witnessing an assault, and women have been able to protect themselves from rape in many cases. How did this sudden change come about?

The video above has some answers.

NMNW, founded by Lee Paiva, designed and piloted a violence prevention and intervention system called IMpower, whose aim was to educate young people in order to create gender equity and respect.

They started “consent classes” in school as depicted in the video, which taught schoolgirls self-defence – physical and emotional – and schoolboys, positive masculinity and standing up for women, using a programme named Your Moment of Truth (video below).

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The six-course programme is soon going to be implemented in all high schools in Nairobi, and is being taken around the world. Indian school students would certainly benefit from such a course.

The videos below, in which the young girls and boys describe how they were able to prevent rape after the programme, is a solid signal of progress.

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