The Orange Challenge to fight violence against women

Join the Orange Challenge!

During the Orange Challenge, you walk 8.37 kilometres in your own neighborhood to support the fight against violence against women in Sierra Leone. The challenge is part of the Orange the World campaign to eliminate violence against women, from 25 November (International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women) until 10 December (International Human Rights Day). Sign up, get sponsored by your family, friends, acquaintances, teachers or colleagues, and walk exactly 8.37 kilometres!

Walk in solidarity with Hindolo Pokawa

Why 8.37 kilometres? We will virtually walk side by side with Hindolo Pokawa and 50 other men, who will walk 837 kilometres through Sierra Leone. Their journey starts on 1 November and will take them from Gendema to Freetown, where they hope to arrive on 10 December.

Making men and boys allies

Hindolo started his mission to fight violence against women and girls after the brutal rape and murder of a 5-year-old girl. Hindolo believes that the only way to effectively combat violence against women and girls is to change the social and cultural norms of men and boys, and he has dedicated his life to doing so. On his journey, he will visit several villages, where he will engage in conversations with traditional and religious leaders, schoolboys and every other men and boy he can find, so that they too can become allies against violence.

Violence against women in Sierra Leone

It is estimated that up to 257,000 women became survivors of gender-based violence during the civil war in Sierra Leone between 1999 and 2002. The systematic use of violence against women is unfortunately still a reality today, with between 8,000 and 10,000 women experiencing violence annually. They are in urgent need of help. UN Women has established One Stop Centres where women receive medical, psychological and legal assistance, but these centres cannot help all survivoors, due to a lack of funding. By joining or donating to the Orange Challenge, you can make a difference for the women in Sierra Leone.

With €100, we can help one survivor of violence, for example with shelter, living expenses, transport to court and medical or psychological assistance.

Will you join us?

Register as an individual or as a team, and send an email to actie@unwomen.nl with your postal address. We will send you a toolkit with more information about the challenge, tips and sample texts for raising funds. And, when you receive the first 25 euros, we will send you the one and only Orange the World t-shirt!