Hochgeladen am 12.03.2010
Rebecca Lolosoli is the recipient of the Vital Voices 2010 Fern Holland Global Leadership Award. The Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards honor and celebrate women leaders who are working to strengthen democracy, increase economic opportunity and protect human rights around the world.
Throughout her life, Rebecca would witness the violence that stemmed from certain practices of her Samburu culture sometimes in her own home, at the hands of her own family. She stood up in front of the village elders and asked that they put an end to violent customs and that they provide protection to women who had endured domestic abuse and rape. Rebecca raised her voice so loudly that she was beaten for it. Her in-laws decided she was an embarrassment, and everyone around her tried to silence her appeals; to remind her of her place. In the end, she decided to leave violence behind and to seek out a better life. With fifteen other women survivors from her area in the Samburu region of northern Kenya, she formed a new village; a womens village, a safe haven for women fleeing violence or persecution. They called this village Umoja, which means unity.
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