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Two years ago, Faridah's world changed – she and a friend were attacked by drug addicts in a poorly lit street in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, their hometown. Faridah escaped, but her friend was raped and killed.
But since that difficult night, his neighborhood has changed. The local government has installed street lights, traffic signs and clogged drains, and unwelcome calls from motorcycle taxi drivers have almost ceased.
"I do not want my daughter to grow up and experience what I've experienced: to be called as a first name when she goes to the street," said Faridah, a 20-year-old mother who asked to be identified only by her first name . AFP at Women Deliver, a major conference in Vancouver on gender equality.
One of the sponsors of the conference is Plan International, a child rights advocacy organization that operates Enter Safer Cities, a program that engages teens to advocate for girls' safety. in 10 cities around the world.
In New Delhi, 96% of teenage girls surveyed by Plan International say they do not feel safe. In Hanoi, authorities and teenagers are working to improve bus safety for girls who need to use public transport.
"Safer cities for girls are safer cities for all," said Alexander Munive, Global Head of Gender Equality and Inclusion for Men and Women at Plan International.
In Kampala, Faridah took action after the death of her friend.
"I had the impression that my world was over," she said in a speech at the Vancouver conference, which ended Thursday.
Community action
When Plan International surveyed 156 girls in Kampala on safety in 2012, 80% of them said they felt "very uncomfortable" or "unhygienic" in public spaces including markets, roads, recreation areas and public transport.
They said that they particularly feared rape, theft and harbadment.
Safer Cities – which works in partnership with UN-HABITAT and Women in Cities International – is tackling this problem by discussing girls' rights with teenage and boy groups.
They then ask them to document safety issues in their community.
Faridah, group leader of the program, and other teenagers are walking around their neighborhood with a pen and paper, as well as a smartphone app, to map problem spots.
They then share their findings with their families, their communities and the government to advocate for improvements.
Faridah and other teenagers met with city officials and convinced them to install streetlights and CCTV cameras – simple safety measures to make girls feel safer.
The group also met taxi drivers and told them how vulnerable teens feel when they are whistled and harbaded, she explained.
As a result, many pilots have changed their behavior. Now, some even wear jackets that defend girls' safety.
"We can not do anything about it without the community," said Munive, who pointed out that the social pressure exerted by the neighborhood residents was also an important factor in getting the drivers to join.
Walk tall
At first, the people in her neighborhood were not inclined to help, says Faridah. But the mapping exercise, as well as other awareness-raising activities conducted by teenagers, have changed the game.
Now, the locals intervene and defend the girls when they are being harbaded.
"I'm becoming more popular," Faridah said, becoming a local celebrity with his work on safer cities.
"Even people I do not know recognize me, so I do not feel challenged in public spaces."
Safer Cities currently operates in Alexandria, Asuncion, Cairo, Hanoi, Honiara, Kampala, Lima, Melbourne, Nairobi and New Delhi. The organization hopes to eventually expand the program to 20 cities.
All experience has strengthened Faridah's confidence – she says she now feels safe at home and that she has returned to school with a scholarship after giving up her pregnancy at 15 years old.
"I considered myself a worthless person, like someone who could not get anything," she told AFP.
Driven by the loss of her friend and her mothering experience, Faridah is dedicated to defending the safety of girls and wants to become a women's rights lawyer.
She wants her message to reach more people across Kampala, including the police, who, she says, sometimes do not take girls seriously and transit operators from other neighborhoods.
"I want to inspire other girls to become change girls, it's my dream," she said.
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