Welcome
Hadamayaa is a grassroots charity based in The Gambia, West Africa, and seeks to support women and girls. The charity was founded in September 2012 by Becky Johnson, a primary school teacher from Portsmouth, UK.
Why does Hadamayaa support women and girls?
70% of the world’s poorest people are women and they own only 1% of the world’s property. In addition, women and girls have poor access to education such that 55% of those not enrolled in school are girls and 66% of illiterate people are women.
Nearly 50% of all sexual assaults worldwide are against girls aged 15 years or younger, while domestic violence is the largest cause of women’s injury and death – leading to more deaths and disability among women aged 15-44 than malaria, war, traffic accidents and cancer combined. It is estimated that 1 in 3 women in Africa experience violence in the home.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that female genital mutilation (FGM) has affected as many as 138 million women and girls in Africa, and the numbers continue to rise at a rate of approximately two million per year; FGM is prominent in The Gambia. Twenty-seven per cent of girls aged 15-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa have been married and 28% have given birth by age 18.
The lack of women’s role in decision making in community affairs and local institutions remains a challenge but is a necessary step towards improving political representation. Women in Africa are generally excluded from decision making in the home, communities and society, and they represent only a 17% share of parliamentary seats across Africa.
Why does Hadamayaa support women and girls?
70% of the world’s poorest people are women and they own only 1% of the world’s property. In addition, women and girls have poor access to education such that 55% of those not enrolled in school are girls and 66% of illiterate people are women.
Nearly 50% of all sexual assaults worldwide are against girls aged 15 years or younger, while domestic violence is the largest cause of women’s injury and death – leading to more deaths and disability among women aged 15-44 than malaria, war, traffic accidents and cancer combined. It is estimated that 1 in 3 women in Africa experience violence in the home.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that female genital mutilation (FGM) has affected as many as 138 million women and girls in Africa, and the numbers continue to rise at a rate of approximately two million per year; FGM is prominent in The Gambia. Twenty-seven per cent of girls aged 15-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa have been married and 28% have given birth by age 18.
The lack of women’s role in decision making in community affairs and local institutions remains a challenge but is a necessary step towards improving political representation. Women in Africa are generally excluded from decision making in the home, communities and society, and they represent only a 17% share of parliamentary seats across Africa.
Why The Gambia?
Under customary and Sharia law, according to the report to the CEDAW committee made by the government of Gambia in 2003, ‘it is not unusual for a woman to be forced into marriage’. Child marriage and child betrothal are not prohibited by law, and some girls are married off as young as the age of 12 years. Article 27 states that men and women ‘of full age and capacity’ have the right to marry, but does not define ‘full age’. Multi-Indicator Cluster Survey (MICL) data from 2005-6 indicates that 35.9% of women aged 20-24 had been married as children. In 2006, 25.1 percent of girls between 15 and 19 years of age were married or in union. By contrast, according to this data only 1.7% and of men aged 15-19 and 12.4% of men aged 20-25 had ever been married, indicating that girls were being married to men significantly older than them. This has implications in terms of married girls’ power and decision-making capabilities within such marriages.
In terms of inheritance, under customary law, wives are not entitled to the property of their husband unless – and until – they agree to let themselves be inherited by the husband’s family. In effect, such women are treated as a form of property to be inherited along with the rest of their husbands’ assets.
There is no specific law dealing with domestic violence. There are no figures available as to rates of domestic violence (even where cases are reported), but it is believed to be quite common. Police rarely investigate, as domestic violence is treated as a family matter. There is no law against sexual harassment, but policies have been introduced to tackle sexual harassment in schools.
Female Genital Mutilation is not prohibited under Gambian law. Recently, women’s rights NGOs working to eradicate FGM have faced threats and intimidation, the government has prohibited the dissemination of anti-FGM messages in the state media, and the president’s spiritual advisor has spoken out in favour of the practice. MICS data from 2005-6 indicates that 78.3% of women aged 15-49 had undergone FGM.
Gambia is a source, transit, and destination country for trafficking in persons, primarily children who are trafficked into forced sexual exploitation.
Contraceptive use appears to be low in Gambia, with only 17.5% of women reporting using any form of contraception in 2009. Abortion is legal only in cases where the pregnant woman’s health is in danger.
Under customary and Sharia law, according to the report to the CEDAW committee made by the government of Gambia in 2003, ‘it is not unusual for a woman to be forced into marriage’. Child marriage and child betrothal are not prohibited by law, and some girls are married off as young as the age of 12 years. Article 27 states that men and women ‘of full age and capacity’ have the right to marry, but does not define ‘full age’. Multi-Indicator Cluster Survey (MICL) data from 2005-6 indicates that 35.9% of women aged 20-24 had been married as children. In 2006, 25.1 percent of girls between 15 and 19 years of age were married or in union. By contrast, according to this data only 1.7% and of men aged 15-19 and 12.4% of men aged 20-25 had ever been married, indicating that girls were being married to men significantly older than them. This has implications in terms of married girls’ power and decision-making capabilities within such marriages.
In terms of inheritance, under customary law, wives are not entitled to the property of their husband unless – and until – they agree to let themselves be inherited by the husband’s family. In effect, such women are treated as a form of property to be inherited along with the rest of their husbands’ assets.
There is no specific law dealing with domestic violence. There are no figures available as to rates of domestic violence (even where cases are reported), but it is believed to be quite common. Police rarely investigate, as domestic violence is treated as a family matter. There is no law against sexual harassment, but policies have been introduced to tackle sexual harassment in schools.
Female Genital Mutilation is not prohibited under Gambian law. Recently, women’s rights NGOs working to eradicate FGM have faced threats and intimidation, the government has prohibited the dissemination of anti-FGM messages in the state media, and the president’s spiritual advisor has spoken out in favour of the practice. MICS data from 2005-6 indicates that 78.3% of women aged 15-49 had undergone FGM.
Gambia is a source, transit, and destination country for trafficking in persons, primarily children who are trafficked into forced sexual exploitation.
Contraceptive use appears to be low in Gambia, with only 17.5% of women reporting using any form of contraception in 2009. Abortion is legal only in cases where the pregnant woman’s health is in danger.
What does Hadamayaa aim to do to improve this?
We aim to contribute to a transformation in the status and lives of women and girls in The Gambia, West Africa, so that they can realise their rights and their full potential, and become equal and respected members of families, communities and society.
We will work with:
Girls who are attending or who are not in school and women who’ve missed out on an education. This is because education yields some of the highest returns of all development investments. We will sponsor girls who are from families that cannot afford school fees, and offer additional classes to those who are attending school. We will build and run an education and skill centre for women who have been denied education so that they may develop basic numeracy and literacy skills and learn a trade so that they may earn an income.
Women and girls in the formal and informal employment sector. This is because the jobs they occupy remain unregulated and unstable. We will provide micro loans to women and girls who need a helping hand to start up their businesses and will invite them to training courses that are relevant to them. We will offer job vacancies to women from the local community and will seek to use female employment for services that we need in The Gambia.
Women and girls at risk of, or who have been affected by, domestic, sexual or gender-based violence, including harmful traditional practices. This is because violence prevents women and girls from participating fully in society and is a major obstacle to development, peace and security. We support groups advocating the abolition of female genital mutilation. We provide women and girls with sanitary protection so that they are not shamed into solitude during their menstrual cycle, preventing them from missing out on education or work. We will offer shelter and support for women and girls who are at risk of or have been affected by violence of any kind.
Hadamayaa’s founder, Becky, has recently plunged her life savings into purchasing a plot of land in the coastal village of Tujereng, and is now raising funds to start the building process. Hadamayaa will encompass an education and skill centre, a home for up to ten girls who have been orphaned or abandoned and four guest houses that will provide employment for local women and income for the project.
We aim to contribute to a transformation in the status and lives of women and girls in The Gambia, West Africa, so that they can realise their rights and their full potential, and become equal and respected members of families, communities and society.
We will work with:
Girls who are attending or who are not in school and women who’ve missed out on an education. This is because education yields some of the highest returns of all development investments. We will sponsor girls who are from families that cannot afford school fees, and offer additional classes to those who are attending school. We will build and run an education and skill centre for women who have been denied education so that they may develop basic numeracy and literacy skills and learn a trade so that they may earn an income.
Women and girls in the formal and informal employment sector. This is because the jobs they occupy remain unregulated and unstable. We will provide micro loans to women and girls who need a helping hand to start up their businesses and will invite them to training courses that are relevant to them. We will offer job vacancies to women from the local community and will seek to use female employment for services that we need in The Gambia.
Women and girls at risk of, or who have been affected by, domestic, sexual or gender-based violence, including harmful traditional practices. This is because violence prevents women and girls from participating fully in society and is a major obstacle to development, peace and security. We support groups advocating the abolition of female genital mutilation. We provide women and girls with sanitary protection so that they are not shamed into solitude during their menstrual cycle, preventing them from missing out on education or work. We will offer shelter and support for women and girls who are at risk of or have been affected by violence of any kind.
Hadamayaa’s founder, Becky, has recently plunged her life savings into purchasing a plot of land in the coastal village of Tujereng, and is now raising funds to start the building process. Hadamayaa will encompass an education and skill centre, a home for up to ten girls who have been orphaned or abandoned and four guest houses that will provide employment for local women and income for the project.
