Eneza, which is swahili for “making it known” is a sexual violence prevention curriculum for high school students.
The Eneza Curriculum teaches students on sexual violence prevention, human rights laws, and practices to build a violence-free world. The Eneza Curriculum aims to increase awareness on sexual violence to better support people who are affected by sexual violence. It also teaches communities prevention strategies that will help reduce the rate of sexual violence through reporting measures and local resources for help.
Eneza was designed by one of our alumni, Lydia Matioli, who had a desire to create awareness around sexual violence in her community. Lydia was infuriated at the culture of silence when women and girls were sexually abused. She believed that if everyone had access to information on sexual violence then they would rise and advocate against it.
Eneza runs as student clubs in high schools where students learn about topics such as consent, prevention, what to do, who to tell if sexually abused, and how to find healing. Eneza operates in three phases throughout the academic year. In Phase I, Freely in Hope survivor-leaders teach the curriculum at partnering high schools weekly. In Phase II, trained student leaders from the schools lead discussions among students on matters sexual violence with the help of a discussion guide that we developed to encourage the culture of speaking out. Phase III involves the school club attending a community event of choice and sharing on sexual violence prevention with community members.
Since its inception in 2018, we have been able to reach over 3,000 students in 10 different schools in Kibera, East Africa’s largest slum. We have trained over 30 student leaders who serve as advocates in each of these schools. Through Eneza, more than 40 survivors shared their stories with Freely in Hope and we were able to direct them to resources for support. Freely in Hope has also distributed over 2,000 resource cards that provide information for survivors and for those supporting survivors.
Download the resource cards
Eneza has played a major role in changing mindsets that perpetuate violence in our communities. These are the average before and after results from high schools in kibera:
Our vision for Eneza is that the national government of Kenya will take up our sexual violence prevention curriculum and add it to the official syllabus so that it is taught in every high school in Kenya. As we work towards this, our hope is that information on sexual violence, support systems, and safe spaces to heal will be easily accessible to all.
Together we will end the cycle of sexual violence.
Help us expand our eneza programs across kenya and zambia
