Marginalized youth reclaim their power in Rwanda’s Make Way safe spaces
10 March 2025
Raised in a Christian family, Josiane Uwase was repeatedly told that sex was a preserve of married people that she must stay away from until her own marriage. No context was provided, no further discussions on sex were had. Later at 16 years, a school going Josiane has sex with a classmate and gets pregnant. She is severely reprimanded by her family, shunned by her friends.
In her community, she becomes the subject of name-calling, many suddenly referring to her as “the prostitute”. With her parents disappointed and no longer willing to provide her an education, Josiane is forced to drop out of school.
Josiane, a teenage mother who is supported by Impanuro girls through Make Way program
This is the story of many girls in rural Rwanda who, despite government efforts to provide comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) in schools, remain in the dark owing to certain cultural and religious upbringings. As with other African patriarchal contexts whose societies reinforce the gender binary and control over women’s sexuality, sex, especially as engaged in by unmarried women, is often seen as a moral failing. Sexual activity is primarily regarded as a preserve for marriage, and abstinence, especially for young, unmarried people is widely emphasised. Mass religiosity in these societies upholds the beliefs, often framing virginity as “goodness” and sexuality education as “promoting immorality”.
When they inevitably engage in sexual activity, adolescents have little to no knowledge and skills crucial for navigating sexual relations and maintaining realising theirs and others’ sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). The gap in knowledge and practice has a direct link to the often distressing consequences including teenage pregnancies and unsafe abortions, among others.
The Make Way programme in Rwanda is addressing that gap in a community-based, yourh-led effort.
Teen mother from Gatsibo district (Rwanda – Eastern Province) during the safe space
One of the Make Way consortium partners, Impanuro Girls’ Initiative (IGI) supports young women and girls in accessing sexual reproductive health (SRH) services and information through an implementation project named in the local language, Kinyarwanda. Ntusigare, which loosely translates to “do not be left behind”, facilitates safe spaces that offer marginalized youth in vulnerable communities, an inclusive and supportive environment to share their lived experiences and discuss their sexuality and reproductive health away from the judgment and reprehension in their families and societies.
The spaces are facilitated by youth from within the community who undergo Make Way’s advocacy and safeguarding training to prepare them beforehand. Together with their peers, they discuss ways to advocate for one another in an effort towards systemic change. Through these spaces, Make Way also provides participants SRHR information and services tailored to their specific needs.
One of the participants and beneficiaries of the Ntusigare is Uwase. After giving birth, she later joined the the program under which she has returned to school. A now confident speaker and fierce advocate for herself and others, Uwase reflects on the shy girl who knew so little about her own reproductive health. Citing adolescent body changes and the menstrual cycle, she says: “I now have the strategies to prevent teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, and I am a confident public speaker.”
For youth with compounded vulnerabilities who do not have the liberty to discuss and learn about their sexual and reproductive health, the Make Way programme’s safe spaces model is a critical necessity. Combined with the intersectional community scorecard (ICSC) framework which puts youth at the forefront of advocacy for their sexual and reproductive rights, safe spaces are helping youth with compounded vulnerabilities to reclaim their lives and take back their power.
