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Last week in Nairobi, Kenya, a young lady wanted to get inside a matatu – a minibus commonly used for public transport in East Africa. Before she knew what was happening to her, she was stripped naked by a group of men. Tossed around, hands tearing her clothes and grabbing and touching skin and intimate body parts. Her miniskirt and top were shredded until nothing was left but her underwear. It was all filmed and shared across Kenya and the world.

In 2013, Rutgers conducted a study to investigate the sexual health of lesbian women, gay men, bisexual men and women and trans people in the Netherlands. Nearly 5,000 people participated in this first nation-wide study amongst these groups.

Today UNFPA and Rutgers launched the State of the World Population report 2015 in the Netherlands. The report 'Shelter From the Storm: A transformative agenda for women and girls in a crisis-prone world' was presented by Arthur Erken, Director of UNFPA’s Division of Communications and Strategic Partnerships, to Jelte van Wieren, Director of the Stabilization and Humanitarian Aid Department at the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The innovative programme MenCare+ will receive a follow-up grant for Prevention+. Liliane Ploumen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, is making funds available from FLOW II (Funding Leadership and Opportunities for Women). Prevention+ focusses on involving (young) men in order to reduce violence against women, and to improve the economic participation and self-sufficiency of women.

The Dutch Postcode Lottery announced on 26 January 2016 that we could again count on an annual grant of € 900,000 for 2016. The Dutch Postcode Lottery is able to award a record figure of € 328 million to over 100 charities thanks to its 2.7 million participants. We are very grateful.

Now is the time to imagine futures free from oppressions, injustice, war and violence and to develop concrete strategies for people and planet based on our shared humanity. The 2016 Forum is a process and space for re-imagining and co-creating these futures. “There is no such a thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.” -Audre Lorde

The family should be the ideal environment for children to grow into confident adults, ready to have healthy relationships and families of their own. But it doesn’t always work like this. Rutgers helps boys and men in their roles as sons and brothers, husbands and fathers.

Between 8-11 September 2016, Rachel Ploem will be representing Rutgers at the 13th AWID International Forum in Brazil, titled "Feminist Futures: Building Collective Power for Rights and Justice." In her blog, Rachel speaks of her excitement to engage in this global initiative of intersectional learning and exchange: an important step in realising an all-gender inclusive women's rights agenda.

The chances of knowing someone who had experienced sexual violence are high if you live in a small country such as Honduras. Few laws protect our girls and women, and current events show increased levels of impunity that are likely to undermine our rights.

The chances of knowing someone who had experienced sexual violence are high if you live in a small country such as Honduras. Few laws protect our girls and women, and current events show increased levels of impunity that are likely to undermine our rights.

New research in Rwanda reveals engaging men as they become fathers helps to transform male attitudes towards women, reduce gender-based violence (GBV) and increase time spent on unpaid care work. These promising results come two years after the MenCare+ programme, the precursor of Rutgers’ current Prevention+ programme that engages men and boys to end GBV.

Across the Prevention+ programme, we engage men and women to end the cycle of gender-based violence (GBV). Fathers can play an important part in that process. We see this in rural Uganda, where 61% of women experience GBV. Our partner Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU) engages fathers in positive parenting trainings and encourages them to support women’s economic empowerment. Sharing the realities of family life together, helps change attitudes these men may have and ultimately strengthens gender-equal parenting.

On International Day of Happiness, Rutgers is pleased to share a new animated video, created through the Prevention+ programme, which promotes gender-equal societies without violence, as well as happier and healthier relationships.

It's two years since the #MeToo movement started. From Monday, 25 November, organisations all over the world, under the name 'Orange the world', will campaign for 16 days for the prevention of violence against women. Rutgers will also colour orange and will advocate for more focus on the prevention of sexual harassment and violence, in the Netherlands and abroad.

The Toolkit for Men can be used for counselling abusers who want to stop intimate partner violence and become a more respectful partner. This toolkit was developed and piloted in South Africa and Indonesia by Rutgers in partnership with 3 partner organisations in these countries.

In March 2012 Rutgers presented the research report ‘Gender Based Violence in Pakistan’. This is a ground-breaking study: never before have Pakistani women been approached directly and asked to be interviewed individually.

Girls are so foolish and silly, that they have to be beaten so they can get some good ideas in their brains. That’s what an 8 year old boy from India learned from his father and older brothers. He added that he was confused because his mother and sisters had told him: ‘All men beat their wives, one day you will do the same, and it’s what men do to be manly’. (Blog by Rachel Ploem because of the 2nd Men Engage Global Symposium in Delhi, India, 10-13 november 2014).

On the 10th of December, we celebrate Human Rights Day which marks the end of this year’s 16-day campaign (#16Days) to eliminate violence against women. It is a bitter-sweet day. Even where human rights treaties and standards address gender based violence and protect women's rights, national laws dictate the daily lives of women.

In November 2014, a team of representatives of the Malawi SRHR Alliance visited Zimbabwe to learn how the Zimbabwean civil society aims to reduce sexual and gender based violence. The visit is part of the programme Unite for Body Rights! Implemented in 9 countries in Africa and Asia, Unite for Body Rights partners regularly organise visits between national alliances.