You can help end period poverty

Girls across the world face threats including child marriage, female genital mutilation and sexual violence. UNICEF estimates that an adolescent girl dies every 10 minutes as a direct result of violence.

Violence can take many forms; domestic abuse, trafficking, rape, or harmful practices such as early marriage and female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C).

Violence against girls crosses culture, ethnicity and economic status. We know that violence does not begin with a conflict or an emergency, but any existing levels of violence against women and girls do increase during these times.

Violence against girls and women has its roots in gender inequality and discrimination - and negative norms or practices that result from these.

Period poverty is when girls' futures are unfairly put in jeopardy each month due to financial restraints, lack of facilities at school and colleges or bodily stigma.

Period poverty looks like:

Girls having to use newspaper, socks, or toilet paper

Schools having no suitable place to change

Stigma around periods in the community

High number of girls dropping out of school

High rate of absenteeism among girls

Girls feeling embarrassed about periods

We help families to provide for themselves so that they do not feel the need to marry their daughters at a young age or send them out to work.

We fund the education of girls and help them reach their career girls, including sponsored girls. Many sponsored girls go on to become teachers, nurses and business owners.

We challenge social norms and harmful practices, working with faith leaders and communities to acknowledge and act upon gender injustices and negative practices.

We engage men and boys to make sure they recognise and act upon their obligation to prevent and end violence against girls and women.

We provide training for children on their rights, how to better protect themselves, challenging existing gender imbalances and actively engaging with the wider community.

We protect girls in emergencies, creating Child Friendly Spaces where girls and boys are protected from the risk of violence, have space to play and continue with their education.

We also work within refugee camps to promote gender equality and reduce the occurrence of violence.

We provide medical, legal and psychological support as well as life skills, vocational training and other support for girls affected by violence, including former girl soldiers.

You can easily sign up to sponsor a child on the Sponsor a Child page or by calling our Supporter Care Team on 01908 84 10 10.

Girls and boys are taught to make reusable pads

Clean, safe toilets are installed in schools

Stigma and myths surrounding periods are dispelled

This means that the rate of absenteeism among girls is reduced and more girls can attend and graduate from school.

World Vision has had a Child Sponsorship programme for more than 70 years, we pair donors with a vulnerable child who needs protection and empowerment.

Child Sponsorship brings much-needed change to more than just one child — the benefits you help provide extends to each child's family, their community and other children in need. 

This is because World Vision partners, plans and works alongside local community members to help build healthy, sustainable communities for vulnerable children in the world’s hardest places. Learn more about how Child Sponsorship works. 

All of World Vision's work begins with listening to communities in need. Community leaders work with us to identify the most vulnerable children and families who will benefit from Child Sponsorship.

We work with national governments and other international agencies to identify the regions and communities that are most in need and where the most vulnerable children live. We then meet with community leaders and the wider community to gain a greater understanding of the challenges and the opportunities that exist for them and we develop a long-term plan together, to break the cycle of poverty. Find out more about how Child Sponsorship works.