Through advocacy and empowerment campaigns, UN Volunteer Tomoko Yatsu (Japan) used her technical skills to raise awareness about gender-based violence and drive behaviour change. She served as a Programme Analyst with UN Women's programme to End Violence Against Women and Girls in Tanzania.
In Tanzania, Violence Against Women and Girls is widespread and pervasive. Patriarchal social structures and traditional gender norms perpetuate violence.
Women may be socialized to accept, tolerate or even rationalize domestic and partner violence perpetuated against them. For girls, some parents prevent their girl child from attending school and insist they fail exams or encourage them to quit schooling. Furthermore, rape and child marriage result in expulsion from education as does pregnancy, all of which are considered violence or violent acts.