In partnership with the Uganda-based Rape Hurts Foundation (RHF), SELF implemented—and is expanding—a solar solution to reduce sexual assault against women and girls.

Due to the high instances of these crimes in the project community of Bukyerimba, Uganda, RHF has established a center there with programs to help prevent sexual violence and offer support to survivors and their children. RHF’s founder, Hellen Tanyinga, assists the victims of past assaults and empowers them to pursue brighter futures through compassion, education, and skills development. She also provides a safe haven for the area’s homeless children—many of them conceived through rape. An ongoing impediment for the program has been the historical lack of electricity in the region. SELF is working with RHF to address the problem in a number of ways, with reported sexual assaults down by 30%.

In Bukyerimba, it’s commons for women and girls to venture outside of town—often at night—to collect water for their families. This is when many of the assaults occur. With the installation of solar streetlights and a solar-pump water station in the center of the village, the need to venture far from home for water has been virtually eliminated, and any trip outside has the added security of public lighting. SELF has also funded three solar-powered refrigerators, which help with the storage of cold food and drinks.

As this work continues, it is SELF’s hope that these efforts can be replicated throughout unelectrified regions to support survivors of sexual violence, prevent further assaults, and improve gender equality.

Building on this work, SELF recently launched a new initiative aimed at providing entrepreneurship opportunities for local women. Learn more.