The Guardian Girls™ is a gender-based violence prevention and response program that empowers adolescent girls and women to defend themselves from all forms of violence through sports and martial arts training. The Guardian Girls™ was born out of the pledge, which Shin Koyamada made at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), hosted by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and governments of Kenya and Denmark in November 2019 in Nairobi, Kenya. The Guardian Girls™ was created by the Koyamada International Foundation (KIF) in November and partnered with UNFPA as Strategic Partner in December, 2019. The Guardian Girls™ is a trademark of KIF and managed globally by Guardian Girls International.

VISION

We envision a world without any gender-based violence against girls and women.

MISSION

The mission is to build the self-agency of women and girls for prevention and response to all forms of Gender-Based Violence through sports and holistic martial arts training.

GOAL

Our goal is to end violence against women and girls.

GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

Gender-Based Violence is one of the most prevalent human rights violations in the world. Gender-based violence is violence directed against a person because of their gender. Both women and men experience gender-based violence but the majority of victims are women and girls. It knows no social, economic or national boundaries. Worldwide, an estimated one in three women will experience physical or sexual abuse in her lifetime. Gender-based violence undermines the health, dignity, security and autonomy of its victims, yet it remains shrouded in a culture of silence.