hohost: welcome to "global 300" harassme and sexual violence are all too commonplace for many women around theorld. in japan, for example, women are often gropoped in overcrcrowded trains. most suffer in silence. but they're beginning to fight back. in one of nairobi's poorest didistricts, a young woman is raising awareness about gender violence. and the daughter of an indian billionairire offers micicrofie to poooor rural womemen to help improve the lives of their families. whether it's being whistled at, subjected to vulgar comments, or touched without consent, in many countries sexual harassment is

regarded as a trivial offence. it happens everywhere -- out on the streets, in buses, on trains, or at work. and it affects a lot of women. international studies indicate that 50% to 90% of women in the countries surveyed reported having suffered sexual harassment. the victims often don't file a complaint. they know their accusations are unlikely to resonate in patriarchal societies. reporter: it's rush hour in tokyo. the trains and subways in the capital are jam-packed. perfrfect conditions for groro, oror what the japanenese cal "chikan." akari: a man touched me on the train once. i didn't say anything, i stayed quiet. it was unpleasant and i just endured it.

china: touching happens a lot up here. most of the women i know have had that experience. yuri: smartphones have an airdrop function. guys use that to send pictururs of their "thing." reporter: as a school girl, remon katayama was also groped on public transit. she kept silent, out of shame, and because this form of sexual assault seemed to be an accepted part of japanese society. even today, it's dismissed as a trivial offense. victims and bystanders are encouraged to call the police, but that rarely happens. remon: even when you say something, the people around you often just act annoyed. they rarely help you. so, many have basically just quit saying anything. reporter: she recently developed "chikan radar," an app that allows users to report harassment and tag the location. it already has 40,000 registered users. remon: my app shows you where gropers are, and how many

incidents have happened where. it's constantly updated. reporter: the app serves as a kind of warning system for other users. it won't solve the problem of chikan, but remon katayama hopes it will assure users, don't be ashamed, you're not alone, even if the police are no help. remon: the feeling of powerlessness has a lot to do with the fact that groping is seen as a normal part of life. many victims even worry that if they call for help, the train will be stopped and their fellow commuters will be late for work, so they say nothing out of consideration. reporter: chikan is also a common theme in manga. here, too, women and girls shown are at the mercy of male gropers. many images are far more violent than the.. meet blogr kamaka oga.

she was still in elementary school the first time a man reached inside her underwear. she's written a book about what she experienced and is now calling on other women to speak up as well. kamaka: i took the train to school, along with friends who were boys. their experiences of taking the train were completely different to mine. i realized men will only be able to understand the problem if we talk about it, loud and clear. she's also taken her message onto social media. kamaka ogawa takes us to an event for women who've decided to speak out. "the flower demo" is held once a month. it's attended by people who've been victims of groping and other forms of sexual violence. normally about 500 people attend, but today there are fewer because of a typhoon. akiko: one reason we're here is because, in march, several cases of sexual assault resulted in acquittals. four of them.

reporter: the crowd falls silent. for many here, it's the first time they've spoken about ththr experiences. sexual harassment and assault has long been a taboo topic in japan. minori: ththis demonstration s very important to us. it's a place where we can gather hope, and feel like our voices might help change things. reporter: even men are speaking out, in solidarity with their daughters. takeo: i'm a man but this isn't just a problem that affects other people. reporter: the #metoo movement may be bigger in other countries, but in japan, a country famous for its reticence, the flower demos are practically a revolution. kamaka: some of the women have spoken out about incidents they felt they could never talk about.

it gets the problem out into the open and gives women the feeling that they're in it together. reporter: kamaka ogawa plans to return here every month, to raise awarareness and create change. host: gender-based violence is not only c common in pubublc placaces, it oversrshadows many latitionships, too. in m many societieies, women e liteterally at thehe mercy of r partnersrs. accordrding to a woror bank rept from 2017, marital rapwawas ststill not consididered a crin as many as 112 counties. the united nations estimate that around 15 million women between the ages of 15 and 19 have endured forced sex. husbands and partners pose the greatest risk. reporter: lucy wanjiku njenga grew up in dandora, one of nairobs popooresdistririct

she knows firsthand hohahard life here cabe. lulucy: i've gone through ththe whwhole lot. i'veve gone througugh gender-bd viviolence, i was a teen momoi got into a relationship that was not healthy for meme, i experirienced genderer-based violence i in th relatationshi, and i was tetested positiviver hiv. reporter: : about ten years ag, the age of 1919, lucy foundnd t ththat the father of her sonon d had fectcted h with h hi david died at justst seven mont. lucy decided tfifight --gaininst the virus,s, and for womome. she founded d a club callelede "positive young women voices," a regugular meet-up p for women it sesettlement ttatalk aut sexexl violence, inincluding fromom tr partrtner. >> he beatat me everdaday. pepeople told meme thahe slelt with lots of other wom.. he a alwaywent o outrinking,g, while i wentnt to bed hungngry.

>> sexexual assault t can occur within mararriage. if your husband forc h himself on you whehen u don't t nt it, then that't's rape, plaiain and simple. my friend d once camtoto me an ld me e th her hususnd was forcing himself on h.. at f first i laugheded at the t that she wanted to report herr owown husband. but she e insisted thahat it s rape. soso we went to o the poe station. and the pocece just laughehed d said, "but he's your hususband" reporterer: talking ababout vit expeperiences doesest mean thy won't t happen againin. bubut the men n fi that discscsing it amonong themselvs has a a positive effffect. >> t the regular m meetings arey important fofor us, becaususee have to sharare what warare gon throh. and d thenou canan g somebodod who is relating to whaananother peon i is ing through. and ybe thatat is how we l lean that this is not normamal. lilike, beg ababusedfor sosomet is verery normal. they h have sted h here for so long that t they think s sexual ababuse is normamal.

there e is nothing n normal at thatat. reporter: lulucy is also f figg at a pololitical levelel. she campaigngns confererees for more gender equatyty in he country. she also repsesents ose living with hiv. the fection te amongoung women in kenya has beeonon the rise again i in recent yearsrs. one reasason is a lackck of education. lucy: you cannot talk about sex inin schools, eveven in high schools. even the schools we go to, we cacannot just cocome with cond, evenen if the stududents ask fo, and start dedenstrating on how to useththat wou cauause cos. so, s still don't have sex edatioion inchoolsls. patricia: the is also that trd d thatoung p pple who, due to poverty, olesesce girls and yoyoung men enenge with older people ty cacallponsors for sexu favoror

, at times that soso caus infection. rerepoer: sexual favorinin exchchge for money. sosome wen are in such financial need that ththey see no otother option. gettining a school e educatios one step t towards femalale autonomymy. but there are lots o of things that statand in the way, even menstruationon. many w women can't a afford sany products, and so they don't go to school during their periods. lucy has had tdedeal with thiss issusue, and so shshe'trying o resolve it. lucy: we are here because of the adopt a girls month initiative, whwhich is a monthly initiatae where we go o to five schohoo, whwhere we give sanitary towelso girls d d mentorip t to bo bo and girlsls. wewe want to keeeep our girlsn schoolol to reach their highet potentiaial, so we finind that g in d dandora, it's's not a welf community, s so we find ththat

sanitaryry towels is s sometimet really a available. reporter: lucy uses r r visits tochoolsls ttalk to o udents about sesexual autonomomy, esespecially thehe young womene. her ulultimate goal l is to he real e equaly in k ken, and shh wants s others to bebenefit fror papainful expeririences. lucy: everytything i do isis pod by, i dodon't want anynyone elo go t through what t i went thr, if i cananelp itit. because you don't have to have so much. yoyou only need d a role modele, bebecause for meme, i felt at t timeme, i lalacked someone i cd okok up to i lacked someone i couou talk to like a a big sister.r. and if i canan be that in n myy lile way, , then i thihink thats all i need.. announcer: you can find out mome about women's s rights o on dw women, our facebook page. it filled wi inspiring stors about women dermined

chahangthe ststus quo. dwomenen ges a voice to the women ofof our world. host: sometimes all it takes is a cow, some better seeds, or a simple machine to dramatically improve a farmer's lot in life. it allows their children can get an education, and with it, the chance of a better future. microfinancing can play a key role here. $124 billion worth of microloans were paid out in 2018, 80% of them to women. most in asian countries like bangladesh, india, and vietnam. but microloans are not handouts. investors, too, profit from the often high interest rates.

ananya: ththe guilt is s somethi have o overcome. u don't choose where you are born. reporter: ananya birlas s a pop star in inindia, and she's's t been on her r first tour.. she e doesn't needed tmake monn from music b because she's's n ririch sce birirth r momost oher fafanshaving a a life like ananya's is thining more than a eam.m. ananya: i think, eececially dia, t theap betweweenhe richh and the popoor is massivive. anand while growowing up it te alalways sort ofof pinched me m withinand d i waed to o do someththing to bridgdge that . repoporter: the bibirla famils privivate assets are worth ann estitimated nine b billion eu. her father kumar bir o owns an industrialal empire, but a ana dididn't join ththe family busu. she set upup her own comompany,

svanantantra microrofin, that gs microans t to ople whohoould normally be denied a loan. shhad d no por expxpernce in banking. ananya: everyone elsinin the indury wasas itheir late thirti, early rties, olate forts, and ias 17. so initially nonone to me seriously, bkersrs dn't take me seriouslyno oneneas wililng toenend toe, no one was willing to come on boardnn termrms ofhe teaeam. the toughehest thing to geget r was gettining people on n my e and d to show that i am riouos about t it. i am a kid, , but a kid wiwita vision. reporter: indians who arare bon into povertyty usually statay . the caste system oenen detetermin peoplple'social status andnd chances of f climg the ladder, and so their fate is decided for th.

it's's almost impopossible for farmerers in the couountrysido get t a bank loan.n. mostst of them donon't have thee necessary financial means or curities. svatantra microfin helps peopl ke t theseith whwhat called d microcredit. this farmemer has taken out a microcdidit of around d 100 ros to buy another cow and increase his production. the family needs a second loan to pay for a hospital visit for the father and son, of around 400 euros. rerekha: life was very dficucut before. we were struruggling a loto. i'i'd always drereamt of havia cow, but i couldn't mamake it happen. thanks to ththe microcredidit, s able to buy y one. now i can n sell its mililk ane money realally helps towowad householold costs. reporter: ththe compy hahas already papaid out around 30 million eueuros in microrocred,

mostly to o women. the money eses towar allll kin of thingngs, like machchine, ananimals, a newew house, a cacd insurance. around 99% of the e borrowers kp up with their repayments, cause of ananya'spspecia stem.. ananya: i cread d someing called social coatereral wewe put ladies s in a group af one lalady doesn't r repay, tn everyoyone, all thotheher laess haveve to ip in n anrepay. and that preressure, iadadds a little bit o of pressure.. report: her prprate bank has alalready helpeded more than ha million wowomen acro indndia dend is vevery high for r thee micro-loans. even though thininterestateses are compmparable to ththose oa conventional bank. the process is simple. custstomers apply y for a loan

online u using an app. evy y custom gets theiowown digital account. ananya birla maintainshahat shshe's t a chchary. anya: i inink were a catalyst forheirir gwth. i think at's whai would ke to say. because ey repay us with princie and inrest. so we e e not lping g em in anway, we e just trying to pridide th with a oduct th uld suppt them tgrow. reporterthis is chance f peop to breafree fro poverty, a chance that they might not have got from anyone else > i am a global tee host: this week, our "global teen" comes from mexico.

iván: my name is ivan emmanuel, and i live in zapopan, jalisco. in my free time, i like to do taekwondo, the martial art, and play video games. what makeses me happy is being with my friends, my family, and my relatives.

i don't think so. back then, my grandparents could go out and play in the streets. but we c can't do that nowaday. it's not as safe anymore on the streets and in the parks. what i hope for in the future is a better world where there's no more pollution and where there's no danger of species going extinct here on earth, whether in the oceans, on land, or in the air. host: now in "global ideas," we're off to chile in south america. as a nation blessed with tons of sunshine, chile seems predestined to make use of solar energy. around the town of molina, our

reporter alexa meyer discovered vintners keen to use renewables to cut costs and protect the climate. reporter: grapevines like lots of sun, as long as they get enough watater as well.. but t it hasn't rarained in thee district of molina for m month. and the amouount of snow a ande meltlt from the anandes has declined. decades ago, the government sold the rights to ground and surface water to private-sector companies. so to secure access to water, one had to have money. nicolás morales sayshahat's wrg. nicolás:s: those with h more rs haveve aess to m me water. ththat's how werer is stribubud here, t peper ctare. there aroutfits th just e hectare that havmomore wer than land. stribubuon isn't e equitable. and thatat's a big proroblem in chile. reporter: morales has 400 hectares under cultivation.

half his grapes go to another, larger winery, viña san pedro. they advisise him on ways s tot by with leless water. for examplple, lining irirrigan channelsls to reduce s seepage. viña san pedro has a drip irririgaon system that oimimizes upta b by thvines s d minimizes ste.e. but it is stilill powered byba dieselel generatator. the fuelel is expensive and its not ececo-friendly. but that is seset to change.e. juan: we a are soon gogoing to install sosolar panels.. we a already have e a biogas pt hehere. the plant runsns on the seeds n skins s of the grapes afaftewe hahave pressedhem at harvevest titime.

we macerate all that and feed the planant with it alall year-round. reporter: solar panels on the roof of the winery have already cut energy costs by a third. viña san pedro aims to have switched entirely to renewable enerergyy 2021. withth financial s support froe germrman-chilean c chamber f commerce and industry, iisis consnsiderg a fefeasility ststy for a pumpeded hydroelectrtric fafacility to ststorthe enerert generates. jorge: every increase in efficiency means lower costs. bubut in our comompany, investt always invololves protectiti te envinment.t. thatat's part of our strategy. rereporter: viñaña san pedr, estatablished in 1 1865.

it sells 72 million liters of wine a year, and uses the same amount o of water justst to boe it. ththe chamber ofof commerce considers the winery exempryry in i its commitment t to renewe energy and the efficient use of water. iris: compananies in t f food indudustryan't g getround adting meaeares to enhance energy eicicienc especicially exportersrs. ere are overseas markets where peopleay a a l of attetentn to where goods s come fro consumumers ve bececome very demanding. they want touyuy wineshat t have been produced sustainably. wiwithout cessssive e of w wat. without leaving a maivive ececologal fooootpnt. repoporter: recurrrrent and persistent d droughts meanan irrigation is of increining imimportce, asasre energy-efficient and eco-friendly delivery systems.

iris: the projects we have done so far, such as studies we have co-financed, have all involved companies that realize they need to act. they come to us and say, we want toto conduct a f feasibility sy to see how w we can addresesse energy issue, and enhance ener ficiciency reporterer: econut processes walnuts. its solar panels provide about a third of its electricity. that has reduced operating costs and allowed the companany to invest more e in automatioion. ththat in turn h hasaised ththt utilization rate. at's important, because walnut harves havave en declilini due to drorought. milenko: energy efficicycy is ry importatant

itelpsps cserve naral resoces and duce carn emissions. anand course,t lolowe our costs. its s alsoood fofoour brand. it enhces our age, peciallymong forgn stomers. report: growerand procsors across t food instry say th need toork morelosely together in the face of ssive wateter shortages.s. thatat way, they c can utilizee scscarce resourcrce as efficiey as possible.e. manyny here are worried abououe future. host: that's all from us at "global 3000" this time. we're back next week, but don't forget, we love hearing from you. so send us your feedback, global3000@dw.com.

and check us out on facebook, dw women. see you soon. take care. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captionining institut, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]