hohost: welcome to "global 300" harassmentnd 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 t gendr 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 pictures 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 common in public placaces, it oversrshadows many latitionships, too. m many cietieie women are liteteray at the mercy oththeir panersrs. according to a woror bank report 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 dandoraonone of nairi's popoort distriris.

she knows firsthand hohahard life here cabe. lulucy: i've gone through ththe whwhole lot. i'veve gone througugh gender-bd viviolce, i wawas a teen m moi got into a relatnship that was not healthy for meme, i experirienced genderer-based violence i in this relatations, 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 hainfectcteder with h hiv. david died at justst seven mont. lucy dececidedo fight --gaininst the virus,s, and for womome. she founded d a club callelede "posositive young women voeses,a regugular meet-up p for women ie settlemento o talkbout s sexual violence, , including frfrom tr papartner. >> he bebeat me evy y day. people told d me tt he s sle th lots of other women. hehe alwaywentnt outrinkining, while i wewent to bed huhungry.

>> s sexual assaulult can occurr within m marriage. if your husband foeses himself on you w wheyou don'n'want it, then thahat's rape, plplain and simple.. my frienend once came to me an ld m me th her h husnd was forcing himself onerer. atat first i laughghed at the t that she wanted to report hehr own husband. but shshe insisted t that it s rape. . so we went t to the poe station. and the lilice just laugughed d said, "but he's your h husband" reportrter: talking g about vit exexperiences dodon't mean t y won'n't happen agagain. but thwomemen nd that didiussing it amamong themselvs has s a positive e effect. > the regularar meetings aray important t for us, becacausee have to shshare what we are gon throh. anand thenou c can g somebebod o is relating to what another rsonon igoing through. anmaybe ththat is how wewe lean that this is not norormal. like, ing g abus, for r so it is v very normal.. theyey have ayeded here for so long thahat they thinknk sexual abuse is norormal.

therere is nothingng normal at ththat. reporter: : lucy is alsoso figg at a p political levevel. she campaiaigns confeferees for more gender equality in he country. she also rreresentthose living wiwi hiv. the fection te amongoung women in kenya has bn n on the risegainin irecent years. one rereason is a lalack of education.n. lucy: you cacannot talk ababoux in schools, , even in highgh schools. even the schools we go to, we cannot just t come with cocond, eveven if the ststudents ask f , and start t demonstrating on hw to u. . that wld c causehaos.. so, we still don't have se ucatation schooools patricia: ere is also that enend th youngngeople who, due to povertyadololesnt girls and younwomen n gage with older peoplehey y ca sponsors for seal favavs.

so, at times thaalalso cses infection. rerter: sexual favs s in exexange for money. someomen are in such financial need that t they see no o other option.. getttting a schoolol educatios one stepep towards fememale autonomy. but there are lots o of thin that s stand in the way, even menstruatition. manyny women can't't afford sany products, and so they don't go to school during their periods. lucy has hado o deal with thths isissue, and so o shs tryingno resolve it. lucy: we are here because of the adopt a girls month initiative, whicis a monthly ititiative where we g go to five scschoo, where we give sanitary towels to girlanand mentshipip to th ys and girirls. we want to k keep our girlrlsn schohool to reach their highet potentntial, so we f find that g inin dandora, itit's not a welf community,y, so we find d that

sanitatary towels isis sometimet reallyly available.. porter: : lucy uses heher visis to schooools to talk t to studs about t sexual autononomy, especially t the young womomen. her r ultimate goaoal is to he realal equity inin kya, and d e wantnts others to o benefit fror painful expeperiences. lucy: evererything i do o is pod by, i i don't want a anyone elo gogo through whahat i went thr, if i c c help p it because you don't have to have so much. you only neeeed a role mododel, because for r me, i felt a at t titime, i lacked someone i coud look up to i lacked someone i c cld talk to likeke a big sisteter. and if i c can be that i in myy lile wayay, then i t think thats all i needed. announunr: you canan find out me about women'n's rights on dw women, our facebook page it's filled th inspiri stories about t women determind

to change the e status quo. dw w women gives a v voice toe women n of 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: : the guilt isis somethi haveve overcome. you don't choose where you are born. reporter: ananya bir i is a po star in n india, and shehe's t been on heher first tourur. shshe doesn't neneed tmake m mn from musicic because shehe's n rich sce b birth r r most oher r fanshavingng a lili like ananya's is ththing more than dreaeam. ananya: : i think, espspecialln india,a, the gap betetwe the rc and the e poor is massssive. and while grgrowing up it thee always sort t of pinched m me m with, anand i nted t to somemething to briridge that . rereporter: the e birla famils prprivate assets are worth a an esestimated ninene billion eu. her father kumar birla owns an industririal empire, butut ana didn't join n the family b busi. she set t up her own c company,

svsvantantra micicrofin, that ts microloansns to ople w whoould normally be denied a loa e hahad norior e expience inin banking. ananya: everyone else e in the industry w was itheir r late thirties, early forties, or late forties, and i was 17. so i initially no o one took mee seririously, bankekers didn't e meme seriously, o one was w wig to l lend to me, no o one ws willing to come on boa i in teterms the t tea the tougughest thing to o get r was getttting people o on my e anand to show that i aseririos abouout it i am a kidid, but a kid d wita vision. reporter: indians who o are bon into povererty usually s stay . the caste system often dedetermin peoeople'socialal status a and chances o of climg the ladder, and so their fate is decided for em.

it's almost impossible foror farmrmers in the c countrysido geget a bank loaoan. momost of them d don't have thte necessary financial means or securitities svatantra microfin helps peoee likeke the with h wh's callelea microcredit. this fararmer has taken out a micrreredit of arounund 10euros 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. rekha: life was veryiffificult before. we were ststruggling a l lo. i'd always d dreamt of havavia cow, but i couldn't t make it happenen thanks to the miocreredit, i w ableo bubuy on w i cacasell its milk anthee money really helps toward househehold costs. reporter: : the coany y has alrey y paid outut around 30 million n euros in micicrocred,

mostly t to women. the monegogoes towds a all kinds of thihings, like mamachine, animals, a n new house, a a card insurarance. arouound 99% of ththe borrowersp up with their repayments because of ananys s specl system. ananya: i crteted sothingg called social llatater. we put ladieies in a groupup af one e lady doesn't't repay, tn evereryone, all the other ladis hahave to ip i in anrepay.y. and that p pressure, it adds a little bitit of pressurere. repoer: her r ivate bank has already helplped more thanan ha million n women acro i india dend is s very high fofor thee micro-loans. even though e e intere ratates are cocomparable to o those oa conventional bank. the process is simple. cucustomers applply for a loanan

onlinene using an app. erery custer gets thr r own digital account. ananya birla maintai t that she'not a a chity. ananya: ththink are a a catalyst f theheirrowth. i thinthat's wt i woullike to say becausthey repay us with prinple and terest. so warare nohelpininthem in y way, ware justrying to ovovide em with product that wowoulsupport them to grow. report: this ia chanceor pele to brk free fm poverty, a chance that they might not have got from anyone el. >> i am a a global teen. 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 makes 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 can't do that nowadays. 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 eco-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 d skins of t 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 measures to enhance energy eicicienc especicially exportersrs. ere are overseas markets where peopleay a a l of attention to where goods s come fro consumumers ve bececome very demanding. they want touyuy wineshat t have been produced sustaiblbly. wiwithouexcessssivuse of w wat. without leaving a maivive ececologal fooootpnt. repoporter: recurrrrent and persistent d droughts meanan irrigation is of increining imimpoance, as are 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 very importatant.

it helpsps conserve tural resources and reduce carbon emisissions. anand of course, it lowers o r costs. it is also good fofor our bran. it enhances our image, especially among foreign customers. reporter: growers and processors acacross the food industry say they need to work more closely 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]

female narrator: in cicities across the globe, people are rethinking housing arrangements. they're ditching the confines of traditional apartments and opting for communal living. in seoul, 3 families band together to build the home of their dreams and the urban support system they've never had. on a larger scale, participants in a housing cooperative in lyon band