When Kenyan marathoner Viola Cheptoo Lagat visited the United Nations Headquarters in New York, her message was urgent and unflinching: gender-based violence (GBV) is evolving, and communities must evolve with it. 

Through her non-profit organisation, Tirop’s Angels, named in honour of her friend and fellow athlete the late Agnes Tirop who lost her life to GBV, Viola is helping girls and women in Kenya to fight GBV. She is raising awareness on the forms of GBV, often hidden in cultural nuances, and how and where to get help.

 “Tirop’s Angels is part of my life. I don’t separate it from my running career.”

Viola believes her career as a professional athlete gives her a unique advantage. As she prepares for her next race — the Tokyo Marathon in March 2026 — she uses every opportunity to raise awareness.

“Sports has opened doors for me,” she says. “The same platform allows me to meet people who want to support survivors. And our male counterparts in sports are slowly joining us. With time, men will be at the frontline,” she says.

Her own athletic resilience strengthens her activism. “In the marathon, when you reach the 35km mark, it's not fun. But you know the finish line is coming. That’s how I approach the challenges we see at Tirop’s Angels, victory will come.”

16 days of activism

During this year’s 16-days-of-activism – the annual global campaign to end GBV, Viola says she has to shift gears to confront forms of violence that did not exist when they started a few years ago — particularly those emerging in digital spaces.

Viola has watched a dramatic shift in the way violence shows up in the lives of women and girls — especially online. 

“The most rising form of GBV we are seeing right now is cyberbullying,” she says. “People hide behind a keyboard to bully others and to make it normal for people to be violated.”

She has seen harmful social media commentary even in cases of physical abuse that are widely shared online. “You will see people saying, ‘She deserved it,’ without knowing the story. They don’t even ask what happened,” she explains.

Women athletes face their own brand of digital hostility and bullying. 

“We often get body-shamed when we are running, “says Viola: For example, when female athletes [have] children, they are body-shamed for having stretch marks on their bellies. I remember reading the comments on social media about my colleague, Faith Kipyegon, when she returned to running after giving birth to her daughter and it was deeply disturbing.”

For female athletes, the bullying does not stop at their appearance, it extends to their performance on the track. 

Tirop’s Angels was originally created to raise awareness about GBV following the killing of Agnes Tirop in 2021. Since then, the organisation’s work has expanded significantly.

“We started with educating and raising awareness among our communities, many of whom did not fully understand the different forms of GBV,” Viola says. “But now we have developed new programmes and broadened our reach.”

Among these new initiatives is an after-school children’s camp, piloted with 30 participants last year. The programme teaches children their rights, how to recognise unsafe situations, and how to protect themselves. It also incorporates self-defense training through Taekwondo—a practical skill for children who often walk long distances to and from school.

Tirop’s Angels also runs a women’s empowerment initiative for former athletes and for those who never had the opportunity to pursue sport professionally. These women now help monitor and report GBV cases in their communities, while learning entrepreneurial skills through activities such as the ‘Chapati Festival’ – a flatbread making contest in which winners receive supplies to start micro-businesses.

On of the organisation’s most innovative approaches to combating GBV involves engaging men — specifically boda boda (motorcycle taxi) riders, who are often the first responders during emergencies in the villages.

“They are the ones called when a woman needs to escape violence,” Viola says. 

Tirop’s Angels constructs designated resting sheds for riders, branded with the organisation’s logo, and enlists them as ambassadors. “We tell them, ‘You cannot preach one thing and do another. If you are in this group, you cannot be violent at home.’” The initiative has helped bring more men into GBV prevention efforts.

Despite progress made in fighting GBV, gaps still persist, especially in justice, prevention, and survivor support.

“When it comes to response, we really don’t have a good system back home,” Viola says, noting that survivors are often dismissed at police stations. “They don’t take it seriously.”

Kenya has strong laws against GBV, but implementation remains a weak. More importantly, safe houses for the survivors are scarce and psycho-social support is limited. “If a woman is being beaten today, she doesn’t have a second home to go to,” Viola explains. “Without options, she will stay with the abuser.”

A lack of education and awareness remains the biggest gap in ending the vice. “Some people still don’t know what gender-based violence is. They don’t know how to report it or where to seek help.”

Getting justice for victims is another hurdle. For example, the killing of Agnes Tirop, despite her status as a world-class athlete, remains unresolved. “We haven’t received justice in Agnes’ case. The perpetrator is still out there,” Viola says. 

Agnes’ story continues to drive the organisation’s work and fuel their mission. “Her story guides us. If her story dies, then who else will raise these issues?”

Viola’s long-term vision is to one day transform her legacy into a scholarship fund and to build a fully equipped safe house where GBV survivors can seek solace and speak openly. “If Agnes had a place like Tirop’s Angels to seek help, she would be alive today,” she reflects.

Viola’s priorities for 2026 are clear: 

• Build a fully operational safe house, 

• Expand the after-school camps,

• Launch a new programme for girls transitioning from high school — a group she considers highly vulnerable.

“It’s easy to mold young people early,” she says. “For older survivors, breaking the cycle is much harder. So, I want to focus on young people — helping them see that they can be independent, powerful, and safe.”

Her message to girls and women facing GBV is simple but powerful: “Speak out. Someone will believe you. If you are discouraged the first time, speak out again. As women, if we stand together, we are very powerful.”

Ultimately, Viola hopes for a future where the Tirop’s Angels mission shifts from crisis response to empowerment. “One day, I want us to say Agnes’ name, not because she died from violence, but because her legacy helped end it.”Top of Form