Women are using graffiti to speak on social issues

Graffiti seems to be having its moment in Africa.

In Lagos, Nigeria, the art graffiti has been embraced by corporate brands and the state government to beautify the city. This is part of the efforts to transform Lagos into a mega city.

While graffiti has aesthetic functions in Lagos, it is used for awareness on social issues in Kenya. Graffiti is not new to Kenya. Many urban art pieces adorn Matatus (buses) mainly for artistic expression. Also it used to be a male dominated scene but now the women are stepping in.

A workshop known as Graffiti Girls is made up of Kenyan women who use the urban art form to tackle issues such as domestic violence and mental health.

"Many people feel like there’s no one to listen to them. They don’t have a shoulder to lean on, so they only find solutions via graffiti" says Cynthia Aluoch, a member of the Graffiti Girls, in a video.

The group was formed by Paul Douglas whose graffiti moniker is Smokillah. He created Graffiti Girls to give back to the women who helped raise him.