Domtila Chesang

Domtila Chesang Lorema – Grassroots Advocate, Researcher, and Co-Founder of AWRA
Domtila Chesang Lorema is a fierce advocate for girls, and women’s rights, a grassroots leader, and a respected voice in the Pan-African feminist movement. Hailing from West Pokot, Kenya, one of the regions most affected by Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), Domtila’s activism is deeply rooted in community, experience, and an unyielding belief in the power of local women to lead transformative change.

Domtila is a co-founder of the African Women Rights Advocates (AWRA), a Pan-African, women-led collective amplifying the leadership of grassroots women human rights defenders and survivors. Through AWRA, she has led pioneering initiatives that elevate survivor-led storytelling, support healing-centered organizing, and push for decolonized, intersectional approaches to gender justice.

Her work spans from leading school-based campaigns and rescue interventions in remote villages, to conducting participatory research and launching high-level advocacy reports in global spaces like King’s College London. As the founder of the I_Rep Foundation, Domtila has supported hundreds of girls to escape FGM and child marriage, working tirelessly to enroll and retain them in school. She has been instrumental in shifting narratives around FGM, not only as a harmful practice but as a symptom of structural injustice that demands grassroots-led, community-informed solutions.

Domtila has spearheaded flagship projects under AWRA, including the acclaimed documentary film Mtetezi and the upcoming convening of 25 frontline women activists from across Kenya. These spaces emphasize sisterhood, healing, and power-sharing, with the goal of co-creating a
new model of grassroots collaboration and funding equity.

Her leadership is characterized by integrity, empathy, and an unwavering commitment to dismantling systems that marginalize African women and girls. Domtila is a mentor, a bridge-builder, and a tireless voice for justice who continues to inspire and convene women from the margins to the center of change.

At AWRA, Domtila’s work embodies the collective’s mission: to center African women, challenge dominant narratives, and champion survivor-led, feminist solutions that are as bold as they are necessary.