Championing The Cause of Girls, Every Single Day
Today is International Day of the Girl, celebrated on Oct. 11 every year. According to the UN, “the day aims to highlight and address the needs and challenges girls face, while promoting girls’ empowerment and the fulfillment of their human rights.”
The theme of the day in 2018 is With Her: A Skilled Girl Force, which lays emphasis on education and skill enhancement required for the girl child today so that she enters the workforce fully skilled, up-to-date with the technology and digitalization, a decade from now.
The challenges and inequality faced by girls and women span from areas such as access to education, nutrition, legal rights, medical care, and protection from discrimination, violence against women and child marriage.
While in developing countries, girls face challenges in terms of their getting their basic rights, in developed countries, girls face challenges of getting rights equal to those enjoyed by men.
The so-called ‘glass ceiling’, higher incomes for men for the same work, difficulty in securing jobs, and sexual harassment are among the challenges faced by women in developed countries. Meanwhile, in developing nations like India, girls fight for the right to education, to make their own choices and for safety.
Even today, a girl child is given less preference than a boy child in many rural as well as urban parts of the country, as girls are considered to be a financial burden while there are hopes that a boy will earn and support the family when he grows up. Despite efforts to empower girls and harsher penalties, there are many challenges.
Child marriage
According to research, India has the highest number of child brides in the world. Almost 47 percent of girls in India are married before their 18th birthday. The rates of child marriage vary between states and are as high as 69 percent and 65 percent in Bihar and Rajasthan respectively. While fewer Indian girls are marrying before the age of 15, rates of marriage have increased for girls between the ages 15 and 18.
Lack of education : Achievements and Challenges report by UNGEI (United Nations Girls Education Initiative) released in 2015 states that in India, gender gaps in primary and lower secondary education have been closed. In the arena of education, we have indeed made progress.
Several strategies have been used to assure improved accessibility and quality of girls’ schooling at the primary and lower secondary levels. These include free textbooks for girls, back-to-school camps and bridging courses, recruitment of female teachers, and national programmes to increase demand for schooling among rural and disadvantaged girls.
However, in rural India and lower economic groups, girls end up with a huge share of household chores, which often sees them drop out of school.
Access to medical care: Poor sanitation, lack of proper food for the mother and a new born girl child, followed by poor nutrition and lack of medical care when it comes to health and hygiene, makes the girl child susceptible to various ailments and considerably lowers immunity.
The Way Forward
The Indian Constitution provides a powerful mandate for human rights in its Preamble, Fundamental Rights and Duties and specific provisions for affirmative action. The government has instituted laws and policies protecting the rights of girls and women, including a ban on dowry, pre-birth sex determination and child marriage. State schemes and programmes provide bicycles, hostels, life skills and stipends.
Nationally, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao directly tackles pre-birth sex-determination and along with Sabla and Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana supports the empowerment of girls. “One stop shop” centres for survivors of violence against women have been set up and are being utilised. Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Yojana, Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram and Janani Suraksha Yojana support pregnant women, new mothers and infants.
India is also home to robust social movements and organisations for gender equality and women’s rights. Few of us can forget the months after December 2012 when one of the largest protests on violence against women and girls resulted in the Indian Parliament amending within three months Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code. This now includes largely progressive elements on preventing and responding to violence against women and girls. Stories and images of girls and boys fighting gender based discrimination and violence fill newspapers every day in every language.
If you want to celebrate International Day of the Girl, here’s some things you can do to get involved:
Engage in conversation: Online, you can use the hashtag #DayOfTheGirl to join the conversation or you can visit DayOfTheGirl.org to learn more about ways you can advocate for girls. Offline, you should talk it out with your family, friends, and acquaintances.
Check out organizations dedicated to empowering girls around the world: There’s many organizations taking on these challenges, from ending child marriage, to helping with girls’ education, providing healthcare, and fighting poverty. These include the Malala Fund, She’s The First, CARE International, Camfed, and Girls Not Brides. They could use your support, be it through donations or volunteering.
Support the girls in your life: Today, and everyday, remind every girl that you encounter that they’re powerful, they matter, and they’re an essential part of our future.
And don’t forget to put those words into action, because it’s on us to create a better world for all girls — not just one International Day of the Girl, BUT EVERY DAY!
Watch this amazing music video celebrating the spirit and vitality of girls across the world below
Ketto & Girl’s Empowerment/Gender Equality
Since its inception, Ketto has been a strong proponent of empowering girls and women in India. Click on the links below to view crowdfunding projects it has been involved with for gender equality causes. If you feel inspired, you can start your own project with Ketto as well.
Ketto Blog remains committed to inspiring and compelling social change to India’s most pressing problems through the power of great stories and engaging our audiences to take meaningful action.
