Girls are the key to progress and development

On this International Day of the Girl, let’s not forget the millions of girls coming of age who are living in crisis.

During conflict and crises, girls are left extremely vulnerable. Structures and systems, such as education and law enforcement, which normally protect the vulnerable, are broken down and girls are more likely to experience sexual violence, exploitation, physical abuse, unwanted pregnancies and forced marriage.

Each year, 150 million girls experience rape or sexual violence.

Aside from our moral obligation to protect adolescent girls from violence and empower them to fulfill their dreams, reducing violence against girls and increasing access to education can have a tremendous impact on a host country’s economic progress and development. We know that increasing the number of girls who complete secondary school by just 1% can increase a country’s per capita income growth rate by at least 0.3 percentage points. When women and girls contribute to household income, violence against them decreases.

Despite the evidence, the humanitarian community lacks programming and interventions designed specifically for adolescent girls’ needs and dreams. And of the programs that do exist, many do not take into account age and gender-related issues faced by girls.

The IRC is changing this reality. We are conducting research (see below) and generating evidence on what works to improve the lives of adolescent girls, to keep them safe and in school, delay early marriage and avoid unintended pregnancy. By working with girls, their caregivers, and communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan, Ethiopia and Liberia, we are gaining crucial understanding of what life is like for girls living in humanitarian crises. We are testing new and innovative interventions that not only keep them free from violence, but increase opportunities for girls to achieve their dreams and avoid harmful traditional, societal norms.

What we’ve learned so far*:

1) Adolescent girls are at high risk of violence.

Approximately 40% of all girls in our research had experienced some kind of sexual abuse. This number is significantly higher than the global average of 10%. More specifically, initial findings show that a third of all girls in the Ethiopia and DRC programs had experienced physical violence in the past year and nearly 50% of girls in Liberia had experienced some kind of physical violence in their lifetime. In refugee camps in Ethiopia and in communities in DRC, perpetrators of all types of violence (sexual, physical and emotional) were most commonly either intimate partners or caregivers.

Adolescent girls face significant risks of violence outside and inside the home, and yet there are few specialized prevention and response programs aimed at improving their lives. There is a need for explicit programming that attends to the fact that adolescent girls live in the intersection of violence against women (VAW) and violence against children (VAC). Traditionally, interventions to prevent violence against women and violence against children are thought of as separate. The IRC recognizes that these experiences are related for adolescent girls and has been working to bring together relevant expertise that applies both of these lenses to our work.

2) Many adolescent girls believe that women should accept violence to keep the family together.

Across refugee camps in Ethiopia, rural Liberia, and communities in the DRC, the majority of girls agreed that women should accept violence to keep the family together. A high percentage of girls in rural Liberia agreed with unequal roles between men and women; for example, around half of all girls agreed that men need sex more than women, that it is a woman’s duty not to get pregnant, and that women should accept violence to keep the family together. Nearly one-third agreed that a man can beat his wife if she does not agree to have sex with him. In refugee camps in Ethiopia, a first look at the research reveals that over three-quarters of girls agreed with at least one reason for when intimate partner violence is acceptable. This number was even higher in communities in eastern DRC.

These results show us that girls believe violence should be tolerated and that men have a higher status than women. These beliefs are likely passed down from adults in their lives. Interventions must work with girls, their caregivers, and their communities to break the cycle of gender inequality, question societal norms, end violence against women and girls and elevate girls’ value and potential.

3) The majority of girls across all four sites had been enrolled in school at some point in their life, but a lower percent were enrolled at the time of the study.

As depicted in the graph above, lifetime prevalence of school enrollment was high across all programs. However, in each setting, a smaller percentage of girls stated that they were enrolled in school at the beginning of the study. This is in contrast to the fact many girls reported having high aspirations for the education.

Overall, the majority of girls surveyed had been enrolled in school at some point in their lifetime, but faced challenges remaining in school. Some adolescent girls are married and have children, and efforts to support their education may need to be adapted to this reality. Better understanding the reasons behind school drop-outs will help us better target programs to support adolescent girls and keep them in school.

4) In several countries, adolescent girls want to be older before getting married and having children, yet girls in these communities still face early marriage and pregnancy.

Understanding adolescent girls’ aspirations can help better orient programming to support their choices. Many adolescent girls surveyed aspire to wait until they are adults to get married and have children.

These findings are shaping our understanding about the lives and experiences of adolescence girls. The IRC will continue to build evidence based programming based research findings in order to better serve girls in humanitarian crises.