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Sean Amos
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New report exposes girls' rights abuses
June 4, 2007 - 06:36 AM
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New report exposes girls' rights abuses
Millions of girls are being condemned to a life of inequality and poverty according to a new report from Plan.
’Because I am a Girl: The State of the World's Girls’, highlights the appalling situation in which girls find themselves - sometimes through poverty, sometimes because they are young but often simply because of their gender.
The report is the first in a series of global reports on girls to be published over the next 9 years by Plan. Timed to be released on the United Nation's International Day of the Family, ‘Because I am a Girl’ raises awareness of the threats and broken promises that blight the lives of millions of girls.
The report presents global statistics highlighting the scale of the problem. For example:
* 62,000,000 primary school-aged girls are not in education
* childhood malnutrition has led to stunted growth in an estimated 450,000,000 women
* more young girls aged 15 to 19 years die from unsafe abortions and birth complications than from any other cause
* over 100,000,000 girls, some as young as 12, are expected to marry over the next decade despite international legislation outlawing early marriages
Discrimination indefensible
“This study shows our failure to make an equal, more just world has resulted in the most intolerable of situations,” explains Graça Machel, a leading ambassador for child rights with her husband, former President Nelson Mandela.
“To discriminate on the basis of gender is morally indefensible, and economically, politically and socially unsupportable.”
‘Because I am a Girl’ warns that the Millennium Development Goals, due to be reviewed by the United Nations in 2 months, are unachievable without a global commitment to enforcing international laws that protect girls’ rights.
Included in the report is an 8-point action plan listing straight-forward steps to which every global citizen, organisation and government can contribute to improve girls’ lives. By doing so, we can support a better future, not only for them but for the world as a whole.
“Gender equality can’t be reached overnight. It’s a massive goal that everyone needs to agree to…people just need to get off their behinds and do something about it.”
Alia, aged 17
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prieten47
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Re: New report exposes girls' rights abuses
June 4, 2007 - 10:37 PM
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I hate to sound like a broken record, but religious beliefs are at the root of this discrimination against girls/women. It is very sad that many women cannot enjoy equality with men. I repeat again, the world would be a much better place if women were the decision makers. I think there would be more peace in the world and real problems like hunger and health issues would be addressed.
But no, we men will continue oppressing women, because our religions say we men are little gods in our own homes and we like the free slave labor we get from girls/women.
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prieten47
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Re: New report exposes girls' rights abuses
June 5, 2007 - 01:43 AM
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I urge all religious persons with fingers itching to pound out a denial of my above post to read this article by Sam Harris in Newsweek. I simply can't come close to making my point as eloquently as he does.
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/sam_harris/2007/01/women_are_property_1.html
The article is titled "God's Hostages" and quotes from various Christian, Jewish and Islamic texts to show how religions treat women like dirt.
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Sean Amos
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Re: New report exposes girls' rights abuses
June 5, 2007 - 01:46 AM
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prieten47 wrote:
I hate to sound like a broken record, but religious beliefs are at the root of this discrimination against girls/women. It is very sad that many women cannot enjoy equality with men. I repeat again, the world would be a much better place if women were the decision makers. I think there would be more peace in the world and real problems like hunger and health issues would be addressed.
But no, we men will continue oppressing women, because our religions say we men are little gods in our own homes and we like the free slave labor we get from girls/women.
I believe cultures are very restrictive and especially African Cultures. Men believe they should lord over women, which is actually wrong. The point is the times are changing, women are even earning more than men and are actually running families, therefore they are heads of family's. Men should accept this fact and give women a chance. Men and their egos, it just beats sense.
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Sean Amos
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Re: New report exposes girls' rights abuses
June 5, 2007 - 01:55 AM
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prieten47 wrote:
I urge all religious persons with fingers itching to pound out a denial of my above post to read this article by Sam Harris in Newsweek. I simply can't come close to making my point as eloquently as he does.
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/sam_harris/2007/01/women_are_property_1.html
The article is titled "God's Hostages" and quotes from various Christian, Jewish and Islamic texts to show how religions treat women like dirt.
I agree with you on this one too, Religion also promotes gender inequality, what with phrases like; "Women should submit to men" and "Men are the head of the family"
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prieten47
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Re: New report exposes girls' rights abuses
June 7, 2007 - 09:09 PM
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Well, I'm sorry, Seanamo. It looks like I killed this thread, too.
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Shweta
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Re: New report exposes girls' rights abuses
June 8, 2007 - 03:59 AM
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I think that apart from religion/culture, the other factor which contributes to abuse, is presence of vulnerabilities (as already mentioned in the first post in this thread).
In a context where female is not considered equal and instead percieved as a "soft target", poverty can significantly contribute towards human trafficking-which may involve buying/selling of female children for exploitation.
The present research also states how human trafficking is not just about Poverty but also about gender based inequalties.
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Sarah Ghabrial
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Re: New report exposes girls' rights abuses
June 29, 2007 - 03:39 PM
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I feel like there are a few points I'd like to address quickly, especially having noticed that most of the posts on this board have been left by men. First, I'm not sure it's useful to make statements that amount to "if only women ran the world." As an active feminist, I don't subscribe to a politics of 'female supremacy' and I worry about falling into the "women = peace-makers" narrative (which tends to homogenize and essentialize all women). What I think we want to achieve is less rhetoric about the "natural peacefulness" of women to "save the world" and look to better ways of building structures and discourses in which gender difference is acknowledged and all voices valued. As in, create spaces where people of all genders (male, female, and everything in between) can participate in decision-making. This, I believe, is what feminists hope to achieve.
Second, as far as religion is concerned, I think there are a lot of women out there who would assert that their religious belief is an important part of their feminism. Even if you (or I) don't necessarily care for religion, I don't think it helps any gender-equitable cause to simply call for an 'end of religion'. Most people who are feminists and actively practice one religion or another fight for equity by challenging the patriarchal interpretations of their own religions and I think the best thing people like us (non-religious people) can do is stand in solidarity with them rather than dismiss their beliefs.
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Saladin
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Re: New report exposes girls' rights abuses
June 30, 2007 - 07:21 AM
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It's a really complicated issue, when it comes at tying religions with the marginalization of women in most societies.
I advice you to read a very interesting book by L. Gelvin called "The Modern Middle East", in which he described how the Middle-Eastern regimes during the mid 20th century created and supported the "state-feminism", to extend their "patriarchal rule".
When we see women in Turkey protesting against the secular regime, and demanding their right to wear the headscarf inside public establishments, and at the same time, women in Iran protesting against the state-enforced dress code....then it seems that religion is not the only part of that equation...since women still have unmet demands, even in the most secular country in the Middle East..
Actually, the Islamic Feminist movement, that was sparked by Qasim Amin in Egypt in the late 19th century, highlights a crucial benchmark in women's empowerment under religion.
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Sarah Ghabrial
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Re: New report exposes girls' rights abuses
June 30, 2007 - 08:05 PM
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thanks for noting that, aymanelhakea. i wrote my honours thesis for my BA on the islamic feminist movement in egypt (that's actually the background i was drawing from in my last post) and am very familiar with the writing of qasim amin (i've read both of his major works). i would suggest, however, that you pick up a book called "women and gender in islam," in my opinion the best broad survey of feminisms in the middle east. in it leila ahmed presents a compelling consideration of the roots of middle-eastern women's feminism prior to qasim amin. he's so often considered the "father of feminism" in the historiography, but that's misleading. feminism in egypt predates amin by at least fifty years, if not earlier.
anyways, i'm glad you agree (if i'm interpreting you correctly) that simply arguing that "religion is the enemy" overlooks the complexity of the various patriarchal barriers and systems that are being challenged by women everywhere, including the middle east.
This post was edited on: 2007-07-03 at 04:28 PM by: Sarah Ghabrial
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Saladin
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Re: New report exposes girls' rights abuses
July 1, 2007 - 07:15 AM
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sarahghabrial wrote:
anyways, i'm glad you agree (if i'm interpreting you correctly) that simply arguing that "religion is the enemy" overlooks the complexity of the various patriarchal barriers and systems that are being challenged by women everywhere, including the middle east.
Exactly,...very insightful comments !
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Quoheleth
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Equal Right
July 4, 2007 - 04:37 AM
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The female folks are often being marginalized especially in Africa, this is due to the way the African cultutre view women, however with time Africans are giving women a say. women need not be discriminated aginst. A woman should have equal right with males. it has been proven over years that women are an integral part of the society.
 It however saddens me that even in thios current age some people still do not respect women.
 There is light at the end of the tunnel because the women themselves have risen up to the challenges even in African countries.
 I was shocked when i saw that a female has become the President of an African country. Liberia
Lets ALL learn to give male and women equal opportunities.
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Mohamed Barrie
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Re: New report exposes girls' rights abuses
July 19, 2007 - 10:48 AM
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It realy not easy here in africa for young ladies where you will find 60 to 70 persent not educated.Here we said Guinea where they say women have right more than men but i dont see where this right are express as some people will tell you there is no need for a woman to be educated some use there married wife as house girls they dont give them no right.If you go to the streeet you see young girls at the age of 13 14 doing prositute life to survive it not really easy.Women should not be negleted like that cuase when a woman is in law making you realy see justice like for example in Guinea we have leave for years without a prime minister but when the woman that is leading the labour take his step we are naw seeing a lot of changes with the help of her we have a prime minister and naw democracy have started to begin one can express his right.So i belive we should encurage our sisters to educate and give them right in dcission making.
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Quoheleth
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Re: New report exposes girls' rights abuses
August 6, 2007 - 06:40 AM
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Shweta-sj wrote:
I think that apart from religion/culture, the other factor which contributes to abuse, is presence of vulnerabilities (as already mentioned in the first post in this thread).
In a context where female is not considered equal and instead percieved as a "soft target", poverty can significantly contribute towards human trafficking-which may involve buying/selling of female children for exploitation.
The present research also states how human trafficking is not just about Poverty but also about gender based inequalties.
Human trafficking and other form of gender inequalities is not only peculiar to the female child.
Males are also victim of this act.
But i believe the ball is our court to make decisions.
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vas
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Re: New report exposes girls' rights abuses
August 6, 2007 - 09:13 AM
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i feel the answer to the problem is making available equal opportunities to all irrespective of gender.sounds graet but very difficult to implement.yet it is very necessary taht girls get education and are noursihed properly.nourishment is very important for their growth.
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