On 11 October the world marked International Day of the Girl Child.

This day is an opportunity to highlight the challenges faced by girls across the globe and what needs to change to make a fairer more just society for girls worldwide.

This year’s theme is girls’ vision for the future, emphasising how we need to ask girls what they want and how they’d like to shape change for the better.

And it’s more necessary than ever.

Girls across the globe face:

• Human rights abuses that violate their rights to physical and emotional wellbeing (such as child marriage and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM))
• The increasing impact of climate change which is heightening historical and structural gender inequalities, affecting girls’ access to health, education and shelter, and heightening the risk of gender-based violence
• The disproportionate and increasing effects of conflict – such as increasing poverty, displacement, the growing risk of forced marriage, trafficking/modern slavery and other forms of sexual violence affecting girls (and women) because of their gender

In 2024 for example, just for being born female, you’re more likely to be subjected to child marriage.

You’re at higher risk of not receiving an education and being computer illiterate.

As you grow up, you’ll face the gender pay gap and earn less than your male counterparts, as well as be critically under-represented in political spheres.  

Let’s look at the facts.

If the world were 1,000 girls:

200 would be married

126 would be out of school

65 would be child labourers

48 would have experienced forced sex

5 would face FGM this year

5 would be victims of child trafficking

(Source: World Vision, 2024)

This is why we drastically need change – and why this year’s theme is more critical than ever.

Girls across the globe need to be at the forefront of shaping change.

Their voices need to be heard, their experiences shared and their power promoted.

It’s their experiences and their needs that matter most in the fight against gender inequality.

There are some amazing girls fighting for child rights across the globe with shared and local challenges.

And it’s time to hear their voices and see the power of grassroots activism.

Here are just three amazing changemakers who are striving for change and challenging gender-based inequality in their communities.  

1. Ratri: protecting children’s rights in Bangladesh

“I firmly believe that women should actively advocate for their rights. It’s essential to speak up for our rights.  

If I do not assert my own rights, others may not recognise or grant them.

If I remain silent… others may never engage in conversations about women’s rights.”

(Ratri, Bangladesh)

Ratri is 16 years old and is already the president of her local child forum in Bangladesh.

She’s seeing the community change around her as this platform continues to give children and young people encouragement, motivation, unity, and strength as communities work together.

When money is tight, girls face being married off before they get the chance to finish school.

Child marriage is widespread in the community. Half of girls in Ratri’s area are married between the ages of 12-18 – despite child marriage being illegal.

That’s also in line with the national average, where 51% of girls are married before they turn 18 (compared to 4% of boys).

Ratri wants girls to have the opportunity to succeed and make their own choices:

“What is the issue if someone is a girl? We are all human beings and have the potential to achieve great things… There is no inherent inferiority in girls. They can do anything.

Given the right opportunities and recognition, I believe that girls can accomplish remarkable feats.

In our local society, there is a prevailing expectation that girls may not necessarily require extensive education.

It does not matter if they do not study. It’s often assumed that girls will not be the primary breadwinners and that they will not take care of their parents as their main role is seen as housewives once they marry.”

Leading the child forum group, she’d working to raise awareness about girls’ rights in their community.

The forum meets at the Baptist Church, whose pastor is a member of the interfaith leaders group facilitated by the World Vision Child Sponsorship programme which began working with faith leaders in 2021 to strengthen child protection and change social norms.

The majority of the population is Muslim, with Hindu and Christian minorities.

While there hasn’t been any tension between these communities, they have always lived very separately.

Today, more than 630 faith leaders have undertaken child protection training.

The local area has three teams of faith leaders, including about 90 Muslim imams as well as Hindu priests, Christian pastors and nuns.

Programme and faith leaders meet each month to discuss what is happening in their faith communities.

Every quarter, the interfaith group also meet to share their experiences and plan strategies to strengthen child protection mechanisms in their area.

Gradually, the situation around Ratri is starting to change.

As more people are aware of the dangers of child marriage, they’re connecting to government services and more cases are being reported to the authorities for prevent cases of abuse.

2. Semira: promoting girls’ education in Ethiopia

“The community used to think that the kitchen was the right place for women.

There was clear gender-based violence and women were considered worthless as compared to men.

Now those attitudes have changed after our advocacy work”

(Semira, Ethiopia)

Meet Semira. She’s 17 and already a powerful changemaker.

In her community, Semira has totally changed how the community perceives girls.

From a young age, Semira and her peers were expected to prioritise working at home instead of going to school.

Semira knew this life well. She used to fetch water, cook and collect firewood for her family while her three brothers relaxed.

None of them thought anything of it – it was just how things had always been.

The chores made it hard for Semira to keep up at school. She didn’t question this as she expected that she’d be married before turning 18.

However, when she turned 13, things took a dramatic shift and Semira changed her outlook on life.

After joining peer discussions on gender-based violence, Semira was shocked to learn about the grim realities behind harmful practices affecting women and girls.

For example, child marriage in Ethiopia affects 2 out of every 5 girls, whilst 2 in 3 women aged 15-49 have been subjected to FGM.

Semira and her friends decided enough was enough.

They formed a girls’ club to help educate others on the importance of empowering girls.

They host performances and activities on girls’ rights, writing plays, poems and songs advocating for girls’ rights which they perform in schools:

“This is the most important thing I can do for my generation. I have dedicated my life to fighting and eradicating harmful traditional practices.

If we girls are united, we can eradicate these practices forever.”

Semira’s decision to stand up for the girls in her community has led to profound change.

The club is a place for many girls to share their views and express themselves freely:

“Before we started advocating for children’s rights, the community had no place for children. But now, after we started awareness-creation training, children’s ideas began to be accepted and respected.”

In just two years, Semira has inspired so much change, with child sponsors continuing to support programmes like the girls’ club.

3. Susma: challenging caste-based discrimination and child marriage in Nepal

“I want to be the example. I wish to create a thousand adolescent girls like me”

 (Susma, Nepal)

Susma is defiant and leading a wave of change.

She’s 18 and lives in the rural mountains of Nepal.

Here, she’s challenging expectations around girls, fighting child marriage and promoting girls’ education.

Born into the dalit (“untouchable”) caste, she’s considered to belong to the lowest level caste – and the most marginalised.

Suma remembers how this affected her growing up.

She’d be sent home from school on holy days because she was considered too “dirty”.

But this hasn’t stopped her.

Susma didn’t want to give up her education and she’s now using her experience to tackle deep-seated perceptions.

With the support of her family, she took part in World Vision training and began speaking out.

She’s stood up and become a champion for girls’ rights.

Vocal about the harms girls face, she’s a social media influencer with a strong following of young people who strive for education and a community where they can express themselves:

 “It is very difficult for females, adolescents, like us to survive like this, due to societal structure. In our community, even now, caste discrimination, domestic violence, sexual violence, and early marriage is happening.

Many adolescent girls are leaving school. In many families, women are becoming the victim of violence.

This society has so much caste discrimination that there is no positive example to show. I want to be the example. I wish to create a thousand adolescent girls like me.”

The community hasn’t always receptive but Susma knows her rights and speaks out when something in her community needs addressing.

During the day, in between her studies, Susma now leads self-defence classes at the local primary school.

She then visits the local high school, teaching teens (including boys) how to make sanitary pads, so that girls are able to go to school during their period.

Menstruation is taboo but that’s not stopping Susma.

She’s doing whatever she can to break down the barriers preventing girls from exercising their rights – the same rights as boys.

Susma shares her journey online and has been so successful that she’s been invited by other organisations to lead and facilitate training.

However, her influence doesn’t stop at social media advocacy.

Since starting her work, Susma has submitted an appeal to the local government urging them to take action to end child marriage.

She’s also recently taken her quest to government, where she’s leading a policy initiative to prevent child marriage.

Whilst child marriage is illegal in Nepal, 35% of girls are still forced into marriage before their 18^th birthday (with 7% of boys affected).

In rural areas, the rate is higher (43% for girls and 17% for boys).  

Studying for a bachelor’s degree, Susma is now funding herself through university. She’s determined to become a teacher and help shape the next generation of girls.

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Susma, Semira and Ratri are shaping their own paths.

They’re supporting other girls in their community, challenging socio-cultural norms and harmful practices and advocating and lobbying for change in their countries on a broader level.

And it’s working. So what can we do to help?

Well, fighting gender inequality is a broad challenge.

It requires:

> Changing attitudes and socio-cultural norms around women and girls (regarding their roles in society and their bodies)

Only then can we eradicate harmful practices such as FGM which seek to control women’s’ sexuality, whilst also promoting women’s education and full participation in society

> Fighting poverty locally and globally (whilst challenging attitudes)

When we address the plague of poverty and its sexist reality, we’ll lower the risk of girls being denied an education and forced into marriage by families struggling to survive

> Stemming the tide of climate change (disproportionally affecting already vulnerable communities)

This will ensure that communities can build stable livelihoods, rely on protective resilient systems when faced with natural or climate-induced disaster and benefit from greater equity and access to resources

As a result, we’ll lower the currently increased risk of girls being trafficked, displaced and subjected to gender-based violence amid the chaos of displacement and conflict over resources

> Greater funding and access to resources (so that women and girls have access to appropriate health care)

When this is a reality, girls won’t be forced to miss school because they’re on their period

Women won’t face heightened risks of dying in childbirth

And women and girls can make their own choices about their bodies and role in society

Take action: be part of the change

UNICEF has pinpointed and published five game-changing solutions for and with adolescent girls:

1. Widening access to appropriate health care (e.g. ensuring reproductive and maternal care for women and girls)

2. Eradicating food poverty (and therefore lowering the risks of child and forced marriage, being forced into slavery/exploitative labour and the subsequent reality/risk of gender-based violence)

3. Ensuring access to adequate education (so that girls can build their futures as financially independent individuals)

4. Freedom from violence (where girls can freely participate in society without fear or risk of harm)

5. Economic support (so that individuals and families can make healthier, more sustainable choices for themselves and their children, and so societies can build better)

So, for those of us reading this blog, what does this look like?

Well, that will depend on where we’re based and the challenges faced.

But, one thing’s for certain: we can all make a difference and inspire change.

Here’s a few tips to get started:

1. Advocate for gender equality:

Speak out and speak up. Challenge the narrative behind harmful practices such as FGM and “rape jokes”.

Stand up against toxic gender stereotypes.

And finally, whether you’re a peacebuilder, educator, community practitioner, housewife – whatever your role – ensure that you’re carving and sustaining spaces that are inclusive for all.

2. Offer financial support:

Fight poverty in your area, sponsor a child so they can go to school and access health care, and where possible, widen access to spaces for girls and every child.

3. Combat climate change together:

Limit your impact on the environment (recycle, reuse, consume and pollute less).

Join local and national movements working to fight climate change and remember that any solution to climate change must be inclusive and sustainable.

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It’s a big challenge but a necessary fight.

Susma, Semira, Ratri and many activists far and wide are there to remind us that the time is now – starting in our own communities.

Will you join them?

Credits:

Stories and images courtesy of World Vision and their child sponsorship programme.

This post was originally published on Voice of Salam.