International Day of the Girl child offers an opportunity to Amplify the voices of girls, renew pledges and Advocate for girls to stand up for their own rights in all spheres of life. Around the world girls experience Gender inequality due to the ascribed status of being a girl .As a result girls are categorized as a minority group since they do not share the same privileges, rights and opportunities as the boys. During the process of enculturation girls are enculturated with stereotypic role of being trained on how to be a future mother to her siblings as well as future family. The Decisions chosen regarding her future as well as her roles are often geared towards molding her into becoming a well-rounded mother. In some sad instances some get forced into child marriages, while others play a mother role to their siblings with regard to child headed households resulting in neglected Dreams. The focus now becomes family needs over the girl child’s desires and her rights. As an outcome this form of Gender Stereotypic Enculturation perpetuates gender inequality amongst boys and girls. The Gender Inequality faced by girls is evidenced in areas such as access to education, nutrition, legal rights, child domestic labor, medical care, and protection of all forms of discrimination, and violence against women. In some parts of the world the struggle of a girl child begins even before a day she is conceived and with a high increasing numbers of Female Feticide. Majority of the households prefer to give birth to a boy child over a girl child (Action India, 2019).
From an early Age girls are tasked with an immerse responsibility of grasping the duties that entail how to become a well groomed future mother. At times some girls end up having their childhood robbed from them as they have to quickly transit into young adults. Unfortunately despite proven ability for a girl child to multi task and become a mother to her siblings, a girl child is not socialized to cultivate the natural leadership qualities she poses. Instead she is programmed to think of herself as a caregiver and dependent while boys are programmed to see himself as a provider and agent of change. Since the family plays a fundamental role in the child’s development, influencing both the attitudes the child will adopt and the values the child will hold it is of essence to socialize a girl child on unleashing their potential as well as motivating her to follow their own dreams without scripted socially gender roles. Therefore helping girls process and move beyond gender constructs does not only benefit the girl child but rather the world at large; “Globally, more than 1.1 billion girls younger than 18 years of age are poised to take on the future. Investing in them – including their health, education and safety –allows them to build better lives and to create a more peaceful and prosperous world for us all”, (International the News, 2019). Hence why as the millennial Generation need to change gender stereotypic roles which groom a girl child into growing up with the mentality of inferiority and limited opportunities. A girl child need to be molded into tapping into the Girl Force which has been suppressed over the past years.
With girls’ movements all over the world ending child marriages, Promoting Girl education and etc. ,we need to first be willing to have open and inclusive conversations surrounding hindrance to women and girls rights. Post coronavirus (covid 19) recovery journey for almost every country has brought to light some of the increasing yet suppressed societal issues directly affecting majority of girls as compared to boys. Although different nations across the world from the media it is evident that communities experience similar issues and majority of people are not willing to have open conversations regarding such issues? The entrenched culture of silence is not only common in African communities but other parts of the world as well. Sadly a large number of girls suffer as a result of unresolved social problems emanating from gender inequality. One of the major social concern is low number of participation in STEM (women and girls in science and Technology) which is believed to be a field designed for boys. It is of great importance for girls to be taught decision making and how-to be part of it especially a girl child. Thus becoming a change agent as well as being able to advocate properly their own truth in every career field they choose. Another social concern is gender digital divide. Unfortunately with regard to the Gender Digital Divide has resulted in Majority of Girls lacking opportunities, skills and being discriminated against due to socially constructed gender stereotypes. Girls and women have less access to technology and Internet in comparison to Boys and Men especially in Developing countries which is perpetuated by Stereotypes surrounding Technology being for boys and fear of being discriminated against stop girls from using Digital Tools (International, 2018). The Gender Digital Divide in access to Internet remains largest in the world’s least developed countries at 32.9%, with Africa being the Largest. Sadly without equal access to Technology and the Internet, girls and women are not able to equally participate in the global village. Hindering girls from accessing the use of Technology excludes them from advocating as well as speaking out on issues that affect them. On the Contrary by girls deciding to become unstoppable and becoming digitally literate would help them compete fairly with the boys as over 90% of jobs worldwide require Digital Skills. Therefore it is essential that governments Prioritize education in ICT subjects as early as Early Childhood Development Education.
n addition it is necessary to develop school curriculums which incorporate classroom based lessons with hands on project based projects which are not Gender Biased. Inclusion of young women and young persons with disability by encouraging them to be involved In science and Technology fields as well as coming up with userfriendly technology forthose living with disability. Another major social concern preventing girls to become unstoppable is Child Pornography. “With 12% of the total number of websites in the world 100 000 of which offer child pornography. The online pornography industry has a turnover of 97.06 billion dollars per year more than Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, Amazon, Netflix, and Apple combined”, (Feminist Peace Network , 2006). Online and social media has become a breeding ground for sex trafficking women, girls and boys especially those from countries that lack internet regulation and policy and a high percentage of poor women. With media sexism and male dominated power structures which continue to find new forms and representation and practice there is need to strengthen regulation and policy aimed at preventing violence against women and girls in the media content. The media Sexism influences a lot of girls to question their worth and self-esteem if they discover that they do not possess the described beauty and Body. Consequently some become depressed to a point of contemplating suicide. Also In some movies and music videos the media promotes toxic masculinity where love is represented in the form of violence and resulting in girls growing up to believe that to be in love means to be abused. This does more harm than good.
In addition the Discrimination against teenage mothers and stigmatized condition s makes them to be vulnerable. It is sad how sad how a lot of teenage mothers have to play both the father and mother role and battle with those who want to take advantage of their vulnerability , as well as the misconceptions that just because they became a child mother it automatically means they are obligated to agree to every sexual advances. Unfortunately majority of communities do not have in place well established resources which can help teenage mothers as well as develop their confidence to go back to school in a safe environment with other young mothers. In regard to Period poverty it will take a lot more than free menstrual pads to end period poverty. A large global population are disadvantaged by having a period. Henceforth the need to make menstrual products affordable and removing tax from menstrual products. Also addressing the complex socio economic issues is essential without just focusing on why girls skip school. Furthermore in order for girls to be unstoppable all sectors of the society including the religion has to be involved. According to the media some pedophiles hide behind religion. Unfortunately it is one of the area which has been excluded in conversations pertaining to abuse within any form of religion. Religion is not for perfect people, hence the need to not exclude religion in addressing all forms of abuse. In conclusion it is without a doubt that Girls are indeed a force to reckon with. It cannot be overemphasized the need to strengthen legislation and policy supporting women and girls as well as to help girls improve their self-esteem.
Wame Mhlanga
Research & Advocacy Officer
Justina Mutale Foundation
World Summit on Women and Girls 2023 