October 11 was declared by the United Nations as the International Day of the Girl Child which is supposed to be celebrated annually to support the girl child as from 2012. This year’s theme is dubbed as ‘Girls Progress=Goals’ Progress.’
Discrimination, violence, and violation of girl child rights are one of the major challenges we’ve been trying to solve, even here in Kenya. That’s why the issue of gender equality was raised among other measures to tackle these challenges.
On this day leaders, scholars and different organizations are supposed to highlight problems that the girl child faces in her daily life and raise their awareness to the society. Therefore this day promotes their rights and deals with the gender inequalities in the community.
However, even as we celebrate this day, many young ladies are being abused and being raped. Rape cases are on the increase, there have been several cases of school going girls being raped on their way to school, more so, some don’t even report it to their parents or guardians with fear of threats from their assailants.
A number of those raped end up with STDs or HIV/AIDS infections and this leads to prolonged torture and stigma which makes a child perform poorly in school.
There are cases these days where a girl is raped and the rapist goes to the extent of murdering her. Presently, it’s rare for the perpetrator to be arrested even after thorough investigations.
On the other side, some communities in Kenya are still practicing female genital mutilation which is against the girl child rights. If that is not enough, they still insist that they should be married at a tender age to older men, as third or fourth wives, shattering their dreams in the process.
Culture has been a major setback given that in some settings, the young lady is never considered important. They strongly stand for male chauvinism hence parents prefer to focus more on boy child with the consolation that the girl child will be taken care of by their husbands. Girls are left at home to take care of housework only.
There are other cases where the girl child is abused and parents or guardians condone the act because of money benefits. A girl may be raped and the perpetrator will later offer cash incentives to the victim’s parents or guardian, then the case will be done away with.
Child labor nowadays is also prevalent where young girls drop out of school and go to search for employment in big towns and work as house helps. This means that she will not be allowed to complete her studies. No one follows up these cases to make sure the girl’s rights are catered for.
Currently, in Kenya, several measures have been put up to tackle the issues, one being the focus on the education, something which has seen more girls attend schools. There have also been Anti-FGM campaigns, gender equality campaigns, the two-thirds gender rule among others. Worldwide, the effects nurtured by the girl child have been diverse, ranging from education, sports, and other fields. I salute the girl child’s progress.
Worldwide, the girl child has stood up to the occasion and has since left a mark in every area, from studies to sports which signify good progress. I salute the girl child progress.