Girl Child Day Today
Lahore:11 Ocotober:THE United Nations International Day of the Girl Child, which is marked annually on October 11, will be observed in Pakistan and in the provincial metropolis here on Saturday (today) with campaigns calling for education of girls and an end to the vicious cycle of violence.
The origins of this day can be traced to December 19, 2011 when the United Nations General Assembly voted to pass a resolution declaring October 11 as the international day of the girl child. The aim of marking this day, according to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, is to create more opportunities for young girls across the world and draw attention to continuing gender inequality faced by girls of all nationalities.
Examples of this inequality include disparities in access to healthcare, education, legal rights and freedom as citizens, food security, and protection from all forms of violence. The UN resolution stated that empowerment and investment in girls is critical to the achievement of UN Millenium Development Goals, including poverty alleviation and an end to violence in their communities.
While past observances of the international day of girl child have highlighted the problems of girl child marriage and illiteracy, this year’s theme focuses on the ‘cycle of violence’ in which girls are trapped, assaulted, killed for honour and subjected to physical torture.
The secretary general has noted that an alarming number of adolescent girls are assaulted, beaten, raped, mutilated and even murdered every year. He stated, ‘culture of impunity allows violence against adolescent girls to continue unabated’, adding that humanitarian crises dramatically increase the risk of violence, abuse and exploitation faced by young girls.
On this day, the UN has put forth recommendations to all member countries to prevent girls from being entrapped in the cycle of violence.
According to the child rights organisation, 150 million girls worldwide have experienced some form of sexual violence. A recent report released by UNICEF stated that in 2012, an estimated 14 percent deaths of girls aged between 15 and 19 years resulted out of intentional injuries to their bodies. Meanwhile, 95,000 children became victims of homicide in that year with 15,000 of these cases taking place in the South Asian region.
It is pertinent to note that Pakistan, which is home to 24 percent of violent acts committed against young girls across the world yearly, is still to pass a law criminalising domestic violence at both the federal and provincial level.
Talking to The News, Vice President of Awami National Party (ANP) Bushra Gohar said it was a shame that a bill punishing perpetrators of domestic violence is yet to be re-introduced in the National Assembly, after being defeated in the Senate earlier this year. She said female parliamentarians were working hard to gain approval of the bill and would continue to struggle for its passage. She said Malala Yousafzai’s 2014 Nobel Peace Prize was a big achievement for girls of Swat Valley and those campaigning for the right to female education. She said Malala had tirelessly advocated for young girls despite life threats and this should inspire young Pakistani girls to speak up for their rights. Pakistan People’s Party Senator Rubina Khalid said legislation outlawing child marriage was urgently needed in Pakistan, where 42 percent young girls were married before reaching the age of 18 as per UNICEF.The news.
