Youth
Version of the Report of The Expert Group Meeting on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination and Violence Against the Girl Child
Stop discrimination and violence against girls
You
have the power to do something
Before
you begin…
Before
you begin reading this document about how experts think discrimination and
violence against girls should be stopped, we would like you to answer a
question:
If
you were the head of your country for one day, what would you do for
girls?
Now…
Read
on to learn what the experts think…and then answer the questions at the end of
each section to tell us what you think should be done. Send us your answers by 15
January 2007.
You can send your responses in 3 ways:
·
Online:
Log on to Voices of Youth (http://www.unicef.org/voy/)
and click on “Stop discrimination and violence against girls” to fill in the
online questionnaire.
·
Email:
voy@unicef.org,
with “Stop discrimination and violence against girls” in the subject line.
·
Mail:
Voices of Youth, 3 UN Plaza,
GLOSSARY
Below
is a short definition of some of the words and expressions you will find in the
report. They will have this symbol & so
you can easily recognize them in the text.
Key
institutions
CSW:
Commission on the Status of Women
– a branch of the UN that makes
policies to promote the rights of women.
DAW:
Division for the Advancement of Women
– a branch of the UN that organizes
the CSW.
UN:
United Nations
– an international organization that
was created in 1945 to bring all nations of the world together to work for peace
and development, based on the principles of justice, human dignity and the
well-being of all people.
UNICEF:
United Nations Children’s Fund
– a branch of the UN that works to
promote the rights to survival, protection, development and participation of all
children.
Important
international agreements
CEDAW:
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women
– an agreement signed by most countries that defines
discrimination against women and sets up an agenda for national
action.
CRC:
Convention on the Rights of the Child
– an agreement that sets out the
legal rights for all children (0-18 years), including the right to an education, health, information,
participation, skills and opportunities to grow and develop. The CRC is
signed by almost all countries.
Terms
or phrases:
Discrimination
– when a person is mistreated
because of factors such as their race, gender or religion.
Empowerment
– the process of gaining control of
your own life by getting knowledge, opportunities, skills and tools that no one
can take away from you.
Exploitation
– the act of mistreating someone by
taking advantage of them, using them selfishly, or benefiting at their
expense.
Female
Genital Mutilation (FGM)
– refers to all procedures –
generally based on tradition or culture – that remove part or all of a girl or
woman’s sexual parts.
Gender
– refers
to a set of qualities and behaviours expected from a female or male, girl or boy
by society. Gender is different from sex which only refers to the biology of
girls and boys, and women and men.
Gender
equality
– the belief that all people,
whether they are girls or boys or women or men, have the same worth and rights
and should have the same opportunities.
HIV
– a virus (the Human
Immunodeficiency Virus) that damages the body’s ability to defend itself from
illness. HIV is transmitted mostly through sexual relations or sharing needles.
A person can live a long and healthy life with HIV.
HIV/AIDS
– HIV can develop into Acquired
Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Without proper treatment, AIDS can and does
kill many people. In many countries, there is little or no treatment available
for people living with AIDS.
Human
rights
– international law has agreed that
every human being, regardless of their race, culture, gender, religion or
physical characteristics, has the basic and universal right to be treated fairly
and without cruelty.
Human
rights violations
– actions, attitudes, or abuses that
violate the basic rights of a human being. These violations are illegal and break
international law.
Internally
displaced person (IDP)
– someone who has been forced to
leave their home for reasons such as human rights violations or war, but has not
moved to another country.
Lesbian
girls
– girls who are physically and
emotionally attracted to other girls.
Mentors
–
Older people that can give some
advice and guidance to young people.
Non-governmental
organization (NGO)
– organizations that are not
associated with governments and often work in communities to protect and help
those that need it.
Nomadic
– communities of people who move
from place to place instead of settling down in one
location.
Norms
–
standards of behaviour that are maintained by society and culture.
Obstetric
fistula
– a serious medical condition in
which a hole (fistula) develops between the vaginal area and anus (behind),
making the girl unable to control her bladder.
Peers
– people of the same age or equal
standing.
Peer
education
– education through interaction
between a group of people of the same age and status, for example talking with
your friends to learn about HIV and AIDS.
Prostitution
– when a person has sex, or takes
part in sexual activities, with another person in return for money, favours or
any other form of payment.
Refugee
– someone who has been forced to
leave their home for reasons such as human rights violations or war. Because refugees do not feel protected
by, or safe in, their country they move to another
country.
Violence
– any action or abuse that is
intended to cause injury or harm to others.
INTRODUCTION
What is the
Commission on the Status of Women?
The
&Commission
on the Status of Women (CSW) was established in 1946 and meets every year to
prepare recommendations and reports to the &United
Nations. The CSW aims to promote women’s rights and achieve equal rights for
women and men, girls and boys. This year, the member governments of the CSW will
meet from February-March 2007 to focus on “The elimination of all forms of
&discrimination
and &violence
against the girl child.” Discrimination means that a person is treated based on
something other than their individual worth, such as their race, &gender,
or religion. Discrimination often leads to violence.
Experts’
report
In
September 2006, in
Why a youth
version of the experts’ report?
The
purpose of this youth version of the experts’ report is to give you a chance to
react to what experts are saying. Your voice and the voices of young people
around the world, especially young girls from rural or problematic areas, will
be heard in response to the problem of discrimination and violence against
girls. Recommendations or
suggestions you make will be included in the youth response presented at this
important UN event.
What is in the
experts’ report?
In
each section of this youth version of the report you will find an explanation of
an issue, what the experts are saying about this issue, some facts and
quotations to think about, and two questions to discuss and answer. The two
questions at the end of each section will ask you what is missing in the report
and what can be done to solve the problems described.
As
you read, try and see if you can think of anything the experts might have left
out or forgotten. You know your own situation better than anyone else! You can
also think about what can be done to solve the problems that are described, and
who should be responsible for doing it. Keep in mind that there are a lot of
people that can help, including parents, care givers, guardians, teachers,
religious leaders, police, health care providers, lawyers, local politicians,
&NGOs,
governments, the UN and other children and young people.
Will my
suggestions have an impact?
You
might wonder how your suggestions can make an impact. Take a look at the
illustration below to see how your suggestions could become a law or a
policy:
I.
LAWS AND POLICIES
PUTTING THEM INTO
PRACTICE
You
might have experienced &discrimination
and &violence
for no other reason than because you are a girl. How can this go on while
people, and sometimes even the police, are watching? Are there not laws that
make this illegal?
In
fact, laws do exist to protect you from discrimination and violence; which is
your right. And it is your government’s duty to make sure these laws are put into
practice.
Almost
every country in the world has committed to making sure all children – girls and
boys – have a right to survival, development, protection and participation. This
includes the right to an education, health services, knowledge, skills,
opportunities to grow and develop, to express one’s opinion and to be heard, and
a life free from discrimination. Countries have shown their commitment to making
sure these rights are protected by signing international agreements such as the
&Convention
on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
and the &Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). By
signing these agreements, every government takes on the responsibility of
putting in place national laws and policies that fulfil these rights.
But
it is one thing to make promises at the &United
Nations Headquarters in
In
many countries the national laws do not reach many communities because there is
no effective law enforcement in place, such as courts and police, and human
rights violations still take place in the “hidden spaces” within a family or the
community.
The
following human rights violations are discussed in the expert
report:
·
Son
preference – Because
many cultures value boys more than girls, many girls do not even get the chance
to be born, and those who are born often do not get the same access to food,
shelter, education, and health care as boys.
·
Child
and forced marriages – Many
girls are forced into marriages and into harmful sexual relations while they are
still children.
·
HIV
and AIDS – Girls
are a lot more affected than boys by &HIV
and AIDS partly because they often do not have the power to protect themselves
from the virus or access to treatment for the disease.
·
Harmful
traditional practices – Many
families and communities still practice old traditions that have proved to be
very harmful for girls, such as early marriage or &Female
Genital Mutilation.
·
Conflict
situations – Girls
are too often recruited into armed conflicts as child soldiers, or they become
targets of violence and rape in conflict situations.
·
Sexual
&exploitation
and slave-like practices – Many
girls are forced into &prostitution
and child labour long before they are physically and emotionally ready for
sexual activity or any type of difficult or dangerous labour.
·
The
“female” work burden – Girls
are often expected to help with chores in their own homes as well as work for
pay in other people’s homes. These girls then have less time and fewer
opportunities for play, education and personal development.
The experts’
recommendations
A
lot needs to be done, by everyone, and especially by governments and
&NGOs
that work on human rights and international law. Sometimes governments only take
action after they get pressured by their citizens and local organizations. Some
of the suggestions outlined in the expert report are:
·
More
people need to know about the conventions
(CRC
and CEDAW) that protect girls’ and women’s rights. This can be done if
governments give more support for education about these rights to families and
communities.
·
International
laws and policies should focus more specifically on the rights and needs of
girls and be consistent with the international agreements governments
signed.
·
National
laws should be the same as international laws on the rights of girls, and all
laws that discriminate against girls should be removed.
·
Law
enforcement (such as the police), the judicial agencies (the legal courts) and
local organizations should be trained to take action when violations happen in
families and communities.
·
When
governments report to the United Nations they should be required to report on
the situation of girls.
II.
DISCRIMINATION
RECOGNIZING
AND FIGHTING INEQUALITY BETWEEN GIRLS AND BOYS
As
you are growing up, you might face a set of expectations of what you should be
doing with your life. You might be expected to help with chores around the
house, to let boys and men make decisions for you, to have sex, and to marry and
have children while you are still a child. You may not be expected to take
control of your own life or make decisions for your own future. You may not be
expected to say “no” when men around you ask you for something. Why do these
situations exist in many parts of the world today?
&Gender
norms and gender structures are the main reasons for the
&discrimination
and &violence
that many girls face. The expectations of girls described above have been part
of society for so long that they have become generally accepted as &norms
in many societies. There are many reasons why these norms and structures exist,
among them are:
·
Lack
of opportunities for ownership – Existing
laws in some countries make it difficult for many girls and women to own their
own property, and to receive money from their parents (inheritance). Without
money, many girls are forced to rely on men to survive.
·
Tradition
and religion – Sometimes
the expectations we have of girls are based on old traditions and on religious
beliefs that can be very hard to change, especially if they are reinforced by
local laws.
·
Looking
at girls as objects – Girls,
even at a very young age, are often viewed as objects, rather than human beings.
As a result, girls are often marketed or sold as property.
·
“Hidden
spaces” –
Discrimination and violence often happen behind closed doors within the family
or community, where it is never discovered by people who could help. People also
often feel it is not their business to mix into others’ family
affairs.
The experts’
recommendations
You
might think there is not much that can be done about all these expectations and
traditions that have been around for so long, but there is.
·
We
must help people talk openly about how &gender
norms and roles can lead to &discrimination
and violence.
·
We
must work to educate everyone -
girls, boys, mothers, fathers, guardians, religious leaders, teachers, community
leaders, doctors, nurses, lawyers – about the rights of girls, and encourage and
help them to take action against discrimination.
·
We
must find community leaders (such as priests, politicians or teachers),
especially men and boys, who will partner with women and girls to make sure
everyone has the same rights and opportunities.
·
We
cannot be afraid to intervene and to question gender roles within a family a
girl’s rights are being violated.
III.
INVISIBLE GIRLS
FINDING
AND PROTECTING GIRLS WHO ARE HIDDEN AND FORGOTTEN
Imagine
if you were invisible. Imagine if no one paid any attention to you, listened to
you when you spoke or took your needs into consideration. Maybe you do not have
to imagine this at all. Maybe this is your reality, as it is for so many girls
in the world today. Maybe you are also in great need of help and do not have
access to it. Maybe you are “invisible”.
Invisible
girls are not protected by existing policies and programs. They are often in
places that are hard to reach (rural, war torn countries), or they are made to
feel so ashamed of their situation that they are afraid to speak up about their
problems. These invisible girls then grow up to be invisible women. While there
are many girls in this situation, the experts’ report identifies the following
groups of invisible girls:
·
Girls
infected or affected by &HIV
and AIDS
·
Girls
who are having sex but do not have access to health care
·
Girls
with disabilities
·
Girls
subjected to &FGM
·
Girls
suffering from &obstetric
fistula
·
Girl
brides
·
Girl
mothers
·
Girls
who are sexually abused or raped
·
Girls
who are &exploited
·
Girls
who are forced to marry members of fighting forces
·
Girls
who must act as parents, home keepers, bread winners and protectors of younger
siblings
·
Girls
who work in other people’s homes
·
Girls
who are sold into slavery
·
Girls
who are associated with fighting forces
·
Girls
who are &nomadic
·
Girl
who are &refugees
or &internally
displaced
·
Girls
in prison
·
Girls
who are &lesbians
The experts’
recommendations
We
have to figure out how to find the invisible girls and how we can help them out
of their situation. We also need to make sure these invisible girls participate
in making the decisions that affect them. The experts’ report has outlined the
following suggestions for how to find and protect these invisible
girls:
·
There
should be more research done on invisible girls so we can find out where and who
they are, and what they need.
·
There
should be programs that deal especially with these groups of girls – programs
that can reach them in their community and find and help them even if they are
invisible.
·
There
should be good methods to see whether programs that reach the invisible girls
are actually helping them (this is often called monitoring and
evaluation).
IV.
EMPOWERMENT
TAKING
CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE
What
is &empowerment?
You might have heard the word used in many different cases and places.
Empowerment is the process of gaining control of your own life by getting
skills, tools, knowledge and opportunities that no one can take away from you.
People around you, such as friends, parents, teachers, community workers and
more can help to empower you too. When you are empowered, you are in a much
better position to make decisions regarding your own life and future, and to
protect yourself from &human
rights violations.
You
can also be disempowered if the environment around you is not safe and
supportive. It is important to fight the discrimination and &gender
norms that disempower girls. But sometimes even the governments have not been
willing to do this, either because they do not realize how important it is or
because of traditional and cultural beliefs. The experts’ report outlines four
areas they think need to be developed to empower girls:
·
Safe
and supportive spaces – Girls
need places where they feel safe to express themselves and where they can learn
and play on their own terms. The right to learn and the right to play are both
included in the &Convention
on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
·
Education
and access to information – A
good education is a very important part of being empowered, and all schools
should consider the needs of girls and provide safe spaces for learning. Schools
can also help &mentors
and teachers develop skills to better protect and support girls. Empowerment
through education can also take place outside the formal school system, both
through &peer-to-peer
education and through participating in youth organizations and other
activities.
·
Participation
–
Girls should be allowed to participate in making the decisions that affect them
and their futures. Participation can be one of the most powerful forms of
empowerment since it lets you really think through the issues and judge the
outcomes of the decisions made. It is important, though, that participation
happens the way girls want it, and not necessarily in the way adults want
it.
·
Social
assets
– Most girls gain their social skills, meaning the way they talk and act around
other people, through their families and their schools. But what about the girls
that grow up without a family and do not get the opportunity to go to school? It
is important to find ways to connect these girls with &peers
(friends of the same age or equal standing) or mentors (older people that can
give some advice) that can help everyone gain the social skills they need.
The experts’
recommendations
Governments,
international and local organizations, and community members need to focus a lot
more of their work on empowering girls. Schools have a particularly important
role to play, and governments should make sure that the schools have what they
need to help girls, including enough money. Also, the following can be
done:
·
Governments
should ensure that education and health care is free for all
children.
·
Girls
should have safe spaces where they can participate in key
decisions.
·
More
money should be given to organisations working with girls.
QUESTIONS
TO THINK ABOUT AND ANSWER
These
are the same questions that appear at the end of each section. Think about and
discuss them and then send us your answers by 15
January 2007.
You can send us your answers in 3 ways:
·
Online:
Log on to Voices of Youth (http://www.unicef.org/voy/)
and click on “Stop discrimination and violence against girls” to fill in the
online questionnaire.
·
Email:
voy@unicef.org,
with “Stop discrimination and violence against girls” in the subject line.
·
Mail:
Voices of Youth, 3 UN Plaza,
sQUESTIONS
·
Look
at the list of human rights violations. Do you think any are missing? If so,
which ones would you add and why do you think they are
important?
·
What
can be done to make sure laws and policies are put into practice and who should
be responsible for making sure it happens?
·
Look
at the list of causes of discrimination and violence. Do you think any are
missing? If so, which ones would you add and why do you think they are
important?
·
What
can be done to stop discrimination and violence against girls and who should be
responsible?
·
Look
at the list of groups of invisible girls. Do you think any groups are missing?
If so, which ones would you add and why do you think they are important?
·
How
can community leaders, young people, and others better find and protect
invisible girls? Who should be responsible for helping invisible girls?
·
Look
at the four strategies for empowering girls. Are there any strategies for
empowerment you think are missing? If so, which ones would you add and why do
you think they are important?
·
What
else can be done to empower girls and who should be responsible for doing
it?
THANK
YOU!
REFERENCES
·
UNICEF,
Voices of Youth, http://www.unicef.org/voy/discussions/.
·
UNICEF,
Voices of Youth. http://www.unicef.org/voy/explore/education/explore_166.html.
·
UNICEF,
Voices of Youth, 2006. “Voices
of Young People: Girls about Girls”
Prepared ahead of the expert group meeting in
·
Division
for the Advancement of Women and UNICEF, 2006. “Elimination of all forms of discrimination
and violence against the girl child”
·
United
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). 2005. “State of
·
UNICEF,
Voices of Youth, http://www.unicef.org/voy/speakout/speakout_2655.html.
WHO
WE ARE
WGG:
Working Group on Girls – The Working Group on Girls of the NGO
Committee on UNICEF and its international Network on Girls is a coalition of
NGOs committed to promoting the rights of girls in all areas and stages of their
lives and assisting girls to develop their full potential.
VOY:
Voices of Youth
– Voices of Youth is an Internet portal created by UNICEF for young people who
want to know more, do more and say more about the world, and which links
children and young people from over 180 countries with an opportunity to
explore, discuss and take action on complex human rights and development issues.