WUNRN
INTERNATIONAL DIMENSIONS OF
DISCRIMINATION & VIOLENCE AGAINST GIRLS: A HUMAN RIGHTS PERSPECTIVE
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Rafferty, Y. (2013). International dimensions of discrimination and violence against girls: A human rights perspective. Journal of International Women’s Studies, 14(1), 1 – 23.
Abstract
In many cultures, being
born female can consign the girl child to the peripheries of society where her
safety is denied and her human rights are routinely violated. At each and every
stage of development, girls are more likely than boys to confront a host of
disadvantages associated with discrimination and violence, although the social
norms and cultural rules that influence girls are most intensely felt as she struggles
to develop into adulthood. At the onset of puberty, or even before, some girls
are pulled out of school and forced into early marriage and high-risk
pregnancy. Others become victims of harmful practices, including female genital
mutilation and dowry-related violence, or are murdered in the name of honor.
Countless numbers are forced into exploitative labor as a means of survival, or
trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation, while discriminatory inheritance
laws and practices condemn many to poverty. Addressing discrimination and
violence faced by girls across the globe, and ensuring their access to the same
basic opportunities as boys, is crucial to their development and to the
realization of their human rights. This paper provides an overview of the
international harmful traditional or cultural practices and gender-based social
and cultural norms that perpetuate the lower status accorded to girls in the
family, the community and society. Recommendations for social policy are
presented.
