Challenged Facing Girl Child in Developing Countries
INTRODUCTION
According to the article “Convention on the Rights of the Child”(20 November 1989) 1, a child is defined as every human being below the age of 18 years unless, under the law applicable to the child, majority (or adult ‘status’) is attained earlier; in other words, unless the relevant laws recognize an earlier age.
Issues like gender discrimination, domestic violence, sexual abuse, child labour, human trafficking, health and education, just to name a few, tend to be adversely skewed when closely examining the life of the girl child.
There has been extensive researches carried out and we have lots of information available on challenges facing women and children in general but not enough research has been carried out or documented on the plight of the girl child.
Continual abuse of the girl child in society, according to Larkin (1994)2, causes the girl child to become increasingly desensitized to pervasive harassment and abuse to the point where they persistently fail to identify verbal forms of abuse. Instead they limit definitions of abuse to rape and other violent forms of interference. The impact is to further minimize and conceal the everyday experiences of violence in the life of the girl child.
The various challenges that face these essential members of our society are discussed below, and the appropriate recommendations provide thereafter. It is important to note that all the factors in discussion end up intertwining one to another in different degrees. The root cause of the woes of the girl child arguably comes out strongly as gender discrimination.
CHALLENGES
Gender Discrimination
Gender discrimination, or sex discrimination, is characterized by the unequal treatment of a person based solely on that person's gender3.
Looking at the marginalized groups, it’s worthy to note that if women suffer from discrimination and their needs and problems go unnoticed, the situation is even worse for girls. Yet, as a specific population group, girls are
According to the article “Convention on the Rights of the Child”(20 November 1989) 1, a child is defined as every human being below the age of 18 years unless, under the law applicable to the child, majority (or adult ‘status’) is attained earlier; in other words, unless the relevant laws recognize an earlier age.
Issues like gender discrimination, domestic violence, sexual abuse, child labour, human trafficking, health and education, just to name a few, tend to be adversely skewed when closely examining the life of the girl child.
There has been extensive researches carried out and we have lots of information available on challenges facing women and children in general but not enough research has been carried out or documented on the plight of the girl child.
Continual abuse of the girl child in society, according to Larkin (1994)2, causes the girl child to become increasingly desensitized to pervasive harassment and abuse to the point where they persistently fail to identify verbal forms of abuse. Instead they limit definitions of abuse to rape and other violent forms of interference. The impact is to further minimize and conceal the everyday experiences of violence in the life of the girl child.
The various challenges that face these essential members of our society are discussed below, and the appropriate recommendations provide thereafter. It is important to note that all the factors in discussion end up intertwining one to another in different degrees. The root cause of the woes of the girl child arguably comes out strongly as gender discrimination.
CHALLENGES
Gender Discrimination
Gender discrimination, or sex discrimination, is characterized by the unequal treatment of a person based solely on that person's gender3.
Looking at the marginalized groups, it’s worthy to note that if women suffer from discrimination and their needs and problems go unnoticed, the situation is even worse for girls. Yet, as a specific population group, girls are