Originally published on the CGS blog on October 11, 2012.
Men, boys, let us be bold. Let us speak the truth and stand up for the rights of girls and women to equality, dignity, and the rights we all share. –Desmond Tutu, Chair of The Elders
Today we celebrate the first ever International Day of the Girl. If you have read my past blog posts, you know how I feel about how essential girls are for the prosperity of the world’s nations. International studies have declared the biggest untapped resource lies in girls and their potential to contribute to society. Yet, girls and women all over the world are being held back.
Held back by child marriage and sex trafficking.
Held back by injuries and death in childbirth—80% of cases that are preventable.
Held back by domestic abuse, violence, and rape.
Held back because they are denied the right to education.
Held back by so called “honor killings” and acid attacks.
There are so many fundamental abuses which girls all over the world endure simply because they are girls (and I mean all over—the U.S. included). Can anyone really argue that? All these injustices that weigh against girls are placed on them the day they are born. But the true injustice is that these abuses are preventable. Who can prevent them? Boys and men, this is where YOU come in.
Eve Ensler, revolutionary and compassionate fighter for women’s rights wrote:
[Men and boys:] You live with us, make love with us, father us, befriend us, brother us, get nurtured and mothered and eternally supported by us, so why aren’t you standing with us? Why aren’t you driven to the point of madness and action by the rape and humiliation of us?
Women’s rights are human rights. Yet, I am still not convinced that most people agree.
When a young, unbelievably brave girl is struggling for her life just because she wanted an education and the clerics have yet to condemn this violence—you cannot say the fight for women’s and girl’s rights is over. When 1 in 3 women experience rape or violence at the hands of a man in her lifetime—that shows that global women’s rights are not yet won.
Girls are the solution to economic prosperity and a better world. But men and boys: you are the key to ending the systematic injustices against women and girls. You need to be just as involved with this fight. Anytime you laugh at a rape joke, anytime you stay silent when you see abuse, anytime you simply wave away the problem with “it does not affect me,” you are adding to the global attitude that women and girls don’t matter.
Men and boys: you are not the problem. Patriarchy is. But when you allow it, or even ignore it, you become a part of the problem…and you are better than that. Each of us as human beings has the responsibility to stop injustice when we see it.
Everyone needs to actively fight this global injustice. Girls, boys, women, and men are all needed. It starts with the fight for women’s and girls’ rights as your fellow human beings. Once half of the world’s population is no longer discriminated against, the unlocked potential will be mind-blowing.
