Covid crisis, war in Ukraine, poverty… Whatever the reason, young girls are the first targets of violence. The International Day of the Girl Child, which celebrates its 10th anniversary on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, emphasizes the need to address these challenges they face such as female circumcision, forced marriage, domestic violence, illiteracy. According to a UNICEF report, almost one in four girls aged 15 to 19 worldwide is not in education, employment or training, compared to 1 in 10 boys. And there are 600 million in the world.
Worldwide, it is estimated that 736 million women – nearly one in three – have experienced physical and/or sexual violence at least once. And among those who have been in a relationship, almost one in four adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 (24%) have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from their intimate partner or husband, according to the UN women figures. Because every minute, 22 young girls are married before the age of 18, World Vision warns, or 12 million a year.
Even though many countries prohibit the marriage of underage girls, in reality, these same countries have difficulty enforcing the law. Some succumb to complications related to their pregnancy because they are not old enough to have children, explains Camille Romain des Boscs, director of Vision du monde.
“Theoretically, from the moment you have your period, you can technically have a child. But the pelvis, the body of the 12-13 year old girl is not made to have a child.”
Camille Romain des Boscs, Director of World Visionat franceinfo
“All these pregnancies that take place very early are vectors of great danger for the mother but also for the unborn children since they will generally have weight and development problems. These are very high risks for the future”insists Camille Romain des Boscs.
Rebeca Gyumi founded an NGO in Tanzania that aims to tackle child marriage.
The problem concerns in particular the countries of the Horn of Africa or even Afghanistan.
>> TESTIMONIALS. In Afghanistan, the forced marriage of little girls to survive: “We are forced to sacrifice her”
But this is not inevitable. World Vision notes progress, in Bangladesh for example, where, thanks to in-depth work over time, the association has observed a change in mentalities and a decline in early marriages.