International Day Of The Girl

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For the first time this week, on Thursday, October 11. International Day of the Girl will be celebrated. Spearheaded by Plan International for two years and officially declared by the United Nations General Assembly on December 20, 2011, the International Day of the Girl Child (its official title) seeks to bring global awareness to the often difficult plight of girls in developing countries, advocate for girls’ rights, and push for greater gender equality for voiceless girls the world over. This year’s theme for International Day of the Girl is ending child marriage

On Tuesday a Taliban gunman shot 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai in the head for wanting to be educated and advocating education for girls. Doctor's have been working feverishly to save this young courageous girl's life. She is as we speak in stable condition.

At the age of 11, Malala Yousafzai took on the Taliban by giving voice to her dreams. As turbaned fighters swept through her town in northwestern Pakistan in 2009, the tiny schoolgirl spoke out about her passion for education — she wanted to become a doctor, she said — and became a symbol of defiance against Taliban subjugation. 

As we speak 25,000 girls, some as young as 7, will become child brides today according to Care.org. The top three countries with the highest rates of child marriage are Bangladesh, Niger, and Chad. In some places in Niger child marriage can rise as high as 75 percent according to World Vision.
If those statistics are not startling enough half of all girls in developing countries will become young mothers. 

These statistics are particularly troubling because they signify the increased likelihood that young girls who typically become young mothers will not survive childbirth. We know 800 women die in childbirth every day and maternal mortality is greatest among adolescent girls 15 years or younger according to the World Health Organization. 

Young girls, although forced to become child brides and mothers, often have not fully developed physically due to their age, stunting from malnutrition, or both. Still children themselves, young girls often die during childbirth because their pelvises are underdeveloped or develop fistulas from obstructed pregnancies.

Girls are widely marginalized throughout the developing world. In fact, girls are greatly susceptible to undue violence and face double the likelihood of being beaten by their husbands. Adolescent girls also have a lesser chance of attaining education when they become child brides and rarely have a say about determining their own futures. All of these factors culminate in a perpetual cycle of pervasive poverty that becomes extremely difficult or nearly impossible to escape. 

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