TOMORROW, October 11 commemorates the International Day for the Girl Child. It is an internationally recognized day set aside to amplify the voices of the girl-child against any form of discrimination, harmful practices, and infringement on her rights and also to empower her.
THE emphasis on the important place the girl-child occupies in any given society, her power and potentials by canvassing for more opportunities for adolescent girls cannot be out of place. On the other hand, the day is designated to eliminate gender based challenges that young girls face around the globe. These include, child and forced marriages, boy-child preference, female genital mutilation, other forms of violence and discrimination.
THE Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action of 1995 was the first progressive arrangement to advance the rights of women. It was at the world conference for Women that the first ever blueprint to have identified the need for addressing issues faced by adolescent girls across the world came to being.
INTERNATIONAL Day of the Girl-Child is a fall out of the activities of the international Non-Governmental Organization Plan International’s Campaign slogan: “Because I am a Girl.” A campaign designed to nurture girls, especially those in developing countries, promote their rights and bring them out of poverty. The idea became a reality when the Canadian government passed it as a resolution in the United Nations General Assembly which was adopted by the UN who decided on October 11, 2012 as the inaugural day.
UNDOUBTEDLY, the challenges faced by the girl-child in Nigeria are still very numerous. The security challenges the country is embroiled in have also worsen matters. More often than before, the safety of the girl-child is threatened even in the four corners of her home in the company of close relatives that she should trust. There is hardly a day that passes without cases of fathers or close relatives raping girl-child that are not reported.
CASES abound where the circle of silence takes pre-eminence because the victim’s mother does not want to lose her marriage (in cases where the perpetrator is the father of the victim). In such cases, the victim suffers in silence.
OUR customs and traditions should not advance the course of male-child against the girl-child. However, preferential treatment to boys is detrimental to the development of the girl- child. She is made to feel like a second class citizen even in her home. Each child is critical to the growth and development of the family and community at large. In this regard, house chores should not reflect gender because they are all equal.
PARENTS on their part should accept each child as a blessing and celebrate the child to boost their moral and make them feel loved and appreciated. Archaic traditions where the boy-child is preferred because he carries the family name should be discouraged in its entirety.
NIGERIA’S laws need to be strengthened to protect the rights of the girl-child against child-labour, child marriage, and girl-child trafficking for sexual exploitation. A situation where the laws of the land take second place to religious injunctions should be addressed once and for all to put to rest the issue of child marriage and to prot ect the rights of the girl-child.
