Millions of people every year fall into the hands of traffickers, coerced into sexual exploitation, forced labor, domestic servitude, forced begging and stealing, and even compelled to sell organs. This a is a $32 billion per year enterprise that is on the rise...
End Child Marriage
Did you know that 15 million girls marry before the age of 18 each year? That's the equivalent of one every 2 seconds. Of the world's 1.1 billion girls, 22 million are already married. Hundreds of millions are more at risk, and the number will only grow as populations increase. It is estimated that more than 140 million girls will become child brides by 2020. In every region, the poor are most at risk of child marriage.
Unless progress is accelerated, the global number of child brides will remain at least as high as it is today. If progress is accelerated, there will be 1 in 10 child brides in the world in 2050 compared to 1 in 4 today.
Why do girls get married as children?
- The older girls get, the higher their dowry will be for their parents
- Girls marry early because their families believe this protects girls from sexual violence
- Laws that protect girls are NOT enforced
- Inequalities between girls vs. boys (although I recently learned that in certain countries, boys marry as young as 5 years old in Nepal)
Child marriage is a violation of children's rights. It continues to rob the childhood of millions of girls around the world, despite being prohibited by international law. It forces them out of education and opportunities to follow their dreams, and into life of poor prospects, with increased risk of violence, abuse, ill health or early death. If a mother is under the age of 18, her infant's risk of dying in its first year of life is 60% greater than that of an infant from to a mother older than 19. Even if the child survives, he or she is more than likely to suffer from low birth weight, face challenges around nutrition and late physical and cognitive development.
Ending child marriage will help break the intergenerational cycle of poverty by allowing girls to participate more fully in society. Empowered and educated girls are better able to care for their children, leading to healthier, smaller families.
Getting involved:
- Increase the awareness of children's rights
- Support girls to get an education and earn their own income
- Increase access to sexual and reproductive health services
- Demand that governments keep the age of legal marriage to 18 years
- Enforce laws that protect children
Please sign below in asking Michelle Obama to support an Adolescent Girl Strategy in the fight against child marriage.
Pursuit of an Education
What every girl deserves in this world: Equal access to health care, education and basic human needs.
More than 1 million girls lack access to primary-level education in Kenya. We can change that.
Our challenges and real consequences:
Due to ethnic challenges, tribal barriers and corruption, gender inequality in Kenyan education is made abundantly clear. In certain tribes, girls who receive an education are perceived as rejecting tribal lifestyles and disrespecting traditional norms.
To no surprise, it's also a privilege which the majority cannot afford (many earn less than $1 / day), therefore, many girls are denied education and forced into child labor, early marriages and face the practice of female mutilation. Although the legal age of marriage is 16, girls in Kenya may get married as early as 12 or 13 ears old. 30% of girls under 18 are married.
Facts:
- 700 million women alive today are married before 18. 1/3 were married before 15
- Underprivileged girls are 2.5X more likely to marry in childhood than wealthy ones
- Child marriages ends the opportunity for her education, vocation and right to make life choices
- Birthrate is the highest in rural areas where poverty is most prevalent. These girls are more vulnerable to physical and sexual violence, and bear children well before they are physically or emotionally prepared
- Girls are less able to advocate for themselves and their rights
- The cycle of violence that begins in girlhood, carries over into womanhood and across generations
Their right to learn:
Education helps break the vicious cycle of poverty, as studies have proven that educated women have healthier children, with more promising futures correlating to increased economic productivity, higher earnings and improved societal health. We'll see lower levels of HIV infection, domestic violence and harmful practices toward women. It is the most cost-effective strategies to promote development and economic growth, which can ultimately contribute to shaping their country's infrastructure.
October 11th is not just a day; it's a movement. Its mission is “to help galvanize worldwide enthusiasm for goals to better girls’ lives, providing an opportunity for them to show leadership and reach their full potential.” - UN
On International Day of the Girl - kupambana na juu ya <3
Supporting child refugees is everyone’s responsibility
Modern slavery is all around us, but most people don't even realize it.
“There are 2X as many child refugees today than 10 years ago”, UNICEF stated. That means 8 million child refugees face the a shockingly high risk of human smuggling, trafficking and abuse. More than half of all refugees are children.
Modern slavery is a huge business that generates annual profits of over $150 billion. There are 21 million modern day slaves - that’s about 3 out of every 1,000 people worldwide working in agriculture, fishing, construction, manufacturing, mining, utilities and domestic work. Moreover, approximately 1 of 5 are victims of sexual exploitation.
There are more people in slavery today than any other time in history.
What you can do:
Support the international treaty to end modern slavery for good at 50forfreedom.org. All you have to do is sign the petition.
What this does: The International Labour Organization's Protocol on Forced Labour could restore hope and freedom to millions of people trapped in slavery. It requires countries to ensure the release, recover, rehab of these people and protect them from prosecution of any laws they were made to break during that time. It requires employers to exercise due diligence in effort to support ethical business practices to avoid modern slavery in their supply chains.
Your impact:
The goal is to persuade at least 50 countries to ratify the Protocol on Forced Labour by 2018.
Currently, there are 12,087 current signatures, and 7 of 50 ratifications.
