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“the rights of the girl child”. Girl child description.
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Girl child description According to the society the girl child means nothing, but just a doll who works at the instructions given to her . A girl child is discriminated in both cities and villages . The society discriminates girl child in different manners, the girl child in villages is discriminated by abuse, forcing to work , forced to child marriage. In cities girl child is discriminated by child labour, abuse and making differences between a boy and a girl. The people usually think that boys are better performers so the money is usually spent on boys in matters of education and schooling . The girl child is treated in a bad manner and is discriminated in almost every house.
Discrimination of the girl child : Discrimination against female children has been a topic of debate. It has been a subject of concern and sociological significance. This subject raises the cultural aspects about the role of a female child in society, what her human rights are as a human being and a number of sensitive issues. This issue is important because there is nearly universal consensus on the need for gender equality. Gender based discrimination against female children is pervasive across the world. It is seen in all the strata of society and manifests in various forms . As per the literature, female child has been treated inferior to male child and this is deeply engraved in the mind of the female child. Some argue that due to this inferior treatment the females fail to understand their rights. This is more predominant in India as well as other lesser developed countries. Sex selection of the before birth and neglect of the female child after birth, in childhood and, during the teenage years has outnumbered males to females in India and also in countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and South Korea. These numbers tell us quite a harsh story about neglect and mistreatment of the female child in India.
DISCRIMINATION OF GIRL CHILD: There are two main inequalities as pointed out by Amartya Sen. The educational inequality and health inequality are the indicators of a woman’s status of welfare. In India irrespective of the caste, creed, religion and social status, the overall status of a women is lower than men and therefore a male child is preferred over a female child. A male child is considered a blessing and his birth is celebrated as opposed to a female child where her birth is not celebrated and is considered more of a burden. Therefore, education and health care of the female child in India is an important social indicator to measure equality between men and women. According to the 2001 Indian census, overall male-female ratio was 927 females per 1000 males. However, the 2011 Indian census shows that there are 914 females per 1000 males. During the last decade the number female children to male children in the youngest age group fell from 945 per 1000 males to 927 per 1000 male . These new figures point out that the use of new technology contributes to the gender composition. Furthermore, the availability of and access to new technologies provides new ways for parent to achieve such goals of sex determination before birth. Due to the widespread use of this technology the Indian Government banned the sex determination before birth . In spite of these bans imposed by the Government, the law is not widely followed.
GIRL CHILD DISCRIMINATION: A social development report presented in 2010 to the World Bank and UNDP, found that the time a female child and a male child spends on various activities is similar, with the exception of domestic work and social/resting time; a female child spends nearly three forth of an hour more on domestic work than a male child and therefore lesser hours of social activity/resting then boys. Despite progress in advancing gender equity from a legal standpoint, in practice many women and female children still lack opportunities, and support for the socio-economic advancement Historically, the inclusion of young girls and women in education has helped challenge gender stereotypes and discrimination .This suggests that providing space for young girls to develop leadership skills, through education and healthy living is important. This can shape attitudes towards women capabilities as leaders and decision makers especially in conventionally male domains and male dominated cultures. Because of the sex preference of male children in India, female children are deemed of resources in the areas of health and education.
Girl child in villages Girl child in villages are not preferred much this is why there are less girls in the villages. As soon as a girl is born she is killed by the villagers . Even if the girl child survives from this discrimination she has to suffer from some other kind on discrimination for example not providing education . Making her work , not providing sanitation, teasing , child marriage to remove burdens etc.
The rights of the girl child The rights of the girl child are as follows – • The right to Education • The right to Expression • The right to Information • The right to Nutrition • The right to Health & Care • The right to protection from Abuse • The right to protection from Exploitation • The right to protection from Neglect • The right to Development • The right to Recreation • The right to Name & Nationality • The right to Survival • The right to equality • The right to freedom of speech • The right to follow any religion • Right to constitutional remedies
Exploitation: • The action or fact of treating someone unfairly in order to benefit from their work. There are different types of exploitation – Physical exploitation Verbal exploitation Emotional exploitation Sexual exploitation Mental exploitation Economic exploitation
Reason For Exploitation The girl child is discriminated because of her requirements such as sanitation and education. The girl child is delicate and needs a lot of care . While the parents also think that there would be a lot of money spent while their education and schooling and marriage. The girl child is given dowry while marriage that too for people Is a waste of money .
Gender determination Gender determination is done so just to check whether the child born is a girl or a boy if there is a girl she is usually killed inside the mothers stomach . It is done using machines and equipments . Machines for example ultrasound scan is used for gender determination.
the girl child before and after birth A girl child is discriminated before birth , when there is gender determination , if the result is a girl she is killed in the mothers stomach. And after the birth the girl child is killed or is tortured to work , or is abused , is not provided with education , is forced to marriage at a small age and many other types of discrimination .
Girl child welfare: There are a no. of organizations working for the welfare of girl child. They are: • United nations children’s fund (UNICEF) • World health organization (WHO) • International labour organization (ILO) • Council of Europe (COE) • Status of Women Canada (SWC) • Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) • Gender Equality Incorporated (GEI)
WOMEN DISCRIMINATION: Women have a biological advantage over men for long life and survival. However, in spite of this there are more men than women. The figures above support that gender discrimination of female child is a basic facility area. Though the demographic characteristics do not show much or in some cases , anti-female bias, there is always a woman who receives a small piece of the pie.
America Despite the Women’s rights movement women are still held back in the work place. An example of this is the glass ceiling , this is where women and often minorities are held down in the work place never advancing past a certain point. Women are often seen as an expense to their employers because they take days off for children, need time off for maternity leave and are stereotyped as “more emotional”. The theory that goes hand in hand with this is known as the Glass Escalator while women are being held down in male dominated professions, men often rise quickly to positions of authority in fields with mostly women professionals. Men are pushed forward into management positions, even surpassing women who have been at the job longer and with more experience in the field. Not only in work settings but we see examples of this in our government as well. There has never been a female president and many did not vote for her because she seemed too cold, but when she did show emotion people thought she wouldn’t be able to handle the job. Double standards are consistently applied so that women are held down by discrimination.
Africa African women was discriminated against men. They had very few or no legal rights, no access to education and no right to own property. Jobs were often hard to find but many African women worked as agricultural or domestic workers though wages were extremely low, if existent. Most African women still earn less than men and are more likely to be trapped in low-paid, low-skilled jobs-often in the informal economy. Since 1994, the participation of women in the labor force has declined by 1.6%. On the plus side, the number of women in non-agricultural, paid employment over the past decade has increased by 3.5%. Unemployment rates for both men and women in Africa have remained largely unchanged over the past decade, with women still maintaining lower levels at 7.6% compared to men at 9.1%. In relation to women elsewhere, unemployment rates of African women are lower than for women in the European Union, currently at 9.3%. In sub-Saharan Africa, the number of women in high-status positions - called legislative, senior official or managerial (LSOM) jobs - has increased by nearly 3% over the past decade, reaching a level of 24.8%. When compared to the number of women in such positions throughout the world, which is estimated at 28%, the progress by African women can be seen as encouraging. One of the more serious examples of gender-based discrimination involves violence, especially physical and sexual abuse. In Zimbabwe, a study in 2004 showed that 87.4% of girls with disabilities had been sexually abused; among them, 52.4% tested HIV positive. Studies in Namibia and Botswana delivered similar results.
Indonesia Gender discrimination is one of the underlying factors in the sex-segregated labour market in Indonesia. Gender issues persist for the large proportion of women who are engaged in highly vulnerable work, i.e. in the informal economy, and in the globalized cheap-labour manufacturing sectors; in opportunities for employment, conditions of work and pay; in decision making in the public and private sectors; sexual harassment; access to finance; and lack of protection for internal domestic workers.
Afghanistan Women were not allowed to work outside the home, were forced to wear the burqa and were not permitted to travel unless they were fully covered and accompanied by a male family member. In addition, girls’ schools were closed down. According to Oxfam, by 2002, only 5% of women were literate, and 54% of girls were married before they were 18 years old. Afghanistan was then ranked as the country with the second-highest rate of maternal mortality, with upwards of 15,000 Afghan women dying in childbirth each year.
Pakistan Right from childhood the discrimination against the girl child is practiced. Girls are not allowed to play games or go out anywhere unescorted by a male. This inhibits development of the girl child and continues till her death. Thus it is no wonder that Pakistan does not have any women sportspersons of any standing. In Pakistan women are thought to be silly creature that cannot think for themselves and hence not allowed to exercise any choice in most matters. In addition love marriages are not allowed and the general status is low. The concept of honor dictates Pakistan society and hundreds of women are murdered every year under the garb of honor.
Yemen Women in Yemen face systemic discrimination and endemic violence with devastating consequences for their lives. Women are not free to marry who they want and some are forced to marry when they are children, sometimes as young as eight. Once married, a woman must obey her husband and obtain his permission just to leave the house. Women are dealt with more harshly than men when accused of “immoral” acts, and men are treated leniently when they murder female relatives in “honour killings”.Such discriminatory laws and practices encourage and facilitate violence against women, which is rife in the home and in society at large.
Nigeria Gender imbalance permeates every facet of Nigerian society and comes in several forms. (2004) outlined some of the gender discriminatory practices and violence against women and female children. Violence against women is the most acute form of gender inequality in Nigeria. A great majority of the violence against women can be described as Harmful Traditional Practices against Women Some of the common Harmful Traditional Practices against Women in our communities include female genital mutilation, child marriage, ritualistic widowhood practices, nutritional taboos, cult prostitution, domestic violence, and sexual freedom for husbands. Other discriminatory practices include traditional land tenure systems and patterns of inheritance, lack of access to credit, family preference for sons, lack of participation in public decision-making, discrimination in housing and employment, discriminatory legislation, and discriminatory religious practices, as well as rape, battery, trafficking in women, murder, kidnapping, and induced prostitution. They are in serious need of education.
Jamaica In 2010, Amnesty International reported that according to national police statistics, 610 cases of rape and 511 cases of carnal abuse were reported. . Amnesty International also reports that women and girls are often victims of gang-related crime in inner city areas. certain acts were passed to protect the women in Jamaica some of them were – • The Sexual Offences Act- which was passed in 2009, creates new provisions for the prosecution of rape and other sexual offences, including marital rape, anonymity of complainant in rape and other sexual offences, as well as incest • Domestic Violence Act – It was passed not only to protect the women who are married but also the women who were not married and girls. • Married Women’s Property Act – Under the, women have the same rights as men to acquire, hold and dispose of property and this right is preserved regardless of marital status
The addition of laws in Jamaica In addition to laws, there have been a number of positive developments to improve the safety of women and girls in Jamaica. This includes the establishment of the Centre for Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA), within the police service, which is responsible for counseling victims and investigating sexual crimes and the implementation of several awareness- rising and education programs under the supervision of the Bureau of Women Affairs.
Korea There is limited information on whether domestic violence is prohibited by law. However, the government reported that domestic violence was covered by the general provisions of criminal law against violence. Sexual harassment is criminalized under the Penal Code, article 293, which indicates that ‘any man who forces a woman into sex, in cases where the victim works for or reports to him, will be punished with up to two years of labor training, or in serious cases, up to two years of correctional labor penalty. According to the US Department of State, violence against women has been reported as a significant problem. the government reported that husbands sometimes treated their wives roughly when they were drunk. The Korea Institute for National Unification reports that sexual violence is common place owing to the strong influence of patriarchal perceptions of male dominance in society and it has increased significantly since the food crisis in the 1990s. According to the Central Intelligence Agency, North Korea has a male/female sex ratio for the total population of 0.94 in 2012.Analysis of sex ratios across age groups provides some evidence of missing women in North Korea.
Kuwait Under the Kuwaiti Civil Status Code, married women are in theory protected from physical and psychological violence from their husbands. But in reality, women are afforded little legal or practical protection in domestic violence cases, with the police and courts generally trying to resolve family disputes informally, and no shelters or other support services available to victims. Lack of data makes it difficult to estimate the prevalence of violence against women in Kuwait: no statistics are collected, either by the government or NGOs, and few women report cases of domestic violence, out of fear or shame. Rape is a criminal offence in Kuwait, but spousal rape is not recognized. In contrast to the lack of attention given to physical and sexual assaults that occur within the home, rape and sexual assault committed outside of the home receive adequate responses from the police, and perpetrators found guilty face a prison sentence or the death penalty. Sexual harassment in the workplace is not recognized as a specific crime; this is of particular concern in regard to domestic workers (see below).So-called ‘honor’ killings do occur in Kuwait. Abortion is only legal in cases of fetal impairment, or if the mother’s life is in danger. In all cases, the woman’s husband or male guardian has to give permission for the procedure to go ahead. Under-five mortality rates are low overall, and are slightly higher for boys than for girls. No gender-disaggregated data is available for rates of malnutrition. Gender-disaggregated immunization rates are also not available, but according to UNICEF. . The male/female sex ratio for the total population in 2012 is 1.43.Analysis of sex ratio data across age groups shows elevated sex ratios amongst younger groups, providing evidence that Kuwait is a country of concern in relation to missing women. The elevated sex ratio for adults can be attributed to migration.
Japan In the past decade, the legal and social infrastructure to reverse entrenched gender inequalities in Japan have had some impact on the perception of women in the labor market. According to research carried out by the Minister for Gender Equality in 2007. • Employment The high gender Wage gap between men and women reflect however the inflexible employment conditions which are too restrictive for mothers to balance work with childcare, and the low presence of women in career-track schemes. Workplaces need to give mothers more opportunities to return to regular employment • Political empowerments Women in Japan were given the right to vote in 1946. The Second Basic Plan for Gender Equality adopted in December 2005 set as its goal ‘raising the percentage of women in leadership positions in all fields to at least around 30% of the total by 2020’. Currently, only 9.4 percent of parliamentary seats in Japan are occupied by women, and the country is ranked 131st by the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) out of 189 countries surveyed.
Lebanon There is currently no legislation in place protecting women from domestic violence, although as of November 2010, a draft law was under consideration that would allow domestic violence cases to be heard in closed courts, as well as enabling abused women to file for protection orders and for courts to force perpetrators to undergo rehabilitation. Awareness of violence against women, including domestic violence, has increased in recent years, thanks largely to efforts by local and regional NGOs. However, it is impossible to assess the prevalence of domestic violence in Lebanon, as levels of under-reporting remain high, with many women afraid to speak out about violence that they are experiencing at home, for fear of being blamed for the abuse, or of bringing shame on the family. Rape is a criminal offence in Lebanon, with a minimum sentence of five years, but a rapist can escape prison if he agrees to marry his victim. It is not clear whether the victim’s consent is necessary in such circumstances. The law does not recognize spousal rape. There is also no law dealing specifically with sexual harassment. So-called ‘honor’ killings do take place in Lebanon, although they are rarely prosecuted and are often reported as suicides, meaning it is very difficult to ascertain how many women die this way each year
New Zealand New Zealand was ranked fifth in the 2008 Gender Gap Report, showing strong progress in education attainment, political empowerment and economic participation. New Zealand has a long history of promoting women's equality: it was the first country to give women the vote in the 19th century and has strong female representation in politics and the judiciary. The points covered are- • Education and employment • Legislation • Political empowerments
Education and employment • At the time of the 2001 Census, young women were more likely to leave school with a qualification (86 percent) than their male counterparts (81 percent). Women are now more highly represented in tertiary Education than ever before. In 2001 women made up more than half (53 percent) of all tertiary enrolments. There are gendered differences in subject and vocation choices at tertiary level, with more women studying health-related subjects and men studying engineering-related subjects. • Despite this level of education attainment, women have higher rates of participation than men in all categories of unpaid work, both within and outside the household.
legislation The Domestic Purposes Benefit was introduced in 1973 for all parents (mainly women) caring for dependent children without the support of a partner. In the same year, the Accident Compensation Amendment Act extended compensation to non-earners, particularly benefiting women who do full-time unpaid work in the home. The Human Rights Commission Act was first introduced in 1979 and was later modified in 1993 to extend the grounds under which discrimination in employment matters, provision of goods and services, and access to places, vehicles and facilities is illegal in New Zealand. It covers sex, pregnancy, childbirth, sexual orientation, marital status (including living in a relationship in the nature of a marriage), family status (including having or not having responsibility for care of children or other dependants), and disability.
Political empowerment On 19 September 1893, New Zealand became the first country in the world to grant women the right to vote in parliamentary elections. However, women were not eligible to be elected to the House of Representatives until 1919. The first woman to win an election was Elizabeth McCombs in 1933. The first Maori woman MP was Iriaka Ratana in 1949. In 1989 Helen Clark became the first female Deputy Prime Minister. In 1997 Jenny Shipley became the first female Prime Minister after Jim Bolger lost the support of the National Party. In 1999, Clark became the second female Prime Minister, and the first female to actually win election to the position.
Canada Although women in Canada are outnumbering men in terms of educational attainment at secondary and university level, they still face a glass ceiling in the labor market and higher tertiary level. Canada has a relatively high participation rate of women in the labor market, and there are increasingly more women employed full-time (courtesy of child-care policies and maternity leave provisions) but this has not translated in equality in pay. With one of the largest wage gaps between men and women amongst OECD countries, women in Canada are still far from reaching equality in the workplace. There are as many women as men with university degrees, however there is a declining female representation among post-graduate students: 27% of doctorate students, for example, are women. Moreover, females continue to account for much smaller shares of full-time enrolment in mathematics and science faculties. In 2001-02, women made up only 30% of all university students in mathematics and physical sciences, and just 24% of those in engineering and applied sciences. Women won the right to vote and stand for election in Canada in 1921. In the 2011 elections, 76 women (24.7%) were elected to parliament, a record number and record percentage of MPs.
China With an advanced civilization stretching back thousands of years, modern-day China came into being in 1949, with the establishment of the communist People’s Republic of China, under the leadership of Mao Zedong. Under Mao’s leadership, the country saw massive social and economic upheaval, with the collectivization of agriculture and the nationalization of industry, as well as the turmoil of the Great Leap Forward (1958-61) and the Cultural Revolution (1966-76).With the arrival to power in 1978 of Deng Xiao Ping, the country embarked on economic reform, and since then, the Chinese economy has grown considerably; by 2000, output had quadrupled, and by 2010, the country had become the world’s largest exporter, according to the CIA World Fact book. While standards of living have risen for many with economic development, social and economic inequality are now a pronounced feature of contemporary Chinese society, with significant discrepancies between rural and urban areas, and between the prosperous eastern regions of the country, and western China. China is classed as an upper-middle income country by the World Bank. The 1982 Constitution protects the rights of all citizens to vote, stand for election, and practice (or not practice) religion, although elections in China are not considered free or fair by international observers. It does not include any specific language prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex or gender. Despite women in China making great strides in educational achievement and workforce participation. There is now growing concern that the gap between women and men’s social and economic status is widening again in the wake of China’s rapidly changing economic, social and political conditions. In addition, there remains a severe imbalance in the nation’s sex ratios, indicating a significant number of ‘missing women,’ thought to be an outcome of the country’s one-child policy. China ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1980, but has not yet ratified the Optional Protocol. China is ranked in 101st place in the 2011 Human Development Index, with a score of 0.687; under the Gender Inequality Index, the country’s score is 0.209 (35th out of 146 countries).In the 2011 Global Gender Gap index, China is in 61st place (out of 135 countries), with a score of 0.6866.
Venezuela • The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela was one of three countries to emerge from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830. Democratically elected governments have governed the country since 1959. Data from the National Institute of Statistics showed that in 2004, 61% of the population still could not meet their basic nutritional needs, and that around half the population still lived in extreme poverty. The World Bank classifies Venezuela as an upper middle income country. • Article 21 of the Constitution of the Republic of Venezuela, adopted in 1999, upholds equal rights for men and women in all areas of daily life including within the family, at work, in the community and in political and economic affairs. It also prohibits all forms of discrimination. Article 88 recognizes the economic and social value of domestic work. Article 76 recognizes women’s sexual and reproductive rights. Venezuela ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in 1983. • With respect to access to education, the World Economic Forum reports that Venezuela has reached gender parity in primary, secondary and tertiary education enrolments which suggests that there is no preferential treatment of sons with respect to education. • The male/female sex ratio for the total population in 2012 is 0.98. • There is no evidence to suggest that Venezuela is a country of concern in relation to missing women.
There are no reported legal restrictions on women’s freedom of access to public space in Venezuela. However, as described in the Physical Integrity section, the threat of gender-based violence in Venezuela impinges upon women’s freedom of movement. • Article 88 of the Constitution provides that the State shall guarantee the equality and equity of men and women in the exercise of the right to work. It also provides that the government should recognize housework as an economic activity which creates added value and produces wealth and social well-being. Women’s right to equal pay is also guaranteed in the Constitution.
Vietnam Viet Nam became a unified country again in 1975, at the end of a three-decade long armed conflict between communist forces and French colonial, and then American troops. The conflict resulted in large numbers of civilian casualties, as well as considerable environmental degradation. A socialist country, market reforms were introduced in the 1980s and 1990s, and since then, the country’s economy has grown massively; while this has brought wealth to some, it is exacerbated social and economic inequality, particularly between urban and rural areas. Viet Nam is classed as a lower-middle income country by the World Bank. The Constitution of Viet Nam enshrine the principle of gender equality, and specifically prohibits the violation of women’s rights. In regard to legal rights, the position of Vietnamese women has improved over the past decades. In 2006, the National Assembly passed the country’s first Law on Gender Equality. This law aims to address a range of issues (such as wage gaps) and eliminate discrimination based on gender. The position of women varies considerably among Viet Nam’s 54 official ethnic groups. Harmful practices such as such as the marriage of young girls and marriage of a widow to her deceased husband’s brother are prevalent among some groups, despite being prohibited by law since 2000, Public life is still traditionally viewed as a predominantly male domain, while women remain responsible for unpaid work in the household. This is particularly true in rural areas and in the highlands, where women also face limited education and employment opportunities, and access to healthcare.Viet Nam ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1982, but has not yet ratified the Optional Protocol. Under the 2011 Human Development Index, Viet Nam is ranked in 128th place (out of 187 countries), with a score of 0.593.The country’s score in the Gender Inequality Index for 2011 is 0.305 (48 out of 146 countries).Viet Nam’s ranking in the 2011 Global Gender Gap Index is 79 (out of 135 countries), with a score of 0.6732.
Bangladesh Female children, girls and women are all victims of discrimination and widow destitute old women are the worst sufferers. It is thought that mentally and physically women are not suitable for many jobs. Most parents want to have male children so that they can supplement their family income and help with the domestic work when the parents will grow older. In the existing socio economic set up, male children are best suited to this purpose. So parents think the female child a burden to them.
