Female Infanticide, Female Genital Cutting, Honor Killing

1. Discrimination Against the Girl Child Female Infanticide, Female Genital Cutting, Honor Killing Youth Advocate Program International 4545 42nd St. NW, Suite 209 Washington DC, 20016, USA www.yapi.org

2. The Girl Childwhat do you know? • What is discrimination? • What examples of discrimination come to mind? • Does the United States provide equal opportunities for men and women…and girls and boys? • If the US does provide equal opportunity between sexes, how does it do so? • Is anyone familiar with the following words: female infanticide, female genital cutting, honor killing?

3. The Girl Childwords to know • Child: The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) defines a child as a person under the age of 18. A girl child is thus a female younger than 18 years of age • Discrimination: Treatment or consideration based on class or category rather than individual merit; partiality or prejudice. • Dowry: Money or property that a ride’s family must give to the family of her husband as a requirement of marriage.

4. The Girl Childforms of discrimination • Female Infanticide: The murder of a female infant. It occurs often as a deliberate murder or abandonment of a young girl or infant. • Selective Abortion: Also called gender-selective abortion, sex-selective abortion, or female feticide-selective abortion. It involves the abortion of a fetus because it is a girl. Many women from communities or cultures with a preference for boys practice selective abortion.

5. The Girl Childforms of discrimination • Female Genital Cutting (FGC): The practice that involves the removal or the alteration of the female genitalia. It is a centuries-old practice found in many countries among people from various religions and beliefs, most prevalent in Africa. • Honor Killing: The practice of killing girls and women who are perceived to have dishonored a family’s reputation by allegedly engaging in sexual activity or other improprieties before or outside of marriage. ‘Improper’ behavior justifies grounds for killing. It has expanded to include transgressions, which are not initiated by the girl, including rape and incest.

6. The Girl Childfacts and statistics • Currently, 60 million girls are reported as “missing” as a result of infanticide, sex selective abortions, and neglect. • At least 130 million girls alive today have undergone Female Genital Mutilation, and 2 million more are at risk every year. • It is reported that at least 5,000 women and girls are murdered each year for “honor’s sake” by members of their own families. • United Nation statistics, national reports and studies initiated by non-governmental organizations repeatedly show that girls, as a group, have lower literacy rates, receive less health care, and more impoverished than boys. Source: Youth Advocate Program International: www.yapi.org Source: Youth Advocate Program International: www.yapi.org Source: United Nations Children’s Fund: www.unicef.org Source: Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org

7. What: The deliberate killing of a girl child. Who: Girl children who are born in societies where poverty, overpopulation, and male biases are prevalent. Where: In regions where poverty and overpopulation are prevalent. It predominantly occurs in societies where girl children are not viewed as economically advantageous. Why: Lineage, Income, Dowry, Protection, Government The Girl Childfemale infanticide

8. The Girl Childfemale infanticide Lakshmi’s Case: Tamil Nadu, India Lakshmi was 20 years old and already had one daughter. Upon the arrival of a second girl she no option but to kill this second daughter. Lakshmi refused to nurse the newborn and to silence the infant’s cries of hunger she fed her a poisonous combination of sap and castor oil. The baby died soon after. Source: Kumar, Sampath, “Life for India Baby Girl Killers,” 17 April, 2003, BBC News, World Edition, (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2956065.stm) According to UNICEF, up to 50 million girls are missing from India’s population due to the country’s gender discrimination.

9. What: The practice that involves the removal or alteration of the female genitalia. Who: Young or adolescent girls from cultures that believe that FGC will prevent girls from being promiscuous and prevent them from engaging in sexual intercourse before marriage. Where: 28 African countries, Muslim populations, Indigenous groups in Central and South America. Why: Cultural beliefs and attitudes on multiple fronts: sexual, sociological, hygienic and aesthetic, religious Effects: Physical ~ Pain, damage to organs, hemorrhage, chronic infections, complications with sexual intercourse and childbirth. Psychological ~ Shock, anxiety The Girl Childfemale genital cutting

10. The Girl Childfemale genital cutting Hannah’s Case: Ethiopia, East Africa Hannah was genitally cut when she was eight years old. She knew little about the procedure, but understood it to be a ritual, a ceremony, a process that would allow her to become a woman. Six women held Hannah down to perform the procedure. There was no anesthesia or pain medication at any point during the procedure, and Hannah almost lost consciousness because of the immense pain. The practitioner was then paid the equivalent of one dollar for the procedure. Source:UNICEF, www.unicef.org/infobycountry/ethiopia_18246.html Approximately 54% of girls in Ethiopia are subjected to FGC. There is no national action plan to fight against this abuse.

11. What: Killing of women that can be defined as acts of murder in which a woman is killed for her actual or perceived immoral behavior. Who: Women who have failed to keep marriage contracts, refused to agree to arranged marriages, requested divorce, flirted with men other then their husbands, or for ‘allowing’ themselves to be raped. Where: Most prominent in the Middle East, Southwest Asia, and Northwest Africa. Why: For violating sexual norms or being victims of rape or other sexual rumor. This is a custom where women are treated as property and business contracts. The Girl Childhonor killing

12. The Girl Childhonor killing Raina’s Case: Jordan, Southwest Asia Raina Arafat was twenty-one years old and did not want to marry the man her family had chosen for her. She Was secretly seeing her Iraqi boyfriend whom she wanted to elope with. Her aunts told her they had arranged a secret meeting between the two and brought her to an open patch of land in the suburb of Amman. Her aunts walked away and let her brother, Rami, shoot her in the back of her head. Raina’s ‘crime’ was being in love with a man that was not sanctioned by her family and cultural ideals. Source: Gendercide Watch, http://gendercide.org/case_honour.html Men who kill women for the sake of “honor” in Jordan are usually sentenced to only a few months in jail. They serve even less time if they hold minor status.

13. The Girl Childdiscussion • What are three reasons why women face prejudice around the world? • Do you think that equal education of girls and boys would provide more equal rights and less discrimination against girls? • Who should be in charge of making changes regarding the issues we have discussed today? • Why do you think people continue to commit these acts, even though there are laws against them in some places? • What do you think you can do to help?

14. The Girl Childwhat can you do? • Educateyourself about the rights of the Girl Child. • Contact local, state, and national politicians. • Write letters asking for their opinion on the rights of the Girl Child. • Talk to your parents about the CRC. • Educate the adults in your life! • Advocate for awareness of the CRC. • Begin a social awareness/ human rights club.

15. The Girl Childfor more information UN High Commission on Human Rights www.unhcr.org UNICEF www.unicef.org Amnesty International www.amnesty.org Youth Advocate Program International www.yapi.org