Because You're A Girl

Today is International Day of the Girl and should be a celebration of those young ladies who will become the women of tomorrow; agents of change who can lead the world towards societies free of gender-based violence (GBV). Societies where gender doesn't dictate whether you receive an education, and where the fact of your sex doesn't determine the opportunities with which you are presented. 

 

However, two weeks into my time here in PNG I keep being brought back to the realities which overshadow life for girls here and in many other parts of the world. 

          

Here are the stories of some of the girls that I have met.


Dyane and Jacinta: The price of education
Some years ago I spoke to a hugely impressive young lady, called Dyane* who was the first girl in her remote, rural community to graduate from vocational training in a particularly male dominated field.  Despite personal tragedy after her young husband was brutally murdered, Dyane went on to commercial success and was able, because of her skills, to independently support herself and her son from the income she earned as a result of her training. 

She explained to me that she felt as though she was one of the lucky ones.  Her parents had supported and encouraged her ambitions, despite and in spite of, her gender.  One of seven children her two brothers had died at an early age.  Her parents’ aspirations for their children had been transferred to her and her sisters.  Her younger sister, Jacinta*, was also enrolled in the same course that Dyane had taken; the only girl, but the top of the class.

 

I asked her about what was preventing other girls from following in the footsteps of her and her sister.  She explained to me that in her community the girls and boys were not encouraged to interact, and as a result the girls had very little confidence being around boys and men. She said that she wanted to be a role model for other girls, and felt that encouraging girls into vocational training was vital to, as she put it, ‘redressing the gender imbalance in education’.  I was utterly inspired by her. Her strength, her conviction, and her sassiness abounded.  She had succeeded and wanted to share that success with other women.

 
I found out later that Dyane had paid a high price for her education.  The manager of the school had been abusing girls and boys in his care (including Dyane) for many years.  Despite a police investigation the community refused to cooperate. The perpetrator was protected by political, religious, and community leaders who didn’t want to lose out on the financial benefits which they received from having him present.  Dyane was required to sacrifice herself in order to liberate herself.  Without her education she wouldn’t have been able to live independently and earn her own income.  However, she had to endure the most horrendous violations in order to finish that education.
 

 

 

Amanda:  Cursed

Amanda* sits quietly gazing down at the bilum which holds her most precious possession; her four month old son. She is around 17 years old and has been married, she thinks, for about 3 years. She has nothing else left after accusations of sorcery drove her from her village.  She has been abandoned by her own family, her friends, and her husband.  It began, she explains, after her elderly mother-in-law became ill.  Amanda was charged with caring for her but she would frequently find the old lady covered in bruises which she couldn’t explain.

Instead she would be blamed and every bruise would result in a vicious beating for Amanda.  Sometimes she would return from the market to find the old lady collapsed on the floor.  Sometimes the old lady would fly into a rage, lashing out, or hitting herself.  Amanda tried to stop her, to calm her down but she didn’t know how.  She was scared.  She asked for help, but it only resulted in more beatings and that was when the accusations began.
 

‘Everything has changed since you arrived. She was fine before I married you’, her husband sneered.  ‘You can’t even produce a child – what a waste of bride price’, he taunted.  ‘I think you are the problem.  You must have put a curse on her’, he accused.  And that was that.  Her fate was sealed.  Whispers began, rumours circulated, people began to move away when she approached.  She knew what was coming.
 

Some months, and many more beatings later, the change in the old lady became more extreme.  The right hand side of her face started to sag.  Her speech became slurred, and she couldn’t walk without assistance.  Amanda’s husband decided to take his mother to the hospital, but she died on the way.  He tortured and beat Amanda into unconsciousness, and left her on the side of the road. The last words which Amanda heard before she passed out revealed that she could never return to her home without putting her own life in danger:  ‘You killed my mother, you witch.  I hope you die and if you don’t I will make sure you do if you ever come back to the village’, he spat.  When she came around her left eye was swollen shut. Her back and legs had been gashed with a bush knife.  He had beaten her with a metal pole, and raped her as she lay unconscious. 
 

Picture by Vlad Sohkin

 
Despite the circumstances of his conception her little boy means the world to her. He is everything she has.  She found out later than her Mother-in-Law had been suffering from dementia and died of a massive stroke.  Her ex-husband still says that Amanda killed her through sorcery.
 

 

Name Unknown:  A childhood betrayed
I don’t know this little girl’s story.  What I do know is this.  She is around 10 or 11 years old and, at a guess, about 7 months pregnant.  She lives in the Casamance Region of Senegal in West Africa. 

I don’t know the circumstances of her pregnancy, but what I do know is this:

·         Despite her age she may already be married (40% of girls are married under the age of 18) or she may have been raped outside of marriage (the age of consent is 16 but spousal rape is not recognised by many Senegalese communities). 

·         The statistical likelihood is that she will have experienced FGM (female genital mutilation) or female circumcision, along with over 90% of the women in South Senegal.  

·         It is unlikely that she is or will become literate (only 33% of women in Senegal are).

·        Maternal and prenatal health issues are significantly enhanced during child pregnancy, as well as the risk of pregnancy and birth related complications which can lead to lifelong health issues or death (370 women in every 100,000 will die in childbirth). 

There are hundreds of thousands of these stories all over the world.  People who are subjugated, tortured, abused, raped, denied access to health and education, or forced into effective slavery simply because a turn of fate, a single chromosome, determined that they would be a girl rather than a boy. 

So yes, let’s celebrate the achievements of girls.  The lucky ones who are educated enough to succeed, or are privileged enough to live in a society which respects and expects gender equity.
 

 

 

But let’s not forget those that struggle every day because of their sex. I hope that these stories make you angry.  I hope that you are inspired by the injustice of it.  And I hope that you will support some of the fabulous work which is being done by amazing organisations which stand up for girls and give them a voice in worlds which are trying to silence them.

  

 
 
 
* Names changed to preserve identity.  Photos used for visual purposes only.  Unless otherwise stated they do not relate to the particular ladies referred to.

Louise Ewington