Stop Whistling, Start Listening

Girls are the answer - The Girl Effect

 I dare you to rethink what it means to look at a girl - not a burden , not an object but the answer.

I’ve always considered myself a feminist and a champion of women and girls. However, earlier this year I read a book that transformed how I see what it means to champion girls and why it’s so important in ways I hadn’t begun to grasp. That book was Half The Sky by Nicholas B Kristof and Sheryl Wunn and the biggest revelation for me was the very real difference that educating girls makes.  

Shortly after reading that book and while I was considering starting this blog, a friend and blogger forwarded me a video from The Girl Effect campaign and everything I’d been reading, researching and thinking about seemed to just click in that one place. The Girl Effect is linked to several charities who invest in girls around the world but themselves work to raise awareness of why it’s so important. I’d invite everyone to download their factsheet and learn how investing in girls makes a difference: 

It makes a difference in their own lives, 

When a girl in the developing world receives seven or more years of education, she marries four years later and has 2.2 fewer children. (United Nations Population Fund, State of World Population 1990.)

it makes a difference in their families’ lives,

When women and girls earn income, they reinvest 90 percent of it into their families, as compared to only 30 to 40 percent for a man. (Chris Fortson, “Women’s Rights Vital for Developing World,” Yale News Daily 2003.)

and it makes a difference in their countries

If 10% more girls go to secondary school, the country’s economy grows 3% - Source Girl Effect ‘I Dare You’ video

What I love about the Girl Effect campaign is how accessible and almost fun it is. We hate to accept that charity fatigue sets in but as adults, it’s true. The Girl Effect make it so easy for us all to spread the word but they also do it in a way that can appeal to the girls who are the feminist campaigners and charity workers of tomorrow. The site has videos, posters, buttons for blogs, banners and more that can be shared on blogs, facebook, twitter or even printed out and made into posters and badges (for the old school types).

Crucially, it’s inspiring. It’s amazing to watch the videos of girls whose lives have changed not just through education programmes, but investment like loans to help them start businesses to help support their family. We need to recognise that improving the lives of girls is a major factor in improving the conditions of whole societies. 

So, what can we do? The Girl Effect is effective as a campaign but talking about it can’t be enough. First we need to educate ourselves on these matters. We live in an extraordinarily privileged society and while times may seem hard, our definition of hard times is nothing of the kind. There are so many areas for improvement so if you’re feeling overwhelmed maybe it’s best to pick one and see what charities you can support that tackle that area. The resources page at Half the Sky for instance gives details of charities who are involved in tackling areas like trafficking, education, economic empowerment and reproductive health. 

I couldn’t begin to describe each of these areas and the charities who do good work in them, but one which really resonated with me was maternal health. The chapters in Half The Sky based around childbirth and related injuries shocked me to my core. Living in the UK (and formerly in Ireland, statistically the safest place in the world to give birth) I had no idea the kinds of conditions women - and girls - were giving birth in and the complications from which they suffered. Girls are far more likely to suffer injury or obstetric fistulas when giving birth as their bodies aren’t developed enough to handle it, so the baby can get stuck, causing injury. When giving birth there’s often no-one on hand who can help and no willingness on the part of the father or family members to seek assistance if complications develop. If injury does occur, the girls are left to fend for themselves as no-one wants to be around a young woman who is smelly and leaking faeces, and in some cases barely able to walk or look after themselves, let alone their newborn child (if it survived). They’re often shunned, kicked out or left to die. It’s so unbelievably far removed from the safe and celebratory childbirth situations my friends and family have experienced. I had not long finished this chapter when Mother’s Day came around this year and I took the unusual step (unusual for me anyway) of sending an email to all my friends urging them to support  organisations like AMREF or the White Ribbon Alliance. This email was later turned into a guest blog post on Candepop.com

But what has maternal healthcare got to do with girls? Well, many women who give birth in the world are just girls. In the absence of choice, education or power girls are getting married and having children. Investing in maternal healthcare is just one way to ensure that if this occurs women and girls are empowered to demand proper care and if they do suffer complications they are looked after and heal properly. 

Medical complications from pregnancy are the leading cause of death among girls ages 15 to 19 worldwide. Compared with women ages 20 to 24, girls ages 10 to 14 are five times more likely to die from childbirth, and girls 15 to 19 are up to twice as likely, worldwide. (United Nations Children’s Fund, Equality, Development and Peace, www.unicef.org/publications/files/pub_equality_en.pdf [New York: UNICEF, 2000], 19.)

I’m happy and proud to be part of the Girl Effect blogging campaign today. I encourage you to read all the other blogs posted today and maybe feel inspired to find an area to support - keeping girls in education, or preventing trafficking for instance. You can, of course, also directly support the fantastic and encouraging work of the Girl Effect themselves .

Let’s talk about it, let’s mobilise and let’s support girls.