Female youth and their well being

A presentation by

Dr. Angela Langenkamp

Female youth and their well being

We need to look at numbers, e.g. available sex disaggregated indicators on youth, monitored by the UN system , which focus on:

Ø Education and literacy ratesØ Youth unemploymentØ HIV/AIDS and reproductive healthØ Juvenile delinquency

But numbers alone do not unveil the entire truth of the existing gender divides at both the interpersonal and structural level.

What disadvantages girls over boys?

Poverty and time consuming tasks assigned to girls and women (e.g. fetching water and firewood, looking after younger siblings or sick parents due to HIV/AIS for example=

Forced child marriages and teenage pregnancies. 5 million girlsand young women aged 15-19 years have abortions each year,40% under unsafe conditions

Targeted discrimination and exclusion of girls and women

© UNICEF/2002/Page

E.g. under the Taliban, the education of girls was banned.

Çigdem Yildiz - In her region of south-eastern Turkey, in the Province of Van, girls are raised to work in the home and prepare for early marriage. They learn to be silent.

Human rights = women‘s rights ?

REUTERS8. March 2005 - International Women's Day

A protester falls during a demonstration in Istanbul ahead of International Women's Day. Police used batons and tear-gas to disperse the crowd, detaining dozens of people

Gender based discrimination and violence

Young girls are "sold" by their parents into marriage in the North West Frontier Province in Pakistan. Girls fleeing such marriages can be put in jail and are shunned by society. If they are released, they are either killed by their own family or theirin-laws, or sold again.

Close to 15,000 girls and young women fall victim to dowry deaths in India each year.

Roughly 2 million girls between the ages of 5 and 15 are trafficked, sold, or forced into prostitution each year.

> 1,000 girls and women are killed in the name of honourevery year in Pakistan alone.

In many African and Caribbean countries, HIV infection rates among young women (under 24 years) are two to

six times higher than among young men.

Why?

E.g. many women – and particularly young women - experience sexual and economic subordination in their personal relationships and at work, and so cannot negotiate safe sex or refuse unsafe sex, making them especially vulnerable to HIV infection.

Sexual violence threatens girls and women all around the world

in Non-Conflict Situations and Conflict Situations

In the USA, 700,000 women are raped or sexually assaulted each year, with 14.8 per cent of women reporting having been raped before the age of 17.

In Peru, a study of 12- to 16-year-old girls giving birth found that 90 per cent of them were pregnant from rape, often incest.

In Rwanda, approximately half a million women were raped during the 1994 genocide.

In Bosnia, 20,000–50,000 women were raped during five months of conflict in 1992

Causes and conditions hampering female youth development

Double jeopardy

Whether rich or poor statistics show that girls because of their sex are disadvantaged over boys when it comes to schooling.UNICEF,

The State of the World's Children 2004

65 million girls around the world are being denied their right to education

Pressing challenges and some possible responses

Build more primary and secondary schools with adequate facilities for boys and girls and train and hire more female teachers

Why:Unless there are enough schools near communities, most girls in rural areas will miss out on education and unless there are female teachers in (cultural/religious) communities wheregirls are not allowed to be taught by men, girls will be deprived of their right to education.

Eliminate school fees at least for primary education

Why:Fees and charges affect all poor children -- but they hit girls harder than boys, because private returns on girls’ education are often lower than the social returns.

How do we measure progress on gender equality?

Some contextual indicators to monitor progress in achieving female youth well being and equal right

to developmentAvailability of secure and adequate gender responsive infrastructure (e.g. educational facilities in the close proximity of the home)

Existing laws and law enforcement structures and procedures promoting gender equality and protecting equal rights of girls and boys, young women and men

Equal opportunities and adequate access to training and productive resources for young women and men (e.g. credit, land ownership, housing titles but also driving license)

Equal and adequate access to networks and socialisation points.

Proposed (new) indicators to monitor progress in achieving female youth well being and equal right to

development

No. of sexually and/or physically abused and/orexploited girls

No. of girls and young women being trafficked

No. of girls and young women participating inleadership training programs and (national)policy debate.

No. of girls and young women enjoying familyinheritance on the same note as their male peers

…

INDICATOR:

Cultural, social and economic obstacles that stop parents from sending their daughters to school as well as measures to overcome the same have been identified, effectively addressed, gradually reduced and eliminatedby …

INDICATOR:

Goal: Alongside boys and men, girls and young women realise their full rights and enjoy the same access to socio-economic and political participation and decision making.

YOU/WE need to change your / our perception on girls and young women.

Thank you!