Because I am a Girl - Plan USA

Foreword
Young men who hate porn (UK) . . . 92
The ‘Be a Man’ campaign
(Uganda) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
To be young is not a crime
(El Salvador) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98
Challenging and changing
attitudes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99
4 Flashpoints and male violence . . 124
Legal framework: violence
against women, in the home
and at work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
5 The consequences of violence
for young men . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
6 “Everyone gains”
– challenging male violence . . . . . 132
7 Conclusion: what helps young
men not to use violence? . . . . . . . . 134
Case studies and definitions
Breaking traditions in Nepal . . . . . 122
The Men of Strength Campaign . . 124
Speaking out against violence
through hip hop (Brazil). . . . . . . . . 125
Fear among the ‘maras’
(El Salvador) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Elektra and Sharaf (Sweden) . . . . . 131
One Man Can: “See it and stop it”
(South Africa) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
“It took me 20 years to realise
that I’d done something wrong”
(South Africa) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
The White Ribbon Campaign . . . . 134
Section 2 –
Because We are
Girls: ‘Real Choices,
Real Lives’
Cohort study update . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Cohort study map . . . . . . . . . . . . .164
President Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Former President of Brazil and a member
of The Elders
Chapter 5
Hopes and fears: the
transition to adulthood . . . 102
1 Introduction: a changing
world . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
2 Hopes and expectations . . . . . . . 103
3 The transition to work . . . . . . . . 105
4 Young men as fathers . . . . . . . . . 107
5 Working women, working
men: changing role models? . . . . . 110
6 “Equality makes me happy” . . . . 113
Case studies and definitions
Boys will be boys? (Senegal) . . . . .108
Young fathers in Jamaica . . . . . . . .109
Case study: Speaking from the
heart (Dominican Republic) . . . . . . 114
Chapter 6
A dangerous boy?
Saying no to violence . . . . . 116
1 Introduction: Pascal’s story . . . . 117
2 How violence affects girls and
young women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Legal framework: violence
against women, recent legal
precedents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
3 “Guys who fight are cool” –
resisting the pressure to punch . . . 121
Chapter 7
Changing our lives . . . . . . . . 136
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
8 Point Action Plan: Educate,
Campaign, Legislate . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Campaigns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Legislation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Case studies and definitions
Changing human behaviour . . . . . 139
Section 3 –
Reference
Plan’s Because I am a Girl
campaign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .168
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169
Maternity leave duration map . . . 170
Paternity leave duration map . . . . 172
Case Studies:
1 Program H. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
2 New Visions: life skills
education for boys . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
3 Promising Practice: Plan
Honduras – including Honduran
boys and men in gender
equality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
4 USAID – Safe Schools
Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .181
Girls online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .197
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
About Plan International . . . . . . . 206
Plan Offices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Over the centuries many cultures and
religions have tried to justify inequality and
discrimination against women and girls.
These teachings and practices have been
abused by men to give them power over
the female members of their families and
women across their communities. Girls and
women have been denied fair access to
education, health, employment, property
and influence within their own communities.
But it is not just women who are paying an
enormous price for this cultural and religious
prejudice. We all suffer when women
and girls are abused and their needs are
neglected. By denying them security and
opportunity, we embed unfairness in our
societies and fail to make the most of the
talents of half the population. In too many
countries we talk about democracy but deny
the rights of women and girls. But there
are, too, signs of hope. During my lifetime
in almost every society and in every area,
women are breaking down the barriers
which have held them and their daughters
back for so long.
There remains, however, a long way to go
until we reach true equality of opportunity.
And this is not a fight which should be left
to women and girls alone. It is up to all our
leaders, particularly male political, religious
and civil leaders, to challenge and change
those practices and attitudes, however
long-established, which allow and foster
discrimination and unfair treatment. Men
still hold many of the key levers of power
and therefore have the power to bring
about change. This is true also within the
family, where fathers in particular have a
key role to play. Their attitudes and actions
will influence how both their sons and their
daughters behave, think and feel throughout
their lives; as violence against women can be
handed down from father to son so too can
gentleness, fairness and openness.
I call on all men and boys to throw their
weight behind the campaign for equality and
to challenge those who oppose women’s
rights and equality. The complementary skills
and qualities of both men and women are
needed to tackle the enormous challenges
we face. This will not be easy. Men and
boys will have to change their behaviour
and thinking. Some women will, too. But
we will all gain from such changes. Societies
with greater equality between men and
women, girls and boys, are healthier, safer,
more prosperous and more truly democratic.
We all need to step forward, to show the
courage and determination which is needed
to change our world for the better. This
year’s ‘Because I am a Girl’ report will be
challenging for all of us but the many stories
and examples it contains will also help us
find the way to change what needs changing
and to work together – men, women, boys
and girls from all walks of life – towards a
world where equal opportunities and gender
equality benefit everybody.
8 THE s tate of the world’s girls
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