Because I am a girl: The State of the World's ... - Plan Deutschland

Signing up to stop
violence against women.
used to treat these group discussions
like a free period, happy we didn’t have
to study. But over a period of time we
thought, these people are working
so hard on this issue, there must be
something to it, we must try and listen…
“Today, if we have any free time we
use it for discussions on gender equality
and violence against women and girls.
We needed to show that not all boys
are violent, and that is why we formed
a group. Because of some men, all men
cannot be labelled as violent. Today
we are a group of nine boys. We speak
to other boys, taking guidance from
MASVAW staff.
“The biggest change we see in
ourselves is that now we know what
abuse means. The way we define abuse
has changed itself. Today, we feel so
connected to this work that we know we
will continue to spread the message when
we go to university. This work won’t stop
when we finish school.”
As we saw in the 2010 report, this violence
today is not necessarily face to face, but can
also be conducted through the internet or via
mobile phones:
“I am Vice-Principal at an urban high
school in Canada. Recently I addressed a
male student who cyber-bullied a female
classmate through instant messaging with
her while at home… I met with the student
in my office and he took responsibility for
the bullying. During the interview it became
apparent to me that the student had fine
qualities and values that conflicted with his
behaviour towards the female student. I
M A S V A W
asked how his parents were going to react
to his behaviour when I informed them. We
spoke about his sister and how he would
feel if he learned that there were male
students treating her or his mother the same
way he treated his female classmate. He
became emotional. At that point I ended the
conversation. I learned that upon returning
to school, from a suspension, he apologised
to the student.” 93
The issue of violence, including sexual
violence, and bullying in schools has to
be dealt with at a more structural level as
well, by governments, policymakers, and
those in charge of and working in schools,
such as teachers and teachers’ unions.
“Working together with teachers’ unions
can help us to increase political pressure on
governments to improve living and working
conditions of teachers, which are often at the
root of frustration and physical and verbal
aggression against children,” says Anastasie
Koudoh, Plan West Africa’s regional
campaign coordinator. In fact, out of 49
countries, only seven have a national data
collection system for school violence.
“If we are seriously to address the issues
of school drop-outs and improve school
enrolment, we have to ensure that our
children learn that violence is never allowed
and that they can lead their lives in nonviolent
ways too,” says Raja Mohammed
Anwar, chair of the task force on education
in Pakistan. 94
5 School matters: “being strong
in their education”
“To be honest, before I joined these
meetings I thought girls were useless and
couldn’t do anything. Now I realise this is
not true and they can do as much as boys.
In fact, I went and talked to my parents
about this. At first they were surprised but
then they agreed with me.”
Farouq, 12, Cairo, Egypt 95
We have seen how important it is to send
girls to school and how important school
can and should be in promoting equality
between girls and boys; not just in terms of
equality of opportunity but in finding new
ways of relating to each other, undermining
stereotypes and challenging discrimination.
All the elements of a good education
that improve school life and learning for
girls and young women also benefit boys.
Gender justice and gender equality need to
be specific goals in the education system
– eradicating violence and discrimination,
ensuring that schools do not continue to
promote gender biases and stereotypes,
building in quality education for all children.
Education should provide for both boys and
girls the opportunity to be the best they
can be, to work together, not to reproduce
the oppositional notions of gender that in
many societies still dominate our institutional
structures and individual lives.
Addressing these issues for both boys
and girls is not a short-term goal. It requires
support at all levels, from parents to teachers
to the government and, crucially, from young
people themselves. Most parents want
their children to go to school, and many
poor parents have high aspirations for their
daughters’ futures as well as their sons’, as
this chart (below) from the ‘Young Lives’
study of 12,000 children from poor families
in four countries shows.
Per cent
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Andhra
Pradesh
Parents of 8 year olds who ideally would
like their children to complete university (%)
Sons
Daughters
Ethiopia
Peru
Vietnam
Mothers who are educated themselves
are more likely to send their children,
including their daughters, to school. 96,97 The
percentage of children in school increases
with each grade their mother has attained.
Research for ‘Young Lives’ in Andhra
Pradesh, India, found that only 68 per
cent of the older cohort whose mothers
received no formal education were in school,
compared to 92 per cent whose mothers had
received secondary education. 98
Fathers also play an important role, as
so often they are the final arbiter in any
decision about sending a child to school –
or taking them out. Though mothers (and
sometimes older brothers or uncles) are
usually the key to persuading them, it is
often fathers who make the decision about
whether a girl can go to school.
Boy Scouts in Pakistan support
girls’ education
Half the boys in Baluchistan attend
school. But only five per cent of girls
do. Baluchistan is the largest province
in Pakistan, covering around 45 per cent
of the country. It has a population of 7.5
million people. It is also one of the least
developed regions, with a literacy rate of
around 27 per cent.
Now, 40,000 Scouts in Baluchistan
have joined forces with UNICEF to help
improve the situation for girls. They are
being trained to help local communities
understand the importance of educating
girls. This has resulted in an increase in
the female literacy rate, an increase in
the immunisation rate and a reduction in
diseases due to a lack of hygiene.
The project is called ‘Brothers Join
Meena’ and it now runs in 23 of
Baluchistan’s 27 districts. ‘Meena’ is a
cartoon character; a nine year-old girl
created by UNICEF in 1990. She promotes
girls’ education and is popular throughout
South Asia.
The Scouts receive training on
children’s rights and data collection. They
are also helped to develop interpersonal
communication skills. Once they are
trained, each Scout goes out into his
local community and collects information
on 10 homes with children under nine.
They help parents in each of these homes
to understand the importance of girls’
education. They also help the parents to
understand the need to have their young
children immunised. In addition, they may
help each family in a very practical way;
constructing latrines in every home that
does not have one.
Ghazanfar Mashkoor, International
Commissioner, Pakistan Boy Scouts’
Association, says: “Through Scouts
and the ‘Brothers Join Meena’ project a
72 the s tate of the world’s girls 73