My goal is gender equality, and my target is child marriage and female genital mutilation.
I found out that one in five girls still marry before the age of 18, which is a horrific number. Girls who marry before 18 are more likely to suffer from domestic abuse and less likely to remain in school. They often become pregnant during adolescence, with a higher risk of complications both during their pregnancy and childbirth. Child marriage is a result of culture, poverty, lack of educational opportunities and access to health care. Some parents marry off their daughters to lift their financial burden, make a profit or ensure their daughters’ future. In 2016, UNICEF launched the Global Programme to End Child Marriage with UNFPA. The program provides life skill education to encourage girls to speak up and negotiate with their parents, have community members, males and females, engage in dialogues, and establish welfare assistant committees on case management to support these youths.[JW1]
Female genital mutilation involves partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. This practice has no health benefits, only harm. The mutilation can cause severe pain, excessive bleeding, genital tissue swelling, fever, infections, urinary problems, vaginal problems, menstrual problems, sexual problems, wound healing problems, injury to surrounding genital tissues, shock and death. It can also lead to an increased risk of childbirth complications and newborn baby deaths. For the practice of sealing or narrowing the vaginal opening, the sealed vagina may have to be cut open for sexual intercourse and childbirth. Sometimes genital tissue is stitched again several times, including after birth. According to available sources, FGM is practiced in the western, eastern, and northeastern regions of Africa and some countries in the Middle East and Asia. Sociocultural factors such as the promotion of premarital virginity and marital fidelity lead to the practice of FGM. There is both medicalized and nonmedicalized FGM. The reasons for medicalized FGM are the belief that there is a reduced risk of complications, that it is the first step of abandonment, and belief in FGM from health providers who are part of that community. There may also be financial incentives involved. However, with WHO’s support and training, many health providers have become advocates for FGM abandonment, whether they belong to that community or not. The World Health Assembly also passed resolution WHA61.16 on the elimination of FGM in 2008.[JW2]
References
https://www.unicef.org/protection/child-marriage
https://www.unicef.org/protection/unfpa-unicef-global-programme-end-child-marriage
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/female-genital-mutilation
[JW1]useful summary of information
[JW2]This was a very informative summary of the information with a lot of important statistics! You’ve definitely shown your knowledge on the topic I’m just not sure if there’s much of a “reflective” element to comment on. Maybe there’s a more personal element to this you could comment on? Were you aware of the prevalence of this problem before reading etc?
