Because I Am a Girl
I was invited by Plan International to join their advocacy for women’s rights and their fight against abuse. Alas, I wasn’t able to join their 2014 report and update because it was Geof’s graduation practice that day. But I’m fully committed in supporting their campaign and future ones! So I’m sharing with you their update!
As part of its commemoration of Women‟s Month, Plan International shared its 2014 report on the
State of the World‟s Girls last March 26. Paulene Santos, the Campaigns Coordinator of Plan
International-Philippines, shared some startling facts about the pervasive issues that girls around the
world continue to face every day; namely, the lack of access to quality education, child marriage, early pregnancy, violence, sexual abuse, and gender discrimination.
Some of the facts discussed included the following:
- 65 million girls across the world are out of school.
- Globally, 1 in 5 girls of lower secondary school age is out of school.
- Girls‟ primary school completion rates are below 50% in most poor countries.
- Every year, 10 million girls are forced or coerced into marriage.
- Every 3 seconds, another girl is forced or coerced to marry.
- 1 in every 3 girls in the developing world is married by the age of 18.
- 1 in 7 marries before they reach the age of 15.
- 150 million girls, and 73 million boys, under 18 have experienced rape or other forms of
- sexual violence.
- The leading cause of death for young women aged 15-19 in developing countries is
- pregnancy.