Status of the Girl Child: 

�The girl-child is discriminated against from the earliest stages of life, through her childhood and into adulthood.  In some areas of the world, men outnumber women by 5 in every 100.  The reasons for this discrepancy include harmful attitudes and practices, such as female genital mutilation, son preference � which results in female infanticide and prenatal sex selection � early marriage,�violence against women, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, discrimination against girls in food allocation, and other practices related to health and well-being.  As a result, fewer girls than boys survive into adulthood.� 

-  Beijing Platform for Action, paragraph 259

Statistics on the Girl Child: 

� 3 million girls undergo female genital mutilation each year
� Nearly 60% of the 130 million primary school aged children not enrolled are in school in girls
� 1.2 million girls are trafficked each year
� 15 million girls 15-19 give birth each year
� Of the 500, 000 child-birth related deaths each year, nearly ¼ of those deaths are teenage mothers
� Girls (15-24) account for 76% of young people living with HIV
� Girls face particular issues as refugees and displaced people including:  sexual violence, forced marriage, forced impregnation, lack of access to education, increased risk of HIV/AIDS, and economic exploitation. 
� Child marriage affects millions of girls.  In S. Asia 48% of girls are married before 18, 42% in Africa, and 29% in Latin America.  It is not uncommon for girls to be married by the age of 15 or younger.  Child marriage increases the girl�s risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and chances suffering from pregnancy related complications, including obstetric fistula.  It also decreases their access to education. 

Significance of Discrimination against the Girl Child: 

�Short-changing girls is not only a matter of gender discrimination; it is bad economics and bad social policy.  Experience has shown, over and over again, that investments in girls� education translate directly and quickly into better nutrition for the whole family, better health care, declining fertility, poverty reduction and better overall economic performance.� 

- Millennium Report

Existing Protections: 

�  Convention on the Rights of the Child
�  Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women

Take Action: 

�  Inform yourself of the rights and current conditions of the girl child
�  Raise awareness in your community about the discrimination & violence face by girls
�  Urge the US government to ratify CEDAW
�  Support organizations doing advocacy for the rights of girls including:  
      �  The Working Group on Girls
      �  UNICEF
      �  Human Rights Watch
�  Join the Episcopal Public Policy Network
�  Support the work of Episcopal Relief and Development

Resources:  
 
�  UNICEF � Voices of Youth � Take Action
�  UN Resources on the Girl Child
�  UN Population Fund
�  Child Rights Information Network