Plan International - Girls' Rights Platform - Girls' rights are human rights: Positioning girls at the heart of the international agenda

Most countries only track enrolment and not completion rates, yet enrolment is an inherently flawed measure of girls' access to education. Attendance is a better measure, as girls' attendance may be cut short due to domestic responsibilities such as cooking, fetching water and firewood, and childcare; lack of adequate sanitation in schools to meet the needs of menstruating girls; early marriage or pregnancy; and gender-based violence and harassment, including in schools. In situations of economic contraction, as households cope with declining household income, girls are more vulnerable to being pulled out of school, with girls experiencing a 29 per cent decrease in primary school completion rates versus 22 per cent for boys.

The legal rights of women and girls to equality and non-discrimination in cultural and family life, established in 1948 by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and by international human rights law, are often restricted in national laws and in practice, including in cultural practice. The Working Group emphasizes that, in accordance with international human rights law, States have an obligation to adopt appropriate measures with a view to eliminating all forms of discrimination against women and girls in laws, cultural practices and the family, whether perpetrated by State agents or private actors.

Substantive equality in the area of health and safety requires differential treatment. Throughout their life cycle from childhood to old age, women have health needs and vulnerabilities that are distinctively different from those of men. Women have specific biological functions, are exposed to health problems that affect only women, are victims of pervasive gender-based violence and, statistically speaking, live longer than men, resulting in their greater need to access health services frequently and into older age. Hence, women and girls experience the negative effects of insufficiencies in health-care services more intensively than men.

In many contexts, States fail to establish and enforce a clear legal hierarchy based on the guarantees of equality and non-discrimination set forth in international human rights law and national legislation, thus helping to maintain patriarchal modes of organization and behaviours. Even when the law is independent of any religious source, it may be strongly influenced by culture, deriving from dominant ideologies linked to religion, traditional attitudes and social norms. Some States adopt national laws and regulations that restrict the rights, power and mobility of women on the basis of essentialist points of view belonging to a particular culture or religion. Conservative religious extremist movements impose strict modesty codes in order to subjugate women and girls in the name of religion, particularly in situations of political transition or conflict. For example, some branches of Islam have reintroduced forced and/or early marriage and some branches of Christianity prevent women from having access to therapeutic abortion. Religious extremism limits women's rights, including their right to health and economic activity, and they are generally subject to harsh sanctions for crimes committed against the patriarchy, such as adultery. At the international level, many States justify their reservations to articles of several human rights conventions, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, in the name of preserving their cultures and religions. Human Rights Council resolutions 16/3 on promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms through a better understanding of traditional values of humankind and 26/11 on the protection of the family threaten to undermine international achievements in the field of human rights in the name of cultural and religious diversity.

The Working Group is concerned about the considerable increase in laws and public policies developed to protect culture and religion that threaten the universally established standards on the rights of women. Gender-based stereotypes, often strengthened and legitimized in national constitutions, laws and policies, are justified in the name of cultural norms or religious beliefs. Failure to eliminate these stereotypes leads to the generalization of practices that are harmful to women and girls. The sexist stereotypes present in the media, on the Internet, in audiovisual productions and in video games contribute to the perpetuation of a culture of discrimination and violence against women.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has recommended the prohibition and annulment of these marriages, which violate the dignity of women, and calls for safeguards and guarantees to protect the rights of women and girls living in such families. Invalidating an early marriage protects the minor spouses by restoring their single status so that they are deemed never to have been married, rather than divorced, and by cancelling all financial or property transactions linked to the marriage.

Restrictions in many countries on girls' and women's access to unbiased, quality education, including evidence-based comprehensive sexuality education, and information about where and how to obtain essential health services prevent women from making free and informed decisions about their health and safety and hence obstruct proper, informed access to health care. This is particularly true for adolescents and marginalized women facing multiple and intersectional forms of discrimination. Such restrictions are manifestations of censorship that limit women's and girls' choices.

Domestic workers caring for children, the disabled and ageing people, are a highly vulnerable category of employees, often in the informal sector. About 83 per cent are women or girls, and many are migrant workers. Domestic workers often encounter deplorable working conditions; labour exploitation; extortionate recruitment fees resulting in debt; confiscation of passports; long, unregulated hours of work; lack of privacy; exposure to physical and sexual abuse; and separation from their own families and children. The ILO Domestic Workers Convention (No. 189) calls for States to guarantee decent work for domestic workers, and thus several countries have introduced new protections.

School-related gender-based violence takes different forms, with girls in some countries violently targeted for attending school, while in other countries, they are subject in school to sexual violence or harassment, including by teachers. Such violence results in trauma, stigmatization and sometimes pregnancy, and severely curtails girls' educational opportunities. In many States, sexual intercourse with a minor is considered rape, as minors are not capable of consent, but only 32 out of 100 States have specific provisions on sexual harassment at schools. Examples of good practices by some States include introducing confidential school reporting mechanisms, capacity-building for police, child-friendly courts, a public register of sexual offenders and barring sexual offenders from teaching.

Many girls are exposed to a wide variety of practices which are harmful to their health and well-being, such as female genital mutilation, discrimination in food allocation resulting in malnutrition and discrimination in access to professional health care. Furthermore, early marriage and adolescent pregnancy have a long-lasting impact on girls' physical integrity and mental health. Pregnancy and childbirth are together the second leading cause of death among 15- to 19-year-old girls globally, putting them at the highest risk of dying or suffering serious lifelong injuries as a result of pregnancy. For example, up to 65 per cent of women with obstetric fistula, which is a severely disabling condition and often results in social exclusion, develop this condition as adolescents.

Indigenous women experience a complex spectrum of mutually reinforcing human rights abuses which is influenced by intersecting forms of discrimination and marginalization, reinforced by patriarchal power structures and past and present forms of violations of the right to self-determination and control of resources. These intersecting forms of discrimination have profound health consequences for indigenous women, especially for their reproductive and sexual health. The Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples has reported (see A/HRC/30/41) about the barriers to reproductive and sexual health services encountered by indigenous women as well as past and recurrent human rights violations in relation to their sexual and reproductive rights. For example, indigenous women experience disproportionately higher levels of maternal mortality, indigenous girls are overrepresented among pregnant teenagers and indigenous women have lower rates of contraceptive use and higher rates of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. Historically, there have also been instances of serious violations of indigenous women's rights to reproductive health in the context of the denial of the rights of indigenous peoples to self-determination and cultural autonomy. Those violations include forced sterilization of indigenous women and attempts to force them to have children with non-indigenous men as part of policies of cultural assimilation. Indigenous women may also face barriers to preventive care services that support their right to health, such as screening for ovarian and breast cancer.

Overmedicalization may result in reduced access to or affordability of services needed by women and a barrier to developing adequate alternative services which can be competently provided by nurses, midwives or auxiliary nurses, either at clinics or at home. Such "task shifting", particularly in places where there are few qualified doctors, would make services more accessible. Similarly, restricting authorization for the use of contraceptives to a medical practitioner is a barrier to access. Allowing pharmacists to provide contraceptives, including emergency contraceptives, over the counter is essential for effective availability, especially for economically disadvantaged women or adolescent girls.

Women and girls belonging to minority communities, rural and indigenous women, migrant women, refugee women and those seeking asylum, and poor women face discriminatory practices in the implementation of laws on nationality and citizenship. They face prejudicial attitudes as well as structural obstacles which limit access to formal registration of births, marriage, residence and other citizenship documents as well as to relevant information on their rights as citizens. Women who are de facto heads of households, including those who have been abandoned by their husbands, whose divorce is not legally registered, or whose husbands have been forcibly disappeared and do not have death certificates for their husbands , are denied recognition of their status in official documents. Without such access, women from these communities become disproportionately vulnerable in exercising their full and equal rights as citizens.

No country has succeeded in closing the gender gap in all aspects of economic and social life. From her first days to her last, a woman's experiences will inevitably be marked by the expectations, beliefs, stereotypes, values, opportunities, roles and responsibilities associated with being female in her culture. While every girl is unique and every woman's life is different, in all societies they share certain aspects of quality of life as a result of living in a gendered and patriarchal reality. Gender discrimination and inequality manifest themselves at all stages of women's life cycle.

Menstruation is surrounded by stigma, resulting in the ostracism of and discrimination against women and girls. In some cultures menstruating women and girls are considered to be contaminated and impure and restrictions and interdictions during menstruation are imposed on them. Women and girls may continue to harbour internalized stigma and are embarrassed to discuss menstruation even where there are no restrictions. They live with a lack of privacy for cleaning and washing, a fear of staining and smelling and a lack of hygiene in school toilets or separate sanitation facilities.

In view of the broad thematic scope of its mandate, covering discrimination against women in law and in practice, the Working Group has identified four thematic areas of focus, namely, political and public life; economic and social life; family and cultural life; and health and safety. The Working Group regards violence against women and the intersection of various grounds of discrimination as cross-cutting in all of its work. It is paying particular attention to specific groups of women, including but not limited to women living in poverty, migrant women, women with disabilities, women belonging to minorities, rural and indigenous women, older women, girls, including adolescents, women in conflict and post-conflict situations, refugee women, internally displaced women and stateless women.

The family is the basic unit of society and, as such, should be strengthened. It is entitled to receive comprehensive protection and support. The family plays a key role in social development and in the growth and well-being of children, including girls. Women and girls' ability to act and participate in the different aspects of life in society derives mainly from respect for their right to equality with men and boys in the family. In this context, the Working Group deems it essential for families to be formed in such a way that women and girls' right to equality is fully recognized, respected, protected, fulfilled and promoted.

The role of women in the family has generally been under patriarchal control in cultures and religions that subject women and girls to forced and/or early marriage and discrimination in a number of areas of family life, such as consent to enter into marriage, dowry obligations, the right to possess and manage property, sexual relations, requirements regarding modesty and freedom of movement, guardianship and custody of children, divorce and division of matrimonial assets, the punishment of adultery, the right to remarry following dissolution of the marriage or death of the husband, the status of widows and inheritance. In addition, women and girls are generally not treated equally in families with regard to the division of rights and responsibilities. Discrimination against women and girls in the family and in marriage affects all aspects of their lives.

National constitutions are generally the supreme law in most States and form the foundation of the State's institutional and legal structures. They also provide the framework for the elimination of discrimination against women. An explicit constitutional guarantee of gender equality is fundamental to combating discrimination against women and girls in law and in practice. Many countries have already recognized and enshrined this principle of equality in their constitutional laws, and it is essential that it apply in all areas of law, including family law.

The cultural construction of gender is conducive to generalized discrimination against women in all cultures. Discrimination against women and girls cannot, therefore, be considered an essentialist element, present in certain cultures and not in others. Since cultures are neither homogeneous nor unchanging, there are very significant differences between them concerning their stages of development and the extent to which the patriarchy, misogyny and practices that are harmful to women and girls exist within them.

Culture, when understood as a macro concept, also includes religion. Religion constitutes an institutionalized aspect of culture, with its own sources of authority that regulate social behaviour. It is often based on the concept of transcendental authority, and most religions have codified normative systems. Change must be wrought within the religious hierarchy of the community and must conform to the religious dogma of the written sources. As a consequence, religions are often a haven against social and cultural change. In all religions, there are movements that resist any change to the patriarchy and the status of women and girls in the family. Conversely, non-gender-based discriminatory practices, including some previously defended in the name of culture and religion, such as slavery, have been delegitimized or abandoned as values and ethics have evolved.

Central among women's and girls' health needs are those relating to their reproductive and sexual health. Substantive equality requires that States attend to the risk factors that predominantly affect women. For instance, since only women can become pregnant, a lack of access to contraceptives is bound to affect their health disproportionately. Equality in reproductive health requires access, without discrimination, to affordable, quality contraception; maternal health care, including during childbirth and the post-partum period; access to safe termination of pregnancy; access to effective screening and early treatment for breast and cervical cancer; and special attention to the high rate of HIV infections among young women and treatment to prevent mother-to-infant transmission.

Equality also requires health policy to be based solely on women's health needs and not to be influenced by instrumentalization and politicization. Political contestation around rights to reproductive and sexual health remains a global challenge, resulting in women paying a high price in terms of their health and lives. In adopting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, States committed to ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes. A strong commitment to women's sexual and reproductive rights in international and national law, policies and programmes is crucial for achieving gender equality and ensuring women's and girl's right to health and well-being.

The stigma and shame generated by stereotypes around menstruation have severe impacts on all aspects of women's and girls' lives, on their dignity and well-being as well as on their right to education and to employment, as they may feel obliged to stay home from school or work every month because of appropriate facilities and hygienic items are not available. Characterizing women's menstrual pain as "neurotic" tends to make women reluctant to seek help, which can delay diagnosis of, for example, the severely disabling disease of endometriosis, in which tissue that normally grows inside the uterus grows in an abnormal anatomical location.

All legal definitions of the family should include the right to equality, de jure and de facto, of women and girls within the family. Full equality between women and men, and girls and boys, is a requirement of international human rights law and constitutes a right of women that is vital for the well-being of the family and for society as a whole.

In its decision, the Court recognized that the girls’ constitutional rights had been violated and that the police had failed to act with due diligence as agents of the State. The police force was ordered to implement article 244 of the Constitution, requiring them to train staff to the highest possible standards of competence and integrity and to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms and dignity. Police officers were ordered to investigate the perpetrators of the 11 applicants and to ensure effective investigations in all child rape claims. As at early 2016, 80 per cent of such cases had resulted in convictions, while others were pending before courts and additional investigations had been initiated. The judgment has been referenced in other cases, including an important class action suit by victims of post-election violence, and the high courts have issued further progressive decisions on related grounds.

The gender gap in education is not as stark as it once was: today, female enrolment is rising at greater rate than among males, and data show the achievement of gender parity at primary and/or secondary levels in two thirds of countries. In 2013, 25 countries had fully closed the gap in educational attainment at all levels (5 more than in 2012) with, in some cases, even disparities in favour of girls.

Ensuring girls' education may require protecting their families against economic shocks and incentivizing parents to keep their girls in school. Cash transfer programmes, for example, have assisted families in return for committing to keeping their girls and boys in school and attending regular health checks, or by providing a stipend to girls who agree to delay marriage until they complete secondary education. Such programmes have been successful in decreasing girls' dropout rates.

While educational gender parity shows signs of improvement, it is often not reflected in parallel gains in economic and political participation. Amongst countries that have invested in girls' education, some see returns in terms of women's economic and political participation, but others do not. These countries have an untapped educated talent pool and would have much to gain through women's greater participation in the economy.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Committee on the Rights of the Child have noted that harmful practices affecting women and girls are deeply rooted in social attitudes according to which women and girls are regarded as inferior to men and boys based on stereotyped roles. They highlight the gender dimension to violence and indicate that sex- and gender-based attitudes and stereotypes, power imbalances, inequalities and discrimination perpetuate the widespread existence of practices that often involve violence or coercion. They maintain that the nature and prevalence of these practices vary according to region and culture. These practices cause serious harm to every aspect of the lives of the women and girls who fall victim to them and include incest, female genital mutilation, early and/or forced marriage, so-called "honour crimes", dowry-related violence, neglect of girls, extreme dietary restrictions, virginity tests, servitude, stoning, violent initiation rites, widowhood practices and female infanticide. The obligations set out in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child form the basis for the elaboration of a global strategy to eliminate harmful practices, which should be well defined, rights-based, have local relevance and comprise legal, economic and social support measures combined with proportional political engagement and State responsibility at all levels.