By Stefania Sainato
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Photo by: Dawn Hudson/Fotolia.com
By this point, you've probably learned all about Susan B. Anthony in school and are a pro on women's rights in the States. But do you know what issues other girls just like you are facing across the globe? Read on to find out!
P.S. You can get involved with the issues below by helping to pass the International Violence Against Women Act! It addresses United States leadership to safeguard girls across the globe from violence.
1. Unequal Government Laws
In places like Morocco, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq, the government makes women unequal before the law. They also restrict their participation in public life and put male family members in charge of them. Honor killings also take place — which are when females are murdered because they are considered to have shamed their families through immoral behavior. Usually male relatives commit most of these murders or crimes because they believe that it will restore their family's honor.
Scary stat: In April 2007, a 17-year-old girl named Du'a Khalil Aswad was stoned to death in Iraq for an honor crime. She was allegedly in a relationship with a Sunni Muslim boy and went missing from her home one night. Male relatives with the help of other men committed the murder and captured it on videotape.
2. Sexual Assault
Any unwanted sexual act can be considered assault, such as molestation and rape. This is a huge problem in Darfur, where rape has been used as a weapon of war since the conflict started in 2003. Many girls and women there are forced to leave their homes, which puts them at increased risk for violence, sometimes from government officials who are supposed to be protecting them.
Sex trafficking is also a form of assault, and takes place in countries like Thailand. An estimated 1.8 million kids, mostly girls, are involved in commercial sex work. Many of them are abducted or sold by their families, who are desperately poor.
Scary stat: One out of every three women worldwide will be physically or sexually abused during her lifetime, and rates can reach a whopping 70 percent in some countries.
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