We know that women aren’t exactly treated as equal to men in today’s society. Likewise, there’s another group whose rights we need to fight for: Girls. To that end, today is the first annual International Day of the Girl, where a variety of organizations as well as individuals with an interest in gender equality will make an effort to, according to the U.N., “help galvanize worldwide enthusiasm for goals to better girls’ lives, providing an opportunity for them to show leadership and reach their full potential.”
The challenges girls face, both in the Western world and elsewhere, range from sexual harassment, body image issues and lack of educational equality to forced marriage, childhood pregnancy and genital mutilation. Day of the Girl encourages individual girls to take action against these issues—and for empowerment and education—by way of their Proclamation Project, which outlines steps for getting local officials to declare October 11th the official Day of the Girl. (You’d be starting late for this year, obviously—but I’m sure both the problems and Day of the Girl will still be around 12 months from now.)
Today also marks the first Day of the Girl Virtual Summit; their Website lists of a whole slew of events taking place around the world in conjunction with Day of the Girl, so it’s a great place to start if you want to participate.
(via: Ms. Magazine)
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