Recently, I blogged and bragged about my two daughters’ first quarter grades in school. As usual, Zoe and Ziya did really well and it made me such a proud mommy. I am happy knowing that they take their studies seriously and that they have so much hunger for learning. Although being in school can be really exhausting for them at times, they love going to school and often regale me with stories of what transpired in their classrooms. They love playing and interacting with their schoolmates. They enjoy the various extracurricular activities they have joined such as the Girl Scouts and the drama club. At home, they have a family who loves them and who dedicates everything they can to help provide them with a great future. I only hope that they never take all that they have for granted. Not all girls are as lucky.
About a week or so ago, as part of the Global Team of 200, I discovered that there’s such a thing as the International Day of the Girl Child. Apparently in December 2011, the UN General Assemby adopted a resolution making October 11th the International Day of the Girl Child, which aims “to help galvanize worldwide enthusiasm for goals to better girls’ lives, providing an opportunity for them to show leadership and reach their full potential”. The theme this year is ending child marriage.
I decided to learn more about this because I have two daughters. I believe that as a mother to daughters, it is my duty to learn as much as I can about issues that affects girls not only in our country but in the whole world as well. What I found out was alarming!
The issue on child marriage isn’t knew to me. I’ve heard about it so many times before. It’s not prevalent here in the Philippines, at least not where I grew up. However, this still happens in many other countries and to girls who have not even reached puberty. Girls are forced by their families to marry men who are several years older than them. They are forced to give up their education. They are forced to give up their childhood.
Did you know that child marriages happens to Ten Million girls each year? That’s 833,333 girls a month, 192,307 girls a week, 27,397 girls a day, 19 girls every minute. That’s one girl every three seconds. It’s scary to think about, isn’t it?
I can’t help but think “What if this happens to my girls?”. Zoe is only 10 years old and Ziya’s only 9. They still love watching cartoons and playing with toys. They can’t handle a marriage! They haven’t even had boyfriends yet! While I’m happy that my girls will never get to experience this kind of cruelty, it saddens me to know that there are many girls out there who are suffering because of this.
I decided to write about this so that more people will become aware that there is such a thing as International Day of the Girl Child and that help is needed in order to stop the various crimes being committed on girls around the globe. Child marriage is just one issue. There are many more. Hopefully, the Philippines will also do something to help.
To learn more about the International Day of the Girl Child, visit http://dayofthegirl.org/.
