With women’s rights issues receiving so much attention in the media lately, it’s only fitting that 2012 will inaugurate the first annual International Day of the Girl aimed at empowering girls across the globe. Move aside, gentlemen.
It’s hard to ignore the ovary-centered media storm that’s taken over both political and cultural rhetoric recently. Hanna Rosin’s “The End of Men,” published in The Atlantic in 2010, launched a global conversation about the power held by 51% of the world’s population and just how much of a force there is to be reckoned with.
Even though women now hold the majority of the workforce and outperform men in earning degrees from U.S. universities, women and girls across the globe are still severely disadvantaged. Equal access to education, representation in government and basic social rights are yet to be seen.
Enter the United Nations. In 2011, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution to place a focus on females. They establish October 11 as the International Day of the Girl with a goal to inspire activism and support for girls across the globe.
The movement to get girls equal access to education and more tools to become leaders started with young activists in Canada. Wendy Lesko, President of the Youth Activism Project, got in touch with Joanne Connelley, a student at American University and co-founder of School Girls Unite. With their shared passion for women’s issues, the U.S. campaign for the Day of the Girl was born.
In the U.S. today, only 17 percent of Senators, 21 percent of Representatives and three percent of Fortune 500 CEO’s are women. Connelley has set out to change this discrepancy.
“Through the Proclamation Project that we’ve been promoting, I really hope that girls around the country see how easy it is to access their local representatives, and how important it is to make their voices heard to policy-makers,” she said in an email.
Day of the Girl critics argue that commemorative days like this can often be ineffectual, but Lesko hopes that October 11 will be a call to action and serve as a platform for advocates of gender equality.
“I really felt that there’s an opportunity for young people to really get involved as advocates and to be change agents at a very young age [with Day of the Girl],” said Lesko.
Day of the Girl draws a distinction between women’s issues and girl specific issues. The Youth Activism Project’s aim is to get young people who aren’t yet of voting age involved in public policy decisions that affect them.
“I really want to see girls build higher self-efficacy for themselves. Far too often, people belittle youth and can’t believe that youth can make a legitimate ruckus and make the world a better place,” said Connelley. “I really hope this campaign shows girls that they aren’t too young, or too unimportant to have a say in things going on in their community and the world.”
As collegiettes™, we have a unique opportunity to ensure that “every single girl has a fighting chance for full equality in this world,” as Lesko puts it. Connelley sees her role as a mobilizer of change. As young adults we can command the respect of adulthood, affect an election and most importantly serve as role models for our younger counterparts.
“I hope that girls speak out and not only advocate to their peer groups but also to the folks who make decisions that affect every girl in the world or in the community,” said Lesko. “We need girls who believe it is completely their right to demand to be assertive and to speak out.”