The voices of young women. Do you hear them?

As a part of the Wikiprogress on Gender Equality series, this progblog on empowering girls and young women is brought to you by Robbie Lawrence, Wikichild Coordinator. 

City Dump in Siem Reap - Courtesy of 10x10 

If you read our Spotlight! Gender Equality and Well-being posted last Friday you would have watched the trailer for ‘Girl Rising’, the feature film made by social action campaigners 10x10 which tells the story of nine girls from nine different walks of life, all seeking self empowerment through education.  The 10x10 team has set out to create a new form of social-issue moviemaking by combining production and advocacy right from the outset of the project’s fruition. The campaign, which brings together the intimacy and emotional thrust of its film with photos, videos, blogs and tweets is an exemplar of the dynamic methods in which organisations today seek to engage their audience. It also represents a ripple in a rapidly growing wave of protests around the world against the social, economic and political inequalities suffered by girls and young women. A wave that is likely to crash down on the impending Post 2015 agenda.

It was, perhaps, the attempt of a heavily male dominated institution to silence the voice of a young Pakistani girl that brought the issue of girl’s rights to the forefront of the Post 2015 discussion. When Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen as she returned home from school she immediately became an icon for voiceless and oppressed girls globally. By expressing her right to an education, Malala almost lost her life, but her attacker’s brutal actions only served to amplify her demands for equity in a transcendently male controlled world.  

Following the attempt on her life, UN Special Envoy for Global Education and former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown launched a UN petition in Malala’s name demanding that children from every continent be in school by 2016 and last week hundreds of thousands of people mobilized to strike and dance for the One Billion Rising campaign in a bid to make her dream become a reality. When the Commission on the Status of Women convenes in New York next month, the weight of the ‘I am Malala’ campaign will undoubtedly weight heavily on the shoulders of the committee.

As the months leading up to the 2015 slip away, activists in favor of empowering girls and young women will hope that the fires ignited by the likes of ‘Girl Rising’ and ‘Malala’s Dream’ will not have cooled. In her recent article, ‘Young People and Inequalities: Recommendations for the post-2015 Development Agenda’, Sara Gold emphasizes the importance of forums like the UN’s ‘Global Online Conversation’, as it provides a platform for people to share their vision of a gender equal world.

We at Wikigender and Wikichild also plan on adding our voice to the global conversation on empowering young women, or should we say, your voice. In line with past online discussions, including this month’s ‘Transforming social norms to prevent violence against women and girls’, Wikigender and Wikichild will collaborate to host a forum on adolescent girls and social norms, which will include featured topics such as early marriage, missing women and female genital mutilation. By implementing a recognized location where information can be freely exchanged on topics like gender equality, it is our hope that over time, policy makers will use the reports formed from these discussions as points of reference. As Estelle pointed out in yesterday’s blog Rising against sexual violence! Wikigender will present the findings from their latest discussion at the 57^th CSW on the 4^th of March. 

Join us for our next online discussion in May on adolescent girls and the social norms getting in the way of their progress. We value your views and will keep you posted.

Robbie Lawrence 

Wikichild Coordinator

@Wiki_child, @Wikiprogress, @Wikigender

Spotlight! Gender Equality and Well-being

This Week in Review focuses on our theme of the month, which is Gender Equality and Well-being. Highlights of this review include; the American army’s decision to allow women to fight on the frontline, International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation, Wikigender's most recent online discussion, 1 Billion Rising and 10x10, an innovative new feature film about the power of education to change a girl – and the world.

This month, violence against women is at the top of global agendas, and with this in mind, Wikigender ran an online discussion on ‘Transforming social norms to prevent violence against women and girls’. The forum posed the question of what type of social behaviors catalyze violence against women and also looked to find examples of policies and initiatives that have most successfully dealt with the problem. Raymond Brandes, one of many contributors to the discussion, made a particularly relevant point to the notion of gender equality, stipulating that ‘Realizing the economic and social rights of all members of society and reducing inequalities are important elements of addressing violence against women.’ The full results of the forum will be synthesized and published in a report by the Wikigender team in the near future. To access past Wikigender online discussions, click here.

The International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation is observed on the 6^th of February each year to raise awareness about this physically and psychologically damaging practice. Female Genital Mutilation is recognized internationally as an extreme violation of human rights and despite efforts from organizations and governments to push for its eradication, FMG still affects around 140 million girls and women every year. In the early stages of 2013, focus groups have made a concerted effort to tackle the concerning trend of health-care providers performing FGM, which has contributed to its legitimization in Africa, Indonesia and the Middle East (areas where the practice is concentrated most heavily). To find out up to date information on FGM, visit Wikigender's page on the subject.  

Yesterday, on V-Day’s 15^th Anniversary, One Billion Rising mobilized thousands of people to call for an end to violence against women. The organization invited one billion women to strike and dance against the reality that one in three women on the planet will be raped or beaten in her lifetime. The movement is hoping to influence the UN Commission on the Status of Women, which is being held in New York next month.

Interestingly, while much of this blog post has centered around global movements to counter violence against women, U.S Defense Secretary Leon Panetta recently declared that the military would be eradicating its long-standing ban on women partaking in frontline combat roles. This significant change in policy not only opens as many as 237,000 new jobs for female soldiers but also allows women to achieve higher leadership positions within the army.  While critics have argued that the decision will alter group dynamics and unit cohesion, it marks a significant step for the women who have been seeking equity in one of America’s most male dominated institutions. The Wikigender team is currently running a quick fire poll to gauge the public’s opinion on the ruling, so be sure to make your voice heard.

Finally, there has been a steadily growing social media buzz over Girl Rising’s feature length film 10x10; which augments the pervasive power of education to change the lives of millions of girls across the world. The movement is attempting to break down the barriers that hinder girls from receiving education while highlighting the significant benefits it will bring to them and the global community. If you haven’t seen the trailer already, look no further!

Look forward to more Gender Equality and Well-being blogs in the coming weeks!

Robbie Lawrence

Wikichild Coordinator

@Wiki_child, @Wikiprogress, @Wikigender