By Paola Velasco
In 2022 we commemorate the 10th anniversary of the International Day of the Girl. Over the past 10 years, governments have worked to improve girls’ issues, creating more opportunities for girls to be heard on the world stage. Girls worldwide continue to face unprecedented challenges regarding their education, physical and mental well-being, and the protection necessary for a life free from violence.
However, adversity also brings ingenuity, creativity, and resilience. The world’s 600 million adolescent girls have proven time and time again that given opportunities, they themselves can be the ones to drive progress in their communities, rebuilding a stronger future for all.
Girls are poised to move forward in the next 10 years. The time has come to recognize their capacity, importance, and potential, but above all, to take care of their integrity.
Statistics:
Nearly 700 million women alive today were married as children. In Mexico, one in five gets married before the age of 18.
More than 133 million girls worldwide have undergone genital mutilation, i.e., cutting the clitoris.
In Mexico, of the young boys and adolescent boys who work, 39.8% have only completed primary school, while with young girls and teenage girls in the same situation, it is 44.1%. They work before reaching specific educational achievements more often than boys.
Girls do more unpaid work than their male peers. Thus, 40.4% of boys do not receive payment for their work in the market, while 47.9% of girls do not: 29.7% of girls spend more than 28 hours a week doing domestic work, while only 4.7% of boys spend more than 28 hours;
46% of girls who began their sexual life did so without contraceptives, resulting from an educational model that does not consider free and open sexual education as a priority.
References: www.gob.mx
