Girls & Women

All over the world girls face violence as they pursue their education. Some suffer long-term harm to their mental and physical health. Their human rights are violated. In this information sheet Amnesty International calls on government officials and bodies, including schools, in collaboration with all relevant parties to take six steps to stop school-related violence. These include making schools safe for girls, protection of girls from abuse and the removal of barriers to girls' access to school.

Education is held up as the key strategy to empower girls and break the cycles of poverty, to propel social and economic development in poor countries, and to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. Many girls from poor families have little or no access to even a primary education, because the costs are beyond their families' means. In this information sheet Amnesty International calls o governments to eliminate direct and indirect fees for primary schools and take steps to make secondary schools accessible to all.

Certain girls face an increased risk of violence at school because of who they are. Lesbian girls, for example, experience both sexism and homophobia combined. Girls with disabilities face both sexism and disability discrimination. In this information sheet Amnesty International calls on governments and schools to train school staff in early intervention strategies and to develop and implement a code of conduct for all students that explicitly prohibits sexual violence and sexual harassment in the educational context

Education is a vital element in efforts to stop the spread of HIV and AIDS. Sexual assault against girls in and around schools carries the danger of HIV infection. The threat of violence reduces the ability of girls to protect themselves from infection. In this information sheet in Amnesty International calls on governments and schools to take steps such as the prohibition of all forms of violence against girls; provision of appropriate treatment and HIV/AIDS information; and implementation of policies to include girls living with HIV, for example, in schools.

The present report focuses on girls’ right to education. In view of the first assessment of the Millennium Development Goals, the Special Rapporteur wished to focus on Goals 2 and 3, on universal primary education and gender equality. The Special Rapporteur addresses the sociocultural context of gender discrimination by defining the concept of patriarchalism, which underpins discriminatory behaviours.

This advocacy factsheet is based on Right to Education Initiative report At What Age…are school-children employed, married and taken to court? Trends over time (2011), which provides analysis of legal minimum age for education, marriage, employment and criminal responsibility across 187 countries and raises questions regarding the cross-section of these issues and their effect on the right to education.

In this report, Plan is calling for urgent, concerted and integrated action at local, national and international levels to enable millions of girls to avoid child marriage, stay in school and benefit from a quality education. Plan draws attention to the barriers stopping many girls from realising their right to quality education, which, in turn, increases their risk of marrying too young. Financial barriers and harmful gender norms can drive parents to prioritise sons’ education over that of daughters’ – often on the assumption that girls will marry soon anyway.

The report provides a thorough analysis of why girls have limited access to education. Despite a firm legal framework, the implementation of the right to education remains problematic, especially for girls. Three main causes are indicated, including gender inequality in cultural practices, poverty and safety risks for girls. The report aims to give a better understanding of the challenges girls face in their struggle to get access to education. The situation in Pakistan serves as an example showing the complex problems surrounding the implementation of the right to education for girls.

This case study was produced for the UN Durban Review Conference organised in Geneva in 2009. It briefly presents the violation of pregnant adolescent girls’ right to education in Tanzania and makes recommendations.

The Dakar Framework for Action represents the most important international political commitment towards promoting Education for All. The Framework contains two gender-based goals. In Article 7 (ii) the participants commit themselves to eliminating "gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005". The second commitment is to achieve gender equality in education (Article 7 (v)). These are described as "gender parity" and "gender equality" respectively.