International Day of the Girl was first started by the UN to take place each 11 October to highlight the rights of 1.1 billion girls globally.
This year’s theme centers on: “Girls’ Progress= Goals’ Progress: A global Girl Data Movement,” which is a call for action to gather girl-focused, girl-relevant and sex-disaggregated data.
By sharing facts and news on social media using the hash tag: #DayoftheGirl, the organization hopes to spread light on female inequality regarding: education, child marriage, healthcare, sexual violence and equal opportunities.
Girls Around the World: the Statistics
According to the UN:
- One third of girls in developing countries (except China) get married before they turn 18.
- Child bridges are disadvantaged in the following ways: they are more vulnerable to physical and sexual violence, they miss out on education and they bear children when they may be physically and emotionally ill prepared.
- Globally, one in seven adolescent girls aged 15-19 are currently married or in union.
Shocking News on Girls Today
#1 Girls Spend 160 Million More Hours than Boys Doing Household Chores Everyday
According to UNICEF, girls between 5-14 years old spend 40 percent more time on unpaid household chores and collecting water and firewood, compared to boys their age.
At 5 and 9 years old girls are already spending 30 per cent more time, or 40 million more hours a day on household chores than boys, setting back their education.
At 10 and 14, time spent at home increases to 50 percent more, or 120 million more hours each day globally.
#2 Outrage Over a Gym Displaying Sexist Images of Female Bums
An advert for UFit gym in Cardiff, Wales has provoked outrage from the public, using a female bum as the center image with the caption: “there’s better things to be struck behind than the car in front.”
The flurry of responses on social media focused on the objectification of women, sexism and pervy male gaze. This ad harks back to “Beach Body” shaming poster, which Londoners condemned.
One twitter user said: “Not a particularly appropriate or empowering advert on the @CardiffHalf route. I’d be shocked if title sponsor @cardiffuni supported it.”
#3 Female Scientists Get Worse Recommendations Letters than Men
A new study, “Gender Differences in Recommendation Letters for Postdoctoral Fellowships in Geoscience,” published in nature Geoscience, examined over 1,000 letters of recommendation for postdoctoral fellowships and discovered that women got less complimentary comments than men.
Only 15 percent of females got “excellent” comments, compared to 24 percent of men.
The study was done to determine why women hold just 10 percent of geoscience professorships when they comprise 40 percent of doctoral degree holders.
#4 Beijing Company Lines Up Female Workers Each Day to Kiss Boss
Every morning, one company selling home brewery equipment in Tongzhou District in Beijing lines up female employees to kiss their boss before starting work.
The video went viral on Chinese social media, particularly Weibo, where people were shocked to see such sexist treatment of women, wondering why workers put up with such intolerable behavior.
The boss is reported to have explained the kissing as a way to create a closer bond between worker and boss. He said he saw the practice whilst on a visit to the US.
#5 Donald Trump Says ‘Locker Room’ Talk is Normal
Donald Trump’s “Locker Room talk,” that was captured in a 2005 Access Hollywood interview; where he bragged about kissing women, touching their genitals (“I don’t even wait”), horrified social media.
He later apologized but added that it was normal for athletes to use such language. Former NBA star wrote: “I’ve been in a lot of locker rooms, and what Trump said is not locker room banter.”
Celebrities such as Chelsea Handler, J.K. Rowling and Anna Kendrick all shared their opinions.
Rowling tweeted: “Trump says ‘just words, folks.’ It’s his accusation and his defence. Words don’t matter. Facts don’t matter. If they don’t, we’re all lost.”
