Being born a girl means clearing a lot of hurdles

All throughout their lives, women and girls must face various types of discrimination that greatly compromise their future prospects. During this International Women’s Rights Day, FIDH will be highlighting this sad fact in a video made by Agence Babel, with the voice of American film maker Randa Haines. FIDH reminds us that the struggle is not just for a day, and calls for actions to continue daily so that women’s rights can progress.

One day out of 365. One day in a world wherein from the time they are born until they die, women experience discrimination and violence at every stage of their life. Preference for males, which is still very widespread, forces many families in India, China and Caucasus to resort to selective abortion based on the sex of the unborn child. According to the United Nations, the world population is short of 200 million females. Discrimination against women, therefore, begins even before birth.

«Many little girls suffer terrible violations, because they are girls. Genital mutilation, early marriages, the lack of education for girls are not just loathsome practices that compromise the future of women, but they also affect society as a whole».
Khadija Cherif, coordinator of the FIDH Women's Rights Action Group

According to UNICEF, at least 200 million girls and women in 30 countries have undergone genital mutilation, 700 million women were made to marry during childhood. According to UNESCO, 63 million girls around the world have no primary or lower secondary education.

Many women are being deprived of their reproductive rights. Every year, 22 million women and girls must undergo abortions in unsanitary conditions, putting their health and their lives at risk.