Let me say that too often adolescent girls face intersecting disadvantages because of their age, gender, ethnic background, sexual identity, religion affiliation, income, disability among other compounded factors. We have seen pictures, evoked images of girls in different situations that live with disadvantage, even without crisis. The perception and reality of vulnerability arising out of these multiple intersectionalities really creates that context of discrimination and differentiated impact of crisis.
During conflict or humanitarian situations, natural disasters or climate change, these factors exacerbate and disproportionately and differentially affect young women and girls due to neglect of their human rights and the intersecting forms gender-inequality and discrimination that they endure. So this is how we shine the light on this particular situation of girls in emergencies. As was mentioned, it is often forgotten that women and girls are not only helpless victims, they are sources of power, power to cope, power to prevent, power to reduce risk, power for resilience and transformation and to build back better after crisis. That is the power that we want to invoke and tap into.
We must be outraged about the disadvantages that girls still experience. But here has been some progress. Humanitarian actors and governments are much more aware today about addressing crises and resilience building with a gender lens and with a girls lens. But, we still have miles to go.
Imagine that to date, women and children account for more than 75 per cent of the refugees and displaced persons at risk from war, famine, persecution and natural disasters. Every 10 minutes, somewhere in the world, an adolescent girl dies because of violence. Up to one-third of adolescent girls report their first sexual experience as being forced and they are victims of sexual violence. Currently at least 133 million girls and women have experienced female genital mutilation.
On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped a nuclear weapon on Hiroshima, Japan – the first time such a catastrophic weapon was ever used in conflict. Three days later the U.S. released another on Nagasaki, devastating the city and ushering in the nuclear age. Over the next few weeks, Global Zero will explore what led to the bomb’s development, the consequences of its use, and where we’ve come since those fateful days in August.
