Gone, Baby, Gone
Note: This article is written for a mature audience using explicit imagery
In the blink of an eye childhood is gone as it dissolves
into adolescence and then into adulthood.
Girls, through-out the world, face unique issues as they mature into
young women. In sub-Saharan Africa those
issues can be not only challenging but life threatening as well. Violence is a major obstacle placed in the
way of a happy and healthy childhood for young girls.
Violence
is so prevalent throughout the sub-Saharan region that a study by The African
Child Policy Forum in Ethiopia found that every girl interviewed had
experienced some form of violence at one time or another (Mugawe
& Powell, 2006). Poverty, cultural traditions and lack of
education all contribute to the susceptibility of young girls to violence. It can take on many different forms and often
occurs in the family home. A young girl
may feel like there is no safe place for her.
Sexual
violence, while not the only form of violence a young African girl may face, is
one of the most deeply damaging, psychologically as well as physically. She faces significant medical risk as HIV
infection rates in Africa are more than five times higher for girls than boys,
according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/ADIS (UNAIDS) (Mugawe
& Powell, 2006). She is also more likely to marry young and stop
attending school to avoid being stigmatized and ridiculed.
A young
girl may feel like she has nowhere to turn, especially when acts of sexual
violence against young girls are often excused on the grounds that the man wants
to marry the girl (Mugawe
& Powell, 2006). In villages where tradition is deeply seated
in everything the community does, girls have very little worth other than as a
bride. This leads to not only the
justification of sexual assault but to early marriage and practices like female
genital cutting.
It is
estimated that 140 million girls worldwide will become child brides between
2011 and 2020, of which 50 million will be under the age of 15 (UNICEF,
2013). The practice is much more prevalent in rural
communities than urban areas. For
example, in Egypt approximately 36% of women in rural areas got married before
they were 16 years, conversely only 1.9% of those living in urban areas (Mutyaba, 2011). The
pressures of poverty in these rural areas contribute greatly to this practice
and a “bride price” can become a source of income; further devaluing a young
girl and reducing her to little more than a commodity. Typically the bride
price consists of a contract where material items (often cattle or other
animals) or money is paid by the groom to the bride's family in exchange for
the bride (Thiara
& Hague, 2009).
While
her family may have profited from the marriage arrangement, the young girl has
now moved into a new environment of terror, pain and violence. An early marriage is often arranged with a
man many years the girl’s senior and may not be his first wife. Even if this is his first marriage, having a
son to carry on the family name is of the utmost importance. Most of the girls who get married before 15
years begin having children after two years of marriage (Mutyaba, 2011). The combination of poverty, lack of access to
modern medical care and the traditional home births leads to a higher risk of
maternal death and obstetric fistula (a medical condition in which a hole develops between the rectum and
vagina) in sub-Saharan Africa.
Unfortunately,
the risks involved with early pregnancy are not the only ones faced by a young
girl. Even though some parents believe
early marriage will protect their daughters from sexual violence, the reverse
is often true, according to UN studies (Thiara & Hague, 2009).
Domestic and sexual violence in the marriage increases
rapidly with the younger the girl and the larger the age gap between the
spouses. It is not considered a problem
by her family and community. They may
protect her for a short time however she must always return to her
husband. A Mufumbira woman from Uganda
relates the experience of a young bride, Frieda (Twongyeirwe, 2012).
She had her little daughter tied onto her back and needed
to protect her. But her husband had not
quite finished with her. He hit her hard
on the back twice. Then he hit her
again. The third blow landed on her
daughter, who let out a painful scream.
Unconcerned, he tried to hit her again, Frieda cried out in agony and
rushed from the house. She ran to her
neighbor’s house and banged on the door.
They let her in for the night, but the next day she went home again.
Experiences
such as Frieda’s can lead the young girl to feelings of desperation. In some countries like Nigeria; they flee
their abusive husbands and end up working in the sex trade for survival (Mapp, 2011) thus trading one form of
violence and degradation for another.
Their new “husband” is often more brutal than the one from which they
escaped.
The
controversial practice of female genital cutting or mutilation (FGC/FGM) can be
a condition of an upcoming marriage and may increase the bride price for a
young girl. FGC is a procedure that
involves partial or total removal of the girl’s external genitalia. Despite the risks to the young girls, the
practice continues due to strong beliefs within communities about the role of
women (Mugawe &
Powell, 2006). It is sometimes compared to male circumcision
although the two practices bear little resemblance to one another; the practice
of FGC can result in extensive damage causing pain throughout the girl’s
life. The effects can include painful
sexual intercourse and menstruation, increased risk of HIV/AIDS, infertility
and even death (Mapp, 2011).
The FGC ritual
itself is treated as a celebration in many sub-Saharan communities. This is despite the fact that it is believed
that 10 to 30 percent of girls subjected to the practice in Sudan die as a
result (Mugawe &
Powell, 2006). During a private interview, Marguerite
Dinkins (2013) related to her experience
when she was invited to attend a FGC ceremony:
Well, I went to a FGC ceremony and witnessed it with the village as celebrating her coming of age, like we might get invited to a wedding or something. It was a pubescent girl in the Masai tribe of Kenya. There was an outside woman who was not from the same tribe who did the deed and the girl, 13 years old (not sure how old), was surrounded by women supporting her, physically. Not restraining her. It was inside a hut, and afterwards there was lots of drinking (mostly the men) and dancing. At the same time, the men in our group were witnessing a boy getting circumcised, foreskin removed, so he would be a warrior. The girl was to get married & have babies after her cutting. I will probably never get over what I saw. I saw her flesh part, I guess labia or clitoral hood or some part, lying on the ground after removal. It seemed to be a horrible thing that I thought rape would be less permanent, but we were invited as if it was an honor to attend such a rite of passage. There had even been friendly little girls escorting us to the gathering beforehand.
Not only
is there violence in a domestic environment, even school is not a safe place
for young girls lucky enough to attend.
The environment as well as the travel distance required present
opportunities for violence against them.
The lack of available female teachers creates an environment rich for
targeting young girls. A young girl’s family could be working against the best
interests of their daughter by encouraging girls to become sexually involved
with a teacher so that they may be able to receive financial compensation if
she becomes pregnant (Mugawe &
Powell, 2006). Even if the family does not encourage or turn
a blind eye to inappropriate behavior with the teacher, other forms of sexual
harassment like teasing and touching are common in African schools. The family may also be unwilling or unable to
pay the fees for school, leading to the phenomenon of sugar daddies – men who
provide money or other resources in return for sex (Mugawe
& Powell, 2006).
If the
family does have the best intentions, a study by Education for Change (2012) found that girls’
vulnerability to sexual violence and abuse whilst travelling was a key factor
in stopping their daughters going to school.
It is not always older men who perpetrate the violence, using the guise
of a sugar daddy or potential spouse. Girls
are physically abused as an expression of harassment, degradation and attempted
sexual relationships by older boys primarily on the way to and from school (Save the Children Denmark, 2008). These boys might be considered friends,
either of the girl herself or the family.
The
breadth of the problem of violence against young girls in sub-Saharan Africa
can seem daunting when one begins a discussion on how to affect positive
change. The Fourth World Conference on
Women worked to create a set of objectives in Bejing in 1995, including an
objective to eradicate violence against the girl child (Mapp, 2011). Focus on helping young girls is vital to
progress towards evolving sub-Saharan Africa from a collection of primarily
third world countries to members of the first and second worlds.
The
United Nations, in 1994, looked to do just that; focus on programs that would
address the plight of the young girls of sub-Saharan Africa. The result was the Sara Communication Initiative
(SCI) that included both animated film in video format and comic books that could
be used as regional communication tools to communicate difficult social issues,
portraying them in sensitive, nonthreatening ways without losing message impact (McKee, Aghi, Carnegie, &
Shahzadi, 2003). It was well received in the regions that were
able to use it in an organized and structured manner. In those regions, Sara becomes a supportive,
positive role model for girls (McKee, Aghi,
Carnegie, & Shahzadi, 2003).
The
concept of comic books and animated films is a very appealing to young girls, these
in particular since special attention was paid to modeling the main character
after an African girl. The other characters
in the series were also modeled in a way that accurately reflected people the
girls would come in contact with in their everyday life. After only 2 years of implementation, a
remarkable 32 percent of surveyed girls in Tanzania recognized a picture of
Sara (Russon, 2000).
Of
course, initiatives like SCI can only be truly successful when girls can be
reached, specifically in an educational setting. Malawi has taken steps in this direction by
providing free universal access to primary education and working with tribal chiefs
to sensitize their communities on the importance of sending children to school,
with an emphasis on the girl child (UNICEF, 2013). Although eliminating the fees to attend
school is a huge step in the right direction, the cost of attending school also
includes books, clothes and travel. The
emphasis on the importance of sending young girls to school therefore is just
as vital as eliminating the fees. The
needed cultural shift cannot be understated and getting the leaders of these
rural communities involved is crucial.
The cultural shift towards the importance of educating young girls also has the potential benefit of addressing FGC and early marriage. If a priority is put on allowing a girl to complete her schooling, then she will have the opportunity to postpone marriage and motherhood. With families having to adjust their views, they will also not put such an emphasis on a young girl as a source of income and her bride price. This will increase her self-worth and confidence, fostering the potential for a better future with choices of her own.
FGC
remains a tough challenge as it is so deeply connected with cultural and
religious beliefs. Although not
specifically outlined as part of religious doctrine, it is believed to keep a
young girl chaste and pure for marriage, something that is an important tenet
of religions. A Senegalese program developed by Tostan had success by framing FGC
as a social custom that people can abandon under supportive conditions rather
than treating it as a scourge to be eliminated principally through outside
stricture and legislation (Easton,
Monkman, & Miles, 2003). It, like other forms of domestic violence,
needs to be considered as undesirable by the family and community as a whole in
order to eliminate them. As long as the
family turns a blind eye towards the violence perpetrated towards their
daughters, the cycle will continue.
The
shift away from violence must also be addressed in the school system. Creating a safe learning environment by
increasing the number of female teachers would be a good first step. Girls look
up to female teachers as figures of inspiration and emotional support, in
addition to providing guidance for their education and future (Randell & Gergel, 2009). Of course educating young girls is the key to
having more female teachers for future generations. Allowing them to be in single sex classrooms
with their female teacher would also reduce the harassment and potential from
sexual violence from school age boy.
In
addition to adding positive feminine role models and same sex classrooms to the
schools, making the passage safe between home and school must also be a
priority. One way to accomplish this
goal would be to increase the number of schools. Another would be to provide hostels (low cost
houses built of mud walls and thatched roofs that could be built with the
contribution from parents and communities) to female students who attend
schooling in areas far from parents (Save the Children Denmark, 2008). Making sure the young girls arrive safely
will encourage them to stay in school, giving them opportunities outside of the
household and marriage.
Childhood,
innocence, health and opportunity can all be lost to the violence that is so
often not only overlooked, but condoned by sub-Saharan African cultures. While there are several countries who have
instituted laws to help protect their young girls from all forms of violence,
the enforcement of these laws is still lacking.
Breaking from traditions is a steep challenge and will likely need to
continue for years to come. A shift
towards an increasing cultural value of girls throughout the country is vital
to bringing about a change. Protecting
them against early marriage, rape and other forms of sexual violence is obvious
although no less critical. The goal
should be to eliminate those young mothers who whisper softly to themselves
“Your chance is gone, baby, gone.”
References
-Dinkins, M. (2013, August). Gone, Baby, Gone: Growing up in Africa. (E. S. Paul, Interviewer)
-Easton, P., Monkman, K., & Miles, R. (2003). Social Policy from the Bottom up: Abandoning FGC in Sub-Saharan Africa. Development in Practice, 445-458.
-Education for Change. (2012). Because I am a Girl: Progress and Osbstacles to Girls' Education in Africa. Polykrom-Dakar: Plan International.
-Mapp, S. C. (2011). Global Child Welfare and Well-Begin. New York: Oxford University Press.
-McKee, N., Aghi, M., Carnegie, R., & Shahzadi, N. (2003). Sara: A Role Model for African Girls Facing HIV / AIDS. In A. Singhal, & W. S. Howard, The Children of Africa Confront AIDS: From Vulnerability to Possibility (pp. 171-192). Athens: Ohio University Press.
-Mugawe, D., & Powell, A. (2006). Born to High Risk: Violence Against Girls in Africa. Addis Ababa: The African Child Policy Forum.
-Mutyaba, R. (2011). Early Marriage: A Violation of Girls' Fundamental Human Rights in Africa. International Journal of Children's Rights, 339-355.
-Randell, S. K., & Gergel, D. R. (2009). The Education of Girls in Africa. Federation of University Women of Africa. Nigeria.
-Russon, C. (2000). Evaluation of the Sara Communication Initiative: Final Summary.
-Save the Children Denmark. (2008). A Study on Violence against Girls in Primary Schools and Its Impacts on Girls’ Education in Ethiopia. Addis Ababa: Ministry of Education & Ministry of Women’s Affairs.
-Thiara, R. K., & Hague, G. (2009). Bride-Price, Poverty and Domestic Violence in Uganda. British Academy, UK.
-Twongyeirwe, H. (2012). I Dare To Say. Chicago: FEMRITE.
-UNICEF. (2013, March 7). Child Marriages: 39,000 Every Day [Press Release]. Retrieved from
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