Every day, girls are being exploited in ways that are devastating for their health and wellbeing. Girls who are exploited are being denied their childhood, their education and their chance to secure a sustainable livelihood for themselves. Their freedom and autonomy are being curtailed, leaving them socially isolated and vulnerable to ongoing violence, exploitation and abuse throughout their lives. This violence is being done to girls in their homes and in their communities.
We know that when girls are free to choose their own path, influence the world around them, and speak out when they see injustice, everything changes. They asked their Governments to push for commitments to be made by all the Heads of State, to end the exploitation of girls and protect their rights β and they succeeded.
Every day, girls are being trafficked within Nepal, across the border into India and overseas. It's a horrendous abuse of girls' rights, and it has to stop. For the first time in history, there are more people living in cities than in rural areas. Around the world, million adolescent girls are living in countries affected by conflict and humanitarian crises. In these environments, navigating the challenges of growing up as a girl β from increased domestic work to the risk of gender-based violence, child marriage and pregnancy and childbirth β becomes immensely more challenging.
In Uganda, as many as one in ten girls have been affected by sexual abuse and exploitation, and girls tell us that this is a real issue for them at work.
Aicha was just 10 years old when she was trafficked from her village in Togo to Nigeria, to work as an unpaid domestic servant.
