19.9 million Nigerian Girls Have Experienced Genital Mutilation – UN report

19.9 million Nigerian Girls Have Experienced Genital Mutilation – UN report

Violence against women and girls is still common, despite significant gains in education globally, a new UN report has shown.

The report, launched on Wednesday, is in line with the Generation Equality campaign to open a global conversation for action and accountability on gender equality and to mark the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

The report by the United Nation’s Children Fund (UNICEF), UN Women and Plan International, a non governmental organisation, shows that one in every 20 adolescent girls aged 15–19 years has experienced forced sex.

This is one of the most violent forms of sexual abuse women and girls can suffer.

While there have been remarkable gains for girls in education, little headway has been made to help shape a more equal, less violent environment for them, according to the report titled ”A New Era for Girls: Taking stock on 25 years of progress”

“Twenty-five years ago, the world’s governments made a commitment to women and girls, but they have only made partial good on that promise.

“While the world has mustered the political will to send many girls to school, it has come up embarrassingly short on equipping them with the skills and support they need not only to shape their own destinies but to live in safety and dignity,” UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said.

Statistics

According to the report, one in every 20 adolescent girls aged 15–19 years – around 13 million – has experienced forced sex.

Yet, very few of them seek professional help, preferring to keep their abuse secret.

In Nigeria, only two percent of girls aged 15–19 years who experienced forced sex sought help from professionals.

On a positive note, the report shows that the number of out-of-school girls has dropped by 79 million in the last two decades worldwide.

”In fact, girls became more likely to be in secondary school than boys in the last decade. Yet, violence against women and girls is still common, ” the report shows.

Girls today are at a startling risk of violence, whether it is in school, at home, or online as well as throughout their communities, which leads to physical, psychological and social consequences.

A New Era for Girls also covers harmful practices, such as child marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM), which continue to disrupt and damage the lives and potential of millions of girls around the world.

According to the report, each year, 12 million girls are married in childhood, and four million are at risk of FGM.

In Nigeria, about 19.9 million girls have experienced FGM. Forty-three per cent of girls are married before their 18th birthday and 17 per cent before they turn 15.