Everything needs a starting point.
If I held the capability, as an author and creator, to constrain my reader in any which direction throughout the entirety of my website rather than steer, this piece would serve as the starting point.
I will be taking you through the fundamentals of my research and unveiling to you the most important increments of knowledge pertaining to the social injustice focused upon. In a sense, this blog sets the scene for which all other aspects of my work build off of.
So let’s begin with just that! What is the social injustice being focused upon?
Around the world, more than nearly 130 million girls are not in school nor receiving an education of some kind. Just this mere statistic unveils a huge inequity. Every individual has a right to a quality education and the opportunity to both utilize and strengthen their cognitive talents. This aside, it is no argument that education opens doors; Whether it be in getting a job and prospering financially, having the ability to hold conversations of substance with others, or merely being able to address the world around you, an unlocking of potential has been granted.
Before diving a little deeper into the reasons behind what formulates this high statistic, I want to first pause and shift your focus to an organization that the vast majority of my work has been derived from or attached to in some way. This is the organization in which I have communicated with, raised awareness on, and fundraised for throughout my girls’ education activist journey.
Creative Commons/Wikipedia
Malala Fund, created by Malala Yousafzai, is an organization working tirelessly towards ensuring “twelve years of free, safe, quality education for every girl.” The organization has established a website, packed with a plethora of information and mechanisms of help. One can read stories on individual accounts of young victims, read of advocacy work by leaders involved in combating the global issue, learn Malala’s own personal story and how it all began, donate directly to the cause, watch videos of powerful speakers, and so much more.
It doesn’t stop there! Leaders of the organization meet with high-up and wealthy officials and ask them to invest in girls’ educational opportunity, Assembly is utilized as a digital platform for young activists to share their truth, and funds from the organization go to support Education Champions.
Education Champion Network, inspired by Malala and her impact, consists of a group of individuals who identify and invest in the work of “promising local advocates and educators.” Education Champions implement projects that are rigorous and aimed at advocacy for young girls missing out on an education. Malala Fund supports Education Champions who advocate and work to change local and national policy in Afghanistan, Brazil, Ethiopia, India, Lebanon, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey. Altogether, the organization supports fifty-eight of these individuals and will invest $7.8 million in their program over the next two years.
Okay! Now, let’s unpause and continue in our understanding.
Delving deeper into the reasoning behind the devastating statistic of 130 million girls, one can easily see an unraveling of injustices of higher complexity. These injustices merge together and intertwine, altogether falling under the umbrella of a lack in girls’ access to education.
As on Malala Fund’s website, child labour, early marriage, conflict, cost, gender bias, health and natural disasters are all commonly seen restrictors for girls eager to receive an education.
In an articled posted by Assembly, Bandana exclaims the difficult choice she was forced to make at only fourteen years old: to either keep going to school or drop out and participate in child labour in financial support of her family. In India, their Right to Education Act only allows for free education for children up to the age of fourteen (grade eight). Consequently, almost 40% of girls ages fifteen to eighteen are not in school, having most likely been forced into child labour or child marriage by their families.
Sexist ideologies accumulating over centuries that have placed girls' worth under that of boys' also served as means to victimization of these young girls. Many cultures still hold the premise that girls are less capable and worthy than boys. In other words, girls are neglected and mistreated by their society due to mere biological build. This notion also intertwines with the health aspect mentioned by Malala Fund, as several girls lack the menstrual products needed to attend school, due to taboos and stigmas that are grossly centered around sexism.
Aranya Johar, a 20-year-old student and poet, shares throughout her poem “The Language of Equality” that “...there’s always an empty seat in a classroom and a girl somewhere with the want to learn and if we can’t make these two meet, what have we really learned?”
Girls worldwide need our help! Their intellectual abilities deserve to be nourished and their talents shared with the world. This is a cause worth fighting for and a social justice issue sometimes underlooked. I now encourage you to explore the rest of my website, hopefully inspiring you in some way to become involved.