Nigeria today joins the rest of the world to celebrate the International Day of the Girl Child. Since 2012, the United Nations marks 11 October as a day to celebrate the ‘Girl Child'. The day promotes girls' human rights and increases awareness of gender inequality faced by girls worldwide
The theme for the 2016 celebration is “Girls’ Progress = Goals’ Progress: A Global Girl Data Movement.” The theme is a call for action for increased investment in collecting and analyzing girl-focused, girl-relevant and sex-disaggregated data.
The data to a good extent will avail relevant bodies the needed information to tackle problems and challenges of the girl child. Like every other developing countries, Nigeria is not excluded of these problems. Below are the most common, most gruesome abuses Nigerian girls are subjected to.
1. Rape and incest
Before, it was only rape and mostly, matured females fall, victims but now, the occourence of rape has degenerated into what may call for declaration of state of emergency. Although, there is no actual figure for these incidences, sexual crimes, cases of rape, incest and paedophilia happens almost every hour in Nigeria. Worst still, many don’t report the cases and the few reported rarely gets justice
2. Child marriage
One such issue standing in the way of girls’ progress is child marriage. The data form UN is daunting—one in three girls in developing countries (except China) get married before they turn 18. According to Wikipedia, in northern states, predominantly Muslim, over 50% of the girls marry before the age of 15. And most times, many get divorced or widowed before their 30s.
3. Hawking
The use of female as hawkers is pervasive in the country and the approach by the government is disturbing as well. In July 2016, Lagos State government banned street hawking and trading and in what seem like a counter policy, Cross River State legalized the trade by sending a bill to the State House of Assembly to officially license street hawking. What an irony!
4. Female genital mutilation
According to 2015 statistics, 27% of Nigerian women and girls are victims of FGM. The practice is considered harmful to girls and women and a violation of human rights. FGM causes infertility, maternal death, infections, and the loss of sexual pleasure. In May 2015, Former President Goodluck Jonathan signed a federal law banning FGM and despite this law, girls are still subjected to the FGM cruelty in some parts of the country.
5. Housemaid business
The news on domestic abuse against girls employed as housemaid appears on newspaper pages every day. One of such cases was widely reported January 2016 when a woman bathed her 9-year-old housemaid with hot water. She claimed the girl stole crayfish. Several of such abounds and many go unreported. In 2012, Seun Akioye of Nigerian Compass, published a story on Kpedekpo village in Benin Republic which the fodder for child slavery. A village where child slaves are been bred, then transported to Nigeria. Nigeria does not only receive, they also breed.
6. Trafficking
Females are mostly the subject of human trafficking in Nigeria. Teenage girls are been trafficked to other countries to do unholy things just to earn cash for their proprietors.
7. Prostitution
Although prostitution is outlawed in the country, brothels exist in every corner in the country. In most of these brothels, teenagers as young as 13, 14 year-old plies the prostitution trade. Many times, they advance the argument that they are been forced into business due to economic condition.
The theme for the 2016 celebration is “Girls’ Progress = Goals’ Progress: A Global Girl Data Movement.” The theme is a call for action for increased investment in collecting and analyzing girl-focused, girl-relevant and sex-disaggregated data.
The data to a good extent will avail relevant bodies the needed information to tackle problems and challenges of the girl child. Like every other developing countries, Nigeria is not excluded of these problems. Below are the most common, most gruesome abuses Nigerian girls are subjected to.
1. Rape and incest
Before, it was only rape and mostly, matured females fall, victims but now, the occourence of rape has degenerated into what may call for declaration of state of emergency. Although, there is no actual figure for these incidences, sexual crimes, cases of rape, incest and paedophilia happens almost every hour in Nigeria. Worst still, many don’t report the cases and the few reported rarely gets justice
2. Child marriage
One such issue standing in the way of girls’ progress is child marriage. The data form UN is daunting—one in three girls in developing countries (except China) get married before they turn 18. According to Wikipedia, in northern states, predominantly Muslim, over 50% of the girls marry before the age of 15. And most times, many get divorced or widowed before their 30s.
3. Hawking
The use of female as hawkers is pervasive in the country and the approach by the government is disturbing as well. In July 2016, Lagos State government banned street hawking and trading and in what seem like a counter policy, Cross River State legalized the trade by sending a bill to the State House of Assembly to officially license street hawking. What an irony!
4. Female genital mutilation
According to 2015 statistics, 27% of Nigerian women and girls are victims of FGM. The practice is considered harmful to girls and women and a violation of human rights. FGM causes infertility, maternal death, infections, and the loss of sexual pleasure. In May 2015, Former President Goodluck Jonathan signed a federal law banning FGM and despite this law, girls are still subjected to the FGM cruelty in some parts of the country.
5. Housemaid business
The news on domestic abuse against girls employed as housemaid appears on newspaper pages every day. One of such cases was widely reported January 2016 when a woman bathed her 9-year-old housemaid with hot water. She claimed the girl stole crayfish. Several of such abounds and many go unreported. In 2012, Seun Akioye of Nigerian Compass, published a story on Kpedekpo village in Benin Republic which the fodder for child slavery. A village where child slaves are been bred, then transported to Nigeria. Nigeria does not only receive, they also breed.
6. Trafficking
Females are mostly the subject of human trafficking in Nigeria. Teenage girls are been trafficked to other countries to do unholy things just to earn cash for their proprietors.
7. Prostitution
Although prostitution is outlawed in the country, brothels exist in every corner in the country. In most of these brothels, teenagers as young as 13, 14 year-old plies the prostitution trade. Many times, they advance the argument that they are been forced into business due to economic condition.
