In October, we introduced you to Raha, a girl navigating a world undermined by gender inequality. When we last visited her, Raha had been pulled from school at a young age and forced to marry an older man, making her a survivor of both child marriage and statutory rape.
Raha’s story reflects the realities of many women and girls around the world. Equality Now is working to change that reality and create a more gender-equal world.
In Zambia last year, Equality Now and partners facilitated the passing of the Marriage (Amendment) Act of 2023 to set the marriageable age at 18 without exception. In a country with an estimated 1.7 million child brides, this law will be critical in eradicating child marriage.
More recently in Colombia, we played a key role in driving advocacy efforts for the Colombian Senate’s approval of the law that bans child marriage without exception. We coordinated with local and international organizations, provided legal input, and highlighted the country's international commitments to protect girls and adolescents, all of which contributed to a legal victory that will protect thousands.
These efforts will protect hundreds of thousands of girls, now and well into the future, and we intend to continue this momentum in 2025.
|
|
A victim of child marriage, Raha is now pregnant. As a child herself, she faces not only increased health risks but also increased dependence on her spouse.
But there’s hope for the hundreds of millions of child brides around the world like Raha. Equality Now helps create and uplift important legislation that provides critical protections for women and girls.
In Africa, the Maputo Protocol guarantees extensive rights to African women and girls and includes progressive provisions on reproductive health and rights. So far, 45 African countries have ratified the Protocol and we will continue working until all 55 members of the African Union have done the same, and those with reservations have withdrawn them.
In the United States, Equality Now is working to ensure that the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is incorporated into the US Constitution. The ERA could enhance protections against gender discrimination for women and girls nationwide, provide recourse against restrictive abortion bans, and extend protections to safeguard access to reproductive health care.
These are two examples of legislation that could protect women and girls like Raha and help secure access to life-saving legal rights for women and girls.
|
|
|
|
|
