The girl child between aspirations and bitter reality

Dr. Michel E. Abs

The Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches

The United Nations has designated October 11 as International Day of the Girl Child.

Between 1995, when the World Conference on Women’s Affairs was held in the Chinese capital, and countries unanimously adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the most crystallized program for advancing the rights of women and girls - and this declaration was considered the first agreement on girls’ rights - and 2011, when the United Nations General Assembly decided to declare October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child, humanity has taken tremendous steps forward in the field of protecting the rights of girls in light of the challenges she is facing in our modern times.

According to the United Nations page dedicated to this occasion, the International Day of the Girl Child aims to empower girls to address the challenges they face and raise their ability to maintain their rights under international laws and conventions.

In a world of sexual discrimination and exploitation of the weak, young girls, unaware of the injustice that befalls them and unable to defend their being and rights, remain the weakest element in a society struggling for survival, which is no different from the primitive jungle except in methods.

In the child labor society, which the most powerful and organized countries have been unable to combat, the little girl remains the weakest link that attracts all the discontent and injustice of a society searching for a scapegoat.

I saw them in the streets of my city, and other cities in my country, begging or selling gum or lottery tickets while covering their exhausted bodies with a worn rag instead of a dress. I saw them hanging out in front of cars, trying to clean their windows, despite their small stature.

I saw them in the public places of my country screaming in the face of an oppressor, usurper, or occupier, and being subjected to arrest, abuse, and sometimes assassination.

I saw them broken-hearted and sad, not understanding why they could not live like all the girls in the world, go to school, play and be happy.

I read about them as they were handed over to wealthy families as maids for life or in exchange for a debt. I read about them being raped, subjected to violence and beatings, and sometimes losing their lives.

I read about them being handed over to child cannibals to exploit them in the sexual trade such as prostitution, pornography, and other sins of the time of the fall.

This great humanity, arrogant in its technology, is unable to count their numbers and combat what they are exposed to, just like young boys who meet almost the same fate. No one has quantitative data about these phenomena because humankinf is busy with more important matters.

Are these girls, with sad looks to the point of misery, with crushed souls, the mothers of tomorrow?

I fear that all conferences, statements, studies and speeches are nothing but drugs and tranquilizers, playing the role of pain reliever while criminals against humanity carry-on.

We must acknowledge that the treatment of girls in general has changed radically in the Arab world over the past four decades, meaning that a girl’s pursuit of her education has become a settled matter and inheriting what prevents her from the harm of an abusive male husband has become a culture, but there are large segments of our societies that are still unable to secure that, therefore, child girls fall into the furnace of want and acceptance of what is not accepted by either divine law or human law.

The challenge of educating the girl child, preserving her dignity and rights, and preparing her to be a good mother, by whom the future generations of humanity can be raised, is a fundamental challenge, and if humanity does not embrace it, then no one can hope for a decent society.

When you encounter on the street a girl wearing shabby and torn clothes who is rushing to people to get some petty money, try to ask yourself what type of mother she will be, and what type of people will be raised by her... Rather, ask yourself what criminal society has led her to where she is and what she is.

The incarnate Lord has commanded us not to despise “one of these little ones” and said, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea (Matthew 5:18; Luke 2:17).” And he said, “It is not the will of your Father who in heaven that one of these little ones should perish (Matthew 14:18).

Children, and the girl child is the weakest and the most vulnerable of all, are the will of the Creator. Therefore, if we are grateful for His gifts, it is better for us to fulfill His commandments.