Confronting
the silent and endemic crisis of harmful practices

Urgent, accelerated action
needed to stop female genital mutilation, child marriage, and other
practices that harm women and girls, according to new UNFPA report

30 June 2020, NEW YORK--Every
year, millions of girls are subjected to practices that harm them
physically and emotionally, with the full knowledge and consent of
their families, friends and communities, according to the State
of World Population 2020,
released today by UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive
health agency.

At least 19 harmful practices,
ranging from breast ironing to virginity testing, are considered
human rights violations, according to the UNFPA report, which focuses
on the three most prevalent ones: female genital mutilation, child
marriage, and extreme bias against daughters in favour of sons.

“Harmful practices against girls
cause profound and lasting trauma, robbing them of their right to
reach their full potential,” says UNFPA Executive Director Dr.
Natalia Kanem.

This year, an estimated 4.1
million girls will be subjected to female genital mutilation. Today,
33,000 girls under age 18 will be forced into marriages, usually to
much older men. Also, an extreme preference for sons over daughters
in some countries has fueled gender-biased sex selection or extreme
neglect that leads to their death as children, resulting in 140
million “missing females.”

Some harmful practices are waning
in countries where they have been most prevalent. But because of
population growth in these countries, the number of girls subjected
to them will actually rise in the coming decades, if urgent action is
not taken.

Countries that have ratified
international treaties such as the Convention on the Rights of the
Child have a duty to end the harm, whether it’s inflicted on girls
by family members, religious communities, health-care providers,
commercial enterprises or state institutions. Many have responded
with laws, but laws alone are not enough.

Decades of experience and research
show that bottom-up, grassroots approaches are better at bringing
change, the UNFPA report states. “We must tackle the problem by
tackling the root causes, especially gender-biased norms. We must do
a better job of supporting communities’ own efforts to understand
the toll these practices are taking on girls and the benefits that
accrue to the whole of society by stopping them,” Dr. Kanem says.

Economies and the legal systems
that support them must be restructured to guarantee every woman equal
opportunities, the report adds. Changing rules for property
inheritance, for example, can eliminate a powerful incentive for
families to favour sons over daughters and help to eliminate child
marriage.

Ending child marriage and female
genital mutilation worldwide is possible within 10 years by scaling
up efforts to keep girls in school longer and teach them life skills
and to engage men and boys in social change. Investments totaling
$3.4 billion a year through 2030
would end these two harmful practices and end the suffering of an
estimated 84 million girls, the report shows.

While progress has been made in
ending some harmful practices worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic
threatens to reverse gains. A
recent analysis revealed
that if services and programmes remain shuttered for six months, an
additional 13 million girls may be forced into marriage and 2 million
more girls may be subjected to female genital mutilation between now
and 2030.

“The pandemic both makes our job
harder and more urgent as so many more girls are now at risk,” Dr.
Kanem says. “We will not stop until the rights, choices and bodies
of all girls are fully their own.”

For
information about the report, please contact:

● Richard Kollodge; kollodge@unfpa.org