This year, under the theme of ‘Girls’ vision for the future’, the International Day of the Girl Child marks both the need for urgent action and persistent hope in creating a better future for girls worldwide. 

The International Day of the Girl Child is an opportunity to highlight the challenges that girls face around the world and inspire collective action to tackle them. 

“Today’s generation of girls is disproportionately affected by global crises of climate, conflict, poverty and pushback on hard won gains for human rights and gender equality. Too many girls are still denied their rights, restricting their choices and limiting their futures.” – United Nations, 2024

At It’s a Penalty, many of the issues our work seeks to address intersect with human rights and gender equality. 

Through our awareness-raising Campaigns, It’s a Penalty’s goal is to prevent human trafficking and exploitation from taking place, support survivors in finding help and justice and create a society where no one is vulnerable to modern slavery. CommonProtect, It’s a Penalty’s research and advocacy programme, aims to improve the protection of children from all forms of violence in the Commonwealth. Our Student Ambassador Programme educates and empowers university students in the fight against human trafficking. 

In the Commonwealth, girls face a disproportionate risk of violence, the impacts of which are long-lasting and severe. Currently available data indicates that girls are disproportionately affected by child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA). For example, research shows that over 370 million girls and women globally subjected to rape or sexual assault as children. Girls are also at risk when in relationships; of those who have been in a relationship, almost one in four adolescent girls aged 15–19 (24%) has experienced physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner or husband.  

Harmful traditional practices, including child, early and forced marriage (CEFM) and female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) continue to take place on a worldwide scale and significantly dampen girls’ ability to realise their full potential. 1 in 5 girls globally are married before they reach the age of 18. In Commonwealth countries, alarming statistics indicate that 43% of all women are married as children. Reportedly, at least 200 million girls and women living in 30 countries have undergone FGM/C. The regions of the Commonwealth where FGM is most prevalent are Africa and Asia. To learn more about CEFM in the Commonwealth, read our Policy Brief.

Human trafficking similarly poses a significant threat to girls in the Commonwealth. In 2022, the UNODC found that women and girls account for 60% of all detected victims. Furthermore, female victims of human trafficking are subjected to physical or extreme violence at the hands of traffickers at a rate three times higher than males.

The risks girls face are compounded by crises, including those as a result of climate change, conflict, global health and economic shocks. In many countries, girls often bear the brunt when families struggle to cope in times of crisis. 

Women and girls are exposed to a heightened risk of trafficking and exploitation in cases of climate-induced migration and risks of trafficking are exacerbated during natural disasters. Child, early and forced marriage (CEFM) also often increases in the wake of climate change and climate-related disasters, as families engage in the practice aiming to reduce their economic vulnerability. Global research demonstrates the exacerbating effects that disasters have on pre-existing rates of sexual and gender-based violence (GBV). It has been documented that crises, such as conflict and natural disasters, exacerbate existing patriarchal structures, expanding the control men have over women and girls in their communities.

As is being seen currently in Gaza, conflict has a horrific toll on women and girls – in Gaza, women and children account for 70% of all casualties. Research shows that the majority of those displaced by conflict are female. In many Commonwealth countries, conflict settings has been found to exacerbate rates of several forms of violence against women and girls, including sexual violence, intimate partner violence (IPV), and child, early and forced marriage (CEFM). For example, during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, ‘women were sexually assaulted on a scale previously unrecorded in any past genocide’. During the two-decade-long civil war in Sri Lanka, 13.4% of women experienced sexual violence.

In order to realise girls’ empowerment and the fulfilment of their human rights, urgent attention and collective action is needed to address their vulnerability to violence. Girls facing intersecting forms of inequality based on race or ethnicity, wealth or social class, religion, sexuality, gender identity, disability, mental health, or age are at a heightened risk of experiencing violence. Tragically, these individuals also encounter greater challenges in accessing justice and receiving the support they urgently need. 

With the right support, resources, and opportunities, the potential of girls across the Commonwealth and worldwide is unlimited. When girls take the lead, the effects are both immediate and far-reaching, strengthening families, communities, and economies, and brightening our collective future. Now is the time to listen to girls and invest in effective solutions that will accelerate progress toward a future where every girl can reach her full potential.

Written by Elizabeth Speller

Advocacy Director, It’s a Penalty