International Day of the Girl Child

The world still oppresses their souls and bodies

Defend them, protect them, promote them: this is the imperative of the Day established by the UN in 2011! Today we turn the spotlight back on the many violations still widespread in the world against girls and young women: millions forced into forced marriages, violence, lack of access to education, gender discrimination.

Today, as we pledge our commitment to justice, the rights and dignity of every girl and boy, in our daily lives and around the world, we look with admiration at the courage of the young Iranian women who have been protesting for weeks over the ‘death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, while in custody because she wore her headscarf ‘inappropriately’. (Source: avvenire.it)

Photo: www.avvenire.it

During those protests, Nika Shakarami, the 17-year-old who sang without a veil, also died. Her family did not find her body until 10 days later. The same family members reported that the security forces stole the body to bury her secretly in a village. Nika had disappeared on 20 September after taking part in protests in memory of Mahsa Amini in Tehran. The body was found in a morgue of a detention centre in the capital. In the video, shared on social media after her death, the girl sings, without wearing a veil, an Iranian song.(Fonte: repubblica.it)

To give voice to the worldwide mobilisation in favour of the young Iranian girl is to be faithful to the position of our Congregation:

«Our first response to the girl is to accept and cherish her, and to affirm her inestimable value as a human person.

NSCBP develops, with the participation of girls and their families, social service programmes to develop girls’ autonomy, support their resilience, inform them of their rights, and promote safety and security both at home and in social institutions such as schools. We support universal education for all children, knowing that the most effective way for them to realise their potential is also the surest way to escape endemic poverty.

We develop programmes to grow in self-esteem, pride in culture, play and the expression of each girl’s greatest potential. We support social benefits for parents and support all forms of extended families caring for children. »

(From the Positions of the Congregation)

Let’s voice the protest and spread the video
on the oppression of young Iranian women!