International Day of the Girl!
 

This year's theme, ‘Girls’ Vision for the Future’, expresses both the need for urgent action to empower girls, amplify their voices and support their power to act in shaping a better future for all.

On 11 October, ASF France would like to reiterate its commitment to protecting girls around the world and highlight the challenges they face on a daily basis.

In Guinea, this phenomenon is a real social problem: in 2016, 80.7% of women and girls aged between 15 and 69 had been subjected to an act of violence since the age of 15, including 29.3% who had been sexually assaulted. Harmful traditional practices such as genital mutilation, excision and early marriage are widespread in the country: in 2018, almost 1 in 2 girls, or 654,858 girls, were married before the age of 18 every year; 390,376 girls under the age of 15 are still victims of genital mutilation every year, and although no law allows it, almost a third of girls aged 0-14 are excised by health professionals, particularly nurses/midwives.

This ubiquitous violence against women and girls must be condemned and is an obstacle to their emancipation in society. As part of the LIBRE project (Lutte contre l'Impunité des auteurs de violences Basées sur le Genre afin de renforcer l'Egalité de genre en Guinée), ASF France is participating alongside the CJFLG and the CPDH in this fight by promoting access to justice for victims and survivors of GBV, as well as holistic care, including psycho-social support, and by encouraging a change in the behaviour of the authorities and the population through advocacy and awareness-raising activities.

Find out more about this project here: https://www.avocatssansfrontieres-france.org/en/missions/libre/

Photo credit: UN MINUSTAH/Logan Abassi