Ilankai Tamil Sangam
Association of Tamils of Sri Lanka in the USA
Published by Sangam.org

Discrimination & Violence Against the Girl Child

Girls—their rights and their concerns—will be the focus of the 2007 meeting of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). Each year the Commission meets to review the condition of women’s political, economic, and social rights. This year, the Commission, which will meet from 26 February to 9 March, will determine exactly what governments and citizens can do to end all forms of violence and discrimination against the girl child.

Join the Forum—The World Needs Your Voice!

Every day, in every part of the world, girls are kept out of school, hit, ignored, forced to marry and have sex, sold as slaves, made to fight in wars and asked to sit silently while decisions are made for them – about them.

Governments are asking how they can work to stop this violence and discrimination against girls. This question cannot be answered without you. Youth know their issues best – and have clear ideas about how to solve problems.

UNICEF’s Voices of Youth is gathering the recommendatios of girls and boys and will present them at the 51st annual Commission on the Status of Women at United Nations headquarters in February 2007. This meeting of the Commission will focus on 'Ending all forms of violence and discrimination against the girl child.'

You can influence how the world works to stop discrimination and violence against girls.

What to do:

Join the Voice’s of Youth Girls’ Forum.

Read a youth-friendly version of the expert’s report and tell us if you agree or disagree with what it says. The report talks about how girls are in endangered by violence and unfair treatment and suggests ways governments, and their citizens, can the discrimination. You can find the report at http://www.unicef.org/voy/. Click on “Stop violence and discrimination against girls”.
Answer the questions at the end.
Send your answers back to us by 30 January 2007. You can send us your answers in 3 ways:
- Online: Log on to Voices of Youth (http://www.unicef.org/voy/) and click on “Stop violence and discrimination against girls” and fill in the online questionnaire.
- Email: voy@unicef.org, with “Stop violence and discrimination against girls” in the subject line.
- Mail: Voices of Youth, 3 UN Plaza, New York City, NY 10017.