The 11th October each year brings the world's attention to the plight of the girl child. There is a pressing need to recognise the dangers specifically affecting girls internationally and to increase opportunities for young women's empowerment. The presence of well-trained women officers in domestic and international police forces is a crucial measure for the reduction of gendered violence against girls, such as child marriage and FGM. In addition to protective measure, girls must be provided with good education in tandem with access and exposure to female role models who can inspire them to reach their full potential in whichever walk of life they choose to pursue.
Women working in the fields of security and peacemaking offer particularly inspiring examples of women working at all levels to affect change both locally and globally:
Women in UN peace missions can influence girls' lives in multiple ways, such as through media outreach and community dialogue.
Schoolgirls across Iran have put their safety at risk to join women's rights protests taking hold across the country.
Suci, aged 19, fights against child marriage within her community in Indonesia (Read the full photo essay in The Guardian.)
Peacekeepers include women in a variety of key roles, interacting with girls as medics, educators and community outreach agents, as well as as soldiers and police officers.
"Women peacekeepers can also serve as role models or even mentors for local women and girls, thus contributing to more equal gender relations in the local community they serve” (UNIFIL’s Mission Gender Advisor, 2018)
Greta Thunberg has famously inspired thousands of girls and young women to join her struggle for planetary security, contributing more than anyone else to youth engagement with environmental issues in the 21st Century.
Women around the world demonstrate their influence in peace negociations and are repeatedly shown to craft more sustainable peace than when no women are present. Whether they are elected politicans, respected civil society leaders or passionate mothers, women from all walks of life frequently become inspiring figures for young girls when they participate in building peace.
Talented women like Captain Valentina Iglesias from El Salvador travel internationally and inspire girls around the world as military pilots.
