Comparative Report

Empowering Girls Through
Legal Protection Strategies in
Bangladesh, India, Kenya and
Liberia
FINAL REPORT

EMPOWERING GIRLS THROUGH LEGAL PROTECTION STRATEGIES IN BANGLADESH,
INDIA, KENYA AND LIBERIA
Copyright © International Development Law Organization 2010
International Development Law Organization (IDLO)
IDLO is an intergovernmental organization that promotes legal, regulatory and
institutional reform to advance economic and social development in transitional and
developing countries.
Founded in 1983 and one of the leaders in rule of law assistance, IDLO's comprehensive
approach achieves enduring results by mobilizing stakeholders at all levels of society to
drive institutional change. Because IDLO wields no political agenda and has deep
expertise in different legal systems and emerging global issues, people and interest
groups of diverse backgrounds trust IDLO. It has direct access to government leaders,
institutions and multilateral organizations in developing countries, including lawyers,
jurists, policymakers, advocates, academics and civil society representatives.
Amongst its activities, IDLO conducts timely, focused and comprehensive research in
areas related to sustainable development in the legal, regulatory, and justice sectors.
Through such research, IDLO seeks to contribute to existing Practice and scholarship on
priority legal issues, and to serve as a conduit for the global exchange of ideas, best
practices and lessons learned.
IDLO produces a variety of professional legal tools covering interdisciplinary thematic
and regional issues; these include book series, country studies, research reports, policy
papers, training handbooks, glossaries and benchbooks. Research for these publications
is conducted independently with the support of its country offices and in cooperation
with international and national partner organizations.
Project Manager: Rebecca Everly, IDLO
Author: This report was compiled and edited by IDLO on the basis of work produced by
the four partner organizations.
Cover image: © Sheila McKinnon
Published by:
International Development Law Organization
Viale Vaticano, 106
00165 Rome, Italy
Tel: +39 06 4040 3200
Fax: +39 06 4040 3232
Email: idlo@idlo.int
www.idlo.int
Disclaimer
IDLO is an intergovernmental organization and its publications are intended to expand legal knowledge,
disseminate diverse viewpoints and spark discussion on issues related to law and development. The views
expressed in this publication are the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of
IDLO or its Member States. IDLO does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this publication and
accepts no responsibility for any consequence of its use. IDLO welcomes any feedback or comments regarding
the information contained in the publication.
All rights reserved. This material is copyrighted but may be reproduced by any method without fee for any
educational purposes, provided that the source is acknowledged. Formal permission is required for all such
uses. For copying in other circumstances or for reproduction in other publications, prior written permission
must be granted from the copyright owner and a fee may be charged. Requests for commercial reproduction
should be directed to the International Development Law Organization.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM
In order to gain a deeper understanding of the factors that support or inhibit the
enhanced legal protection of girls, IDLO is implementing a two-year research project
focused on India, Bangladesh, Liberia and Kenya. In these countries, IDLO aims to
compile comprehensive, accurate and strategic information regarding the level of
protection afforded to girls in the areas of birth registration, access to education, access
to property, child labor, child trafficking, commercial child sexual exploitation, and child
marriage. The resulting comparative analysis will provide a basis for informed action in
each of the four countries with respect to strengthening domestic legal protection
frameworks and the capacity of key protection agents to access justice and enforce girls’
legal rights.
PARTNERSHIPS
This program is being implemented by IDLO in partnership with local NGOs in India,
Bangladesh, Kenya and Liberia:
India: HAQ Centre for Child Rights (www.haqcrc.org)
HAQ Centre for Child Rights is an organization based in New Delhi, India, dedicated to
the recognition, promotion and protection of the rights of children. In pursuit of its
mandate, HAQ undertakes research and documentation; is actively involved in public
education and advocacy; serves as a research and support base for individuals dealing
with children at every level; and provides legal support to children in need.
Bangladesh: BRAC (www.brac.net)
BRAC is a development organization based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is dedicated to
poverty alleviation and empowerment of the poor, and manages a range of core
programs in economic and social development, health, education, and human rights and
legal services.
Kenya: Children’s Legal Action Network (CLAN) (www.clan.or.ke)
CLAN is a Kenya-based organization working to enhance justice for children by
advocating for children and protecting and enhancing children's rights and welfare
through the provision of free legal aid and related services. An essential component of
CLAN's mission entails working with frontline service providers, including the
Government, civil society organizations, families and children.
Liberia: Women NGOs Secretariat of Liberia (WONGOSOL) (www.wongosol.org)
WONGOSOL is an organization committed to the creation of a vibrant Liberian society by
developing and strengthening the role of women’s organizations and groups and
enhancing the effectiveness of women’s organizations through proper coordination at all
levels to promote peace and security, women’s development, gender equality and
women’s human rights.
DONOR SUPPORT
This research is being supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
(www.gatesfoundation.org) and the Nike Foundation (www.nikefoundation.org). The
findings and conclusions contained within are those of the authors and do not necessarily
reflect positions or policies of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation or the Nike
Foundation.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
IDLO would like to acknowledge the research teams from the four partner organizations
for their work in compiling this report. Notably, sincere thanks are extended to the
following individuals: Bharti Ali, Soumya Bhaumik, Oscar Bloh, Tom Chavangi, Onike
Gooding Freeman, Cerue Garlo, Akhter Hussain, Sumaiya Islam, Sarah Jegede, Pravesh
Kumar, Peter Mah, Nicholas Okemwa, Faustina Pereira, Christabel Randolph, Mohammad
Rasheduzzaman, Marpue Speare, Ranjana Srivastava, Parul Thukral and Srinivas
Varadan.

Strengthening the Legal Protection Framework for Girls | I
Contents
Abbreviations .................................................................................................II

Tables and figures .......................................................................................... V

PART I: Global Challenges to the Empowerment of Girls Children ............................... 1

Introduction................................................................................................... 2

1. Means of protection..................................................................................... 5

2. Risks ........................................................................................................24

Conclusion ....................................................................................................49

PART II: Assessing the Legal Protection of Girl Children in Bangladesh, India, Kenya and
Liberia ..............................................................................................................51

Introduction..................................................................................................51

1. Birth registration........................................................................................56

2. Education..................................................................................................86

3. Property and inheritance ........................................................................... 123

4. Child labor .............................................................................................. 151

5. Child trafficking ....................................................................................... 185

6. Commercial child sexual exploitation .......................................................... 220

7. Child marriage......................................................................................... 249

Conclusion .................................................................................................. 276

Annex 1: Best Practices ................................................................................ 287

Annex 2: International standards................................................................... 300

Strengthening the Legal Protection Framework for Girls | II
Abbreviations
International conventions
CCM Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for
Marriage and Registration of Marriages (1962)
CDE Convention Against Discrimination in Education (1960)
CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women (1979)
CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)
CRC Optional Protocol Optional Protocol to the CRC on the Sale of Children, Child
Prostitution and Child Pornography (2000)
CRS Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (1961)
CTOC Protocol Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in
Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the
United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized
Crime (2000)
ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966)
ICERD International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of
Racial Discrimination (1965)
ICESCR International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights (1966)
ICRMW International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of
All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (1990)
ILO Convention 138 Minimum Age Convention (1973)
ILO Convention 181 Private Employment Agencies Convention (1997)
ILO Convention 182 Convention Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate
Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child
Labour (1999)
SCAS Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the
Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to
Slavery (1956)

Strengthening the Legal Protection Framework for Girls | III
International instruments
DEDAW United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of
Discrimination against Women (1967)
DHRI Declaration of Human Rights in Islam (1990)
DRCIC Declaration of the Rights and Care of the Child in Islam
(1994)
GPID Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (1998)
IASC Inter-Agency Standing Committee Operational Guidelines on
Human Rights and Natural Disasters (2006)
Pinheiro Pinheiro Principles: United Nations Principles on Housing
and Property Restitution for Refugees and Displaced Persons
(2005)
UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
Regional instruments
ACHPR African Charter on Human and Political Rights (1986)
ACHR American Convention on Human Rights (1992)
ACRWC African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
(1999)
ECHR European Convention on Protection of Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedoms (1950)
ESC European Social Charter (1961, amended 1996).
PACHPRA Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s
Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (1998)
SAARC CPCTWC South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in
Women and Children for Prostitution (2002)

Strengthening the Legal Protection Framework for Girls | IV
Organizations and associations
ILO International Labour Organization
IPU Inter-Parliamentary Union
SAARC South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization
UNHCR Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees
UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund
Treaty bodies
CERD Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
CESCR Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Other
COHRE Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions
MDG Millennium Development Goals

Strengthening the Legal Protection Framework for Girls | V
Tables and figures
Table 1 Regional breakdown on unregistered births .................................................. 9
Table 2 Birth registration fees in Delhi ...................................................................60
Table 3 Schedule of fees for birth registration.........................................................62
Table 4 Student enrollment in Bangladeshi secondary schools by sex 1990-2002 ........92
Table 5 Gender disaggregated school enrollment rates from 1950-51 to 2004-05 ........94
Table 6 Percentage of girls enrolment to total enrolment by stages, 1950-51 to 2004-05
........................................................................................................................95
Table 7 Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER), 1950-51 to 2004-05 ....................................95
Table 8 Drop-out rates at primary, elementary and secondary stages, 1960-61 to 2004-
05 ....................................................................................................................96
Table 9 Drop-out rates of scheduled castes at primary, elementary and secondary stages
1990-91 to 2004-05............................................................................................97
Table 10 Drop-out rates of scheduled tribes at primary, elementary and secondary
stages, 1990-91 to 2004-05.................................................................................97
Table 11 Gender Parity Index (GPI) in enrolment: 2002-03 to 2005-6 .......................98
Table 12 Primary gender parity index by province: 2001-2006................................ 101
Table 13 Primary completion rates 2001-2006 ...................................................... 102
Table 14 Child labor distribution ......................................................................... 164
Table 15 Perceived minimum age: Bangladesh ..................................................... 168
Table 16 Perceived minimum age: India .............................................................. 168
Table 17 Perceived minimum age: Kenya............................................................. 169
Table 18 Perceived minimum age: Liberia ............................................................ 169
Table 19 Trafficked children by gender ................................................................ 194
Table 20 Root causes and linking causes of trafficking ........................................... 195
Table 21 Human trafficking related crime statistics 2003-2007................................ 197
Table 22 Disposal of cases by courts and police under the Child Marriage Restraint Act
during 2007 ..................................................................................................... 261

Strengthening the Legal Protection Framework for Girls | 1
PART I
Global Challenges to the
Empowerment of Girls
Children

Introduction
Poverty has a female face in many parts of the developing world. Of the 1.5 billion
people living on US$1/day or less, 70 percent are female,1
Further, research has shown
that females tend to suffer disproportionately from poverty.2
Girl children, in particular,
represent an extremely vulnerable group in many societies, and face systematic
disadvantage “over a wide range of welfare indicators”, including health, nutrition and
the burden of household tasks.3
According to a 2008 report by the Center for Global
Development, girls are generally less healthy, less educated and enjoy less freedom than
their male counterparts.4
Such disparities, which highlight the disempowerment and
marginalization of girls, result from a variety of factors including cultural and social
norms. Ultimately, however, they are rooted in gender discrimination,5
which interferes
with girls’ ability to develop and, ultimately, prejudices their ability to have lives of
dignity. The difficulties faced by girls are compounded by the fact that they are often
neglected. As Nicholas Kristof has noted, ‘the quotidian cruelties’ inflicted on girls often
go unreported and unnoticed.6
From a long-term economic development perspective, discrimination against girls
ensures that a significant share of the population will be unable to participate in the
economy as productive adults. Certainly, despite their social and economic vulnerability,
girls are key contributors to their families and local economies. They perform unpaid and
unrecognized labor including household assistance (cooking, cleaning, shopping and
gardening), care-giving (for younger children, and sick or elderly relatives), as well as
other labor functions (harvesting crops, tending livestock, producing handicrafts).
However, denying girls opportunities—whether purposefully through discriminatory laws
or tacitly through policies that fail to deter abuse, ensure control over reproduction, or
prevent life-threatening disease—substantially undermines the creation of human capital
endowments in society. By economically empowering girls, their contributions could be
transformed and magnified for the betterment of themselves, their families and their
communities. Girls living in developing countries are an important untapped source of
economic development, and protecting and investing in girls today allows the
foundations for longer-term economic development to be set in place. This is particularly
the case given the inter-generational effects of female empowerment, and the fact that
improvements in a woman’s economic position have a positive spill-over effect on the
social welfare of her children.7
1
Plan, Because I Am a Girl: The State of the World’s Girls (2007) 85.
2
N D Kristof and S Wudunn, Half the Sky (2009) 192.
3
Center for Global Development, Girls Count: A Global Investment and Action Agenda (2008) 2.
4
Ibid.
5
Ibid. See also Report of the independent expert on the question of human rights and extreme poverty (2008)
A/63/274, 34.
6
Kristof and Wudunn, above n 2, xiv.
7
Free the Children, Child Labour <http://www.freethechildren.com/getinvolved/geteducated/childlabour.htm>
at 16 June 2009.

FINAL COMPARATIVE REPORT
As indicated, a number of factors influence the disempowerment of girls. The nature of
such factors and their relative importance, however, vary by context. For instance, girls
often have difficulty accessing means of protection, such as birth registration, education
and property. Girls are also exposed to a variety of protection risks, including child labor,
trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation and underage marriage. Such difficulties
represent a denial of girls’ fundamental rights. Moreover, problems in accessing
protection have the potential to increase exposure to exploitation, and can be an
obstacle to full participation in the economy. In turn, the above-mentioned risks relate
directly to the exploitation of girls, and have many flow-on effects in terms of impeding
the ability of girls to realize their full potential and participate effectively in society. In
practice, there is often a close link between means of protection and risk factors, as for
example where underage marriage or trafficking leads to diminished possibilities in
access to education.
In seeking to facilitate girls’ economic empowerment, it should be noted that domestic
legal frameworks governing the protection of girls often fall short.8
In the developing
world, girls can exist outside of the rule of law and, in some cases, domestic legal
frameworks and enforcement mechanisms may themselves serve as means of
oppression. As a result, a key starting point for increasing the level of protection
afforded to girls in developing societies and, ultimately, increasing their empowerment,
is ensuring that local legal frameworks eliminate gender-based discrimination and
protect against abuse of girls’ rights and freedoms. This is connected more generally
with a human rights-based approach to development, which insists that economic
development and the realization of rights for all members of society are not mutually
exclusive. As former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan stressed in his 2005 report, In
Larger Freedom, the causes of human rights and development reinforce one another,
and one must not be pursued at the expense of the other.9
As an initial matter, seeking to enhance the legal protection of girls requires an
investigation of the extent to which applicable domestic law is itself a barrier to the
realization of rights. This requires assessing whether domestic legal instruments have
been harmonized with relevant international norms, and discerning where gaps in legal
protection exist (particularly where laws discriminate, formally or informally, against
girls). Article 2 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989 (CRC) obliges States
Parties to respect and ensure that all children enjoy the fundamental rights contained in
the Convention, without discrimination of any kind. It should be highlighted that the
right not to be discriminated against may be violated not only when states fail to treat
similar persons alike, but also fail to treat differently persons whose situations are
significantly different, without an objective and reasonable justification. Yet, it is not
sufficient to have rights if one is not able to exercise them. Efforts to enhance the legal
protection of girls also require a detailed assessment of whether, and to what extent,
domestically applicable legal instruments are implemented in practice. This includes
identification of the barriers to girls’ enjoyment of their rights, an evaluation of the
8
See, for example, Center for Global Development, above n 3.
9
In Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security and Human Rights for All: Report of the Secretary-
General (21 March 2005) A/59/2005.

enforcement procedures that exist in particular countries, and an assessment of any
social, cultural and economic factors that create a disjuncture between the law on paper
and the law in practice, along with relevant intra-country variations. Such an assessment
must be placed within the context of the values and needs of particularly vulnerable
communities, as well as the challenges that those communities face. Here it should be
borne in mind that many interventions designed to address the needs of girl children are
designed at the central level, with girls treated as a homogeneous group. The result is
that policies and programs that empower certain girls frequently neglect others.10
It is important to bear in mind that many people, particularly those living in poverty,
have little or no interaction with the formal legal system. This may be largely due to
factors such as physical or financial inaccessibility, but may also be the result of
perceived failure of state systems in the eyes of the poor.11
Under such conditions,
devising ways of protecting the fundamental rights of girl children presents a serious
challenge, and involves both reforming state systems and improving rights awareness—
knowledge of the rights that girls possess and the importance of such rights—by girls,
their care-givers and community members. In this regard, poverty and social
marginalization can be a vicious circle. Both can negatively affect rights awareness,
leading to further poverty and marginalization. Strategies to improve the protection of
girls must hence aim, not only to build and strengthen domestic legal protection
frameworks, but also to ensure that girls are able to rely upon and enforce such rights.
As background to an examination of efforts directed at the empowerment of girls, the
following sections outline the main international standards relating to birth registration,
education, access to property, child labor, trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation and
underage marriage,12
and how these means of protection and risks impact upon girls’
empowerment. The sections also provide a general overview of problems that inhibit the
protection of girl children in these areas, along with an examination of certain key
strategies that have been suggested and/or pursued as a means of enhancing rights
protection. It is important, however, to emphasize that targeted strategies for enhancing
girls’ empowerment must take place in parallel with broader social movements
addressing the often deeply-rooted views about the value of girl children that provide an
impetus to discrimination and violence against them.
10
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination and Violence Against the Girl Child: Report of the Expert Group
Meeting Organized by the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women in Collaboration with
UNICEF, EGM/Girl Child/2006/Report (September 2006) [hereinafter Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
and Violence Against the Girl Child] 11.
11
Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, Making the Law Work for Everyone, Volume I (2008) 19,26.
The Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor argues that it is necessary to ‘(m)ake the formal judicial
system, land administration systems, and relevant public institutions more accessible by recognising and
integrating customary and informal legal procedures with which the poor are already familiar…’ Ibid, 5.
12
In certain places, these have been summarized for clarity. Additional relevant standards are provided in the
attached Annex.

1. Means of protection
1.1 Birth registration
The right to registration
The child shall be registered immediately after birth…
CRC, Article 7
Every child shall be registered immediately after birth…
ICCPR, Article 24
Every child shall be registered immediately after birth…
ACRWC, Article 6
Each child of a migrant worker shall have the right…to registration of birth…
ICRMW, Article 29
Birth registration, or the process by which a child’s birth is recorded in the civil register
by the applicable government authority,13
is both a human right and a foundation for the
exercise of other rights. The right to registration is included in a number of international
and regional instruments, as indicated above. Further, in the 2002 UN General Assembly
Resolution ‘A World Fit for Children’, governments participating in the UN General
Assembly Special Session on Children pledged to develop systems to ensure the
registration of every child at or shortly after birth, in accordance with national laws and
relevant international instruments.14
At a minimum, registration should include the
child’s name; sex; date and place of birth; and the name, address and nationality of
both parents. In certain countries, authorities register additional information, including
personal identifiers such as footprints.15
1.1.1 Birth registration as a means of protection and empowerment
The registration of a girl’s birth can help to guarantee her right to a name and
nationality, both of which are crucial to legal identity. In general, nationality depends
either on the nationality of one’s parents or on one’s place of birth, though marriage and
naturalization are also means of acquiring nationality. Significantly, relevant
international and regional standards require that legislation concerning the right to
nationality be non-discriminatory. Where legislation discriminates against a child on the
basis of the marital status of her parents, it also violates children’s right to equality
before the law.
13
Plan, Universal Birth Registration <http://www.writemedown.org/issues/what/> at 16 June 2009.
14
A World Fit for Children (11 October 2002) A/RES/S-27/2.
15
UNICEF and Inter-Parliamentary Union, Child Protection: A Handbook for Parliamentarians, no. 7 (2004)
[hereinafter Handbook for Parliamentarians] 42.

The right to a name and nationality
Everyone has the right to a nationality.
UDHR, Article 15
Every child…shall have a name…Every child has the right to acquire a nationality.
ICCPR, Article 24
The child…shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality…
States Parties shall ensure the implementation of these rights in accordance with their
national law and their obligations under the relevant international instruments in this
field, in particular where the child would otherwise be stateless.
CRC, Article 7
Every child shall have the right from his birth to a name… (and) has the right to
acquire a nationality.
ACRWC, Article 6
Each child of a migrant worker shall have the right to a name…and to a nationality.
ICRMW, Article 29
A Contracting State shall grant its nationality to a person born in its territory who
would otherwise be stateless.
CRS, Article 1
States Parties shall grant women equal rights with men with respect to the nationality
of their children.
CEDAW, Article 9
There is a strong link between girls’ empowerment and birth registration in the sense
that the latter is often a prerequisite for accessing the opportunities that lead to
empowerment. Birth registration provides proof of legal identity, which is often required
for school attendance and access to social and health services.16
Accordingly, universal
birth registration is seen as facilitating the achievement of such Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) as the eradication of poverty and hunger (MDG-1) and the attainment of
universal primary education (MDG-2).17
In this vein, a 2009 report by PLAN provides the
following observation by a young girl in Cameroon:
…some young girls get discouraged with school and drop out at a lower class in
the primary school as they cannot write…final examinations for lack of a birth
16
For example, The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) noted, with reference to the
Dominican Republic, that ‘[b]irth certificates and identity cards are key documents required for access to a
wide range of services and for the equal enjoyment of rights including in the fields of employment,
education…and health services.’ CERD/C/DOM/CO/12 (2008), Paragraph 15. In a report concerning Malawi,
CERD also underlined the connection between registration of births and the ability of children to enjoy civil,
political, economic, social and cultural rights, as enumerated under Article 5 of the International Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD). CERD/C/63/CO/12 (2003), paragraph 8.
17
UNICEF, Child Protection Information Sheet: Birth Registration (2006)
<http://www.unicef.org/protection/files/Birth_Registration.pdf> at 16 June 2009. [hereinafter CPIS: Birth
Registration]

certificate. They then choose to accompany their mothers to the farms or marry.
What fate awaits these young girls at this age when they are not able to continue
school because of the birth certificate? Knowing that educating a girl is educating
a nation—what type of a nation are we building if the young girl is not educated?
Nan, aged 15, Cameroon.18
Birth registration can also be vital for obtaining access to property or exercising rights to
property/inheritance; for instance, HIV/AIDS orphans may be denied the right to inherit
parental property where they lack documents proving their legal identity and family
ties.19
PLAN notes that, after the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan, it reportedly became
difficult for children without a birth certificate, particularly girls, to exercise inheritance
rights.20
The benefits associated with birth registration, and the difficulties that flow from
lack of registration, continue throughout a girl’s life. Girls—and later women—without
proof of their identity may encounter a range of obstacles, including difficulties obtaining
legal documents (for example, driver’s license, passport), opening a bank account,
obtaining credit, securing formal employment and obtaining allowances and benefits.
The need for proof of identity is only heightened as intra- and inter-State mobility
increasingly take individuals away from their communities of origin.
Given the vulnerability of girls with no legal identity to exploitation and the importance
of proof of age/nationality for addressing risks such as illegal adoption, child marriage,
child labor, child trafficking,21
and underage military recruitment, birth registration is
also an important means of protecting girls against exploitative practices and guarding
against threats that impede their ability to participate fully in the economy. Proof of age
can further help to ensure that children in conflict with the law receive special legal
protections.22
The registration of a girl’s birth has a range of other benefits. Registration may, for
instance, be required in some areas for formalizing marriage and political participation.
Birth registration also helps to protect against statelessness in the event of conflict or
natural disaster, where girls may have difficulty proving their place of birth and the place
of birth of their parents.23
In situations of armed conflict, birth registration facilitates
individual tracing and helps to reunite families. Finally, reliable, comprehensive
population data is crucial for effective planning, implementation and evaluation of
policies in areas such as health, education, and labor which ultimately benefit girls, along
18
Plan, Count Every Child: The Right to Birth Registration (2009) [hereinafter Count Every Child] 19.
19
UNICEF, Birth Registration Right From the Start <http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/files/p15-UNICEF-
39x7.pdf> at 16 June 2009.
20
Count Every Child, above n 18, 26.
21
The Human Rights Committee has indicated that the right to birth registration ‘should be interpreted as
being closely linked to…special measures of protection…it is designed to promote recognition of the child’s legal
personality’ and that ‘[t]he main purpose of the obligation to register children after birth is to reduce the
danger of abduction, sale of or traffic in children, or of other types of treatment that are incompatible with the
enjoyment of [their] rights...’ Human Rights Committee, General Comment 17 (1989).
22
CPIS: Birth Registration, above n 17; UNICEF, The ‘Rights’ Start to Life, a Statistical Analysis of Birth
Registration (2005) [hereinafter The ‘Rights’ Start]
<http://www.unicef.org/publications/files/R55BirthReg10a.pdf> at 16 June 2009.
23
Plan, The Case for Universal Birth Registration <http://www.writemedown.org/research/ubrcase/> at 16
June 2009.

with other groups in society.24
A failure to register the births of girls coming from
marginalized communities, therefore, may lead to further marginalization and poverty.
1.1.2 Birth registration in practice
Most jurisdictions have laws concerning birth registration. However, the type of
information gathered in the registration process and its coverage vary depending upon
the state’s level of development and administrative capacity, as well as the accessibility
of the population. In developing countries, birth registration is often poorly enforced and
insufficiently comprehensive. Problems with registration become exaggerated in
situations of conflict or natural disaster, where (rightly or wrongly) registration may not
be regarded as a priority by authorities or families.25
According to a 2007 UNICEF
statistical review of progress related to the health and welfare of children, an estimated
51 million children born in 2006 had not had their births registered.26
It is further
estimated that more than seven in ten children in least-developed countries do not have
birth certificates or other registration documents.27
With respect to the registration rates of girl versus boy children, a 2005 report by
UNICEF detailing the results of a multi-country study found that, in 65% of the countries
analyzed, gender parity in birth registration had been achieved.28
Moreover, it found
that, as national levels of birth registration increased, disparities related to gender
tended to decrease.29
In countries where gender disparities exist, such disparities favor
boys in some cases and girls in others. Nevertheless, pervasive gender bias in some
countries leads many families not to register daughters’ births.30
PLAN stresses that,
“(i)n many countries, the strong preference for boys is evident in the ratio of boys
registered compared to girls. In Peru, of those children not registered, 56 percent are
girls. In China in 2004, a survey was conducted of the unregistered population in one
province over the previous ten years: about 530,000 unregistered people were
identified, of whom 70-80 percent were females.” As a consequence, PLAN’s efforts in
China have led to birth registration becoming part of a national program: ‘Caring for
Girls’.31
24
The ‘Rights’ Start, above n 22, 1.
25
E Harper, International Law and Standards Applicable in Natural Disaster Situations (2009) International
Development Law Organization, 139.
26
UNICEF, Progress for Children: A World Fit For Children Statistical Review (2007) 42.
27
Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, Volume I, above n 11, 32.
28
The ‘Rights’ Start, above n 22, 5
29
Ibid, 21.
30
See, for example, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, China: Treatment of Illegal or ‘Black’ Children
Born Outside the One-Child Family Planning Policy (2007)
<http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/topic,45a5fb512,4652f4a02,46c403821f,0.html> at 16 June 2009.
31

The regional breakdown of unregistered births for children under five years of age
(1987-2006) is:
Table 1 Regional breakdown on unregistered births32
Region %
Sub-Saharan Africa 66%
South Asia 59%
East Asia/Pacific 17%
Middle East/N. Africa 16%
CEE/CIS 10%
Latin America/Caribbean 10%
Industrialized countries 2%
In general, children under five whose births are unregistered are classified as poor.33
Research also indicates that unregistered children under five years of age generally:
 reside in rural areas;
 have limited access to health care;
 are not attending early childhood education;
 have higher levels of malnutrition;
 have higher mortality rates.34
Such children are also likely to have been born without the support of a health
professional/midwife. Moreover, their mothers generally have low levels of formal
education and are less likely to have adequate knowledge of signs of some childhood
illnesses and HIV/AIDS transmission.35
1.1.3 Factors influencing low rates of birth registration and areas for
intervention
A number of factors play a role in low rates of birth registration. The nature of the
domestic legal framework is a key factor, although even strong domestic legal
frameworks may fail to produce high rates of birth registration if they are not supported
by adequate resources and personnel. In situations of conflict or crisis, government
structures supporting birth registration may not be operational—along with the fact that,
as indicated above, registration may not be regarded as a priority under such
circumstances. Meanwhile, the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor suggests
that “in far too many countries the denial of legal identity is the result of a deliberate
interest in excluding certain groups from full participation in the economy, polity, and
public sphere.”36
In addition, poor families in particular may avoid registering births
where there are significant direct and/or indirect costs associated with the process.
32
UNICEF, above n 26.
33
UNICEF, Childinfo Monitoring the Situation of Children and Women
<http://www.childinfo.org/birth_registration.html> at 16 June 2009.
34
Ibid.
35
Ibid.
36
Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, Making the Law Work For Everyone, Vol II (2008) 5.

Although several relatively poor countries have registration rates of 90% or more, fees
pose an obstacle to birth registration in many cases.37
Indeed, research on poverty and
economic disempowerment more generally indicates that poverty is often a cause as well
as a consequence of girls’ lack of access to means of protection and exposure to risks.38
Families may also refrain from registering births where they do not have the required
documents,39
where the registration procedure is viewed as confusing or cumbersome or
simply due to an aversion to interacting with state authorities. The inaccessibility of
certain communities to registration sites, such as those in rural areas, can be a
deterrent. It is also important to consider whether the venues where registration is
carried out ensure equality of access to registration. For instance, linking birth
registration to school enrollment is problematic in areas where girls have problems
accessing education. Here it should be noted that women tend to give birth at home in
many rural areas and, as PLAN observes, “(c)hildren born in rural areas or who are
delivered at home are less likely to be registered compared to those born in cities or in
hospitals”. Accordingly, PLAN suggests that, in such cases, health workers, midwives or
traditional birth attendants may be best placed to inform new parents about, and
facilitate, registration.40
Additionally, low rates of birth registration may in some cases reflect a lack of awareness
on the part of the general population or certain communities regarding the law related to
birth registration as well as the benefits of birth registration more broadly.41
This may
stem from a variety of factors, including lack of available information on birth
registration in the languages of minority communities. In this connection, the
Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor suggests, where necessary, bundling
registration services with other social services or traditional practices, as well as
“creating incentives to register one’s legal identity with the state by providing
information, working through trustworthy local intermediaries, and minimising any
adverse consequences of formal registration.”42
Finally, social and cultural factors frequently have an impact on birth registration rates.
As noted, girls are in some cases disadvantaged in terms of birth registration as a result
of gender bias. Moreover, in some areas, discrimination against children from particular
ethnic groups, children born out of wedlock, children from polygamous unions and the
children of migrant workers, negatively affects birth registration rates.43
Birth
registration as an institution may also, in certain cases, be seen as incompatible with
traditional beliefs, for example in some parts of Burkina Faso registering a child is
believed to be a bad omen, even spelling death for the child.44
37
Handbook for Parliamentarians, above n 15, 43.
38
See, for example, the text accompanying note 69.
39
Harper, above n 25, 139.
40
41
S. Mapp, Human Rights and Social Justice in a Global Perspective, (2008) 66; Harper, above n 25, 139.
42
Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, Vol I, above n 11, 61.
43
Mapp, above n 41, 67.
44
Plan, Universal Birth Registration: Facts and Figures <http://www.writemedown.org/issues/facts/> at 16
June 2009.

The above factors point to various possible areas for intervention—including making birth
registration processes compulsory and simpler, as well as more affordable, accessible
and available.45
Mobile registration teams providing free birth registrations in Cambodia,
for example, have been quite effective.46
In addition, the notion of ‘bundling’ registration
with other services has had success in Bangladesh where, for example, health workers
have registered children in the context of providing vaccinations.47

These factors also point to the need for enhanced education on birth registration and its
potential benefits, particularly within vulnerable communities. PLAN, for instance, has
made use of radio, film, the internet and cultural events to spread information
concerning the importance of registration, in some cases with the involvement of
children.48
However, as the factors influencing rates of birth registration differ by
context, it is crucial to gauge what benefits birth registration actually provides in
practice, and what benefits it is seen to provide. This, in turn, requires identifying the
available government services (if any) that require proof of legal identity, as well as
investigating the specific contextual factors that create obstacles to registration. In order
to ensure maximum accessibility and workability, the development of implementation of
registration programs should involve representatives from various groups, including
government officials, international organizations, NGOs, ethnic groups and religious
leaders.49

1.2 Education
Equality of Access to Education
States Parties recognize the right of the child to education…on the basis of equal
opportunity…
CRC, Article 28
States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against
women in order to ensure to them equal rights with men in the field of education…
CEDAW, Article 10
In order to eliminate and prevent discrimination within the meaning of this
Convention, the States Parties thereto undertake…(t)o abrogate any statutory
provisions and any administrative instructions and to discontinue any administrative
practices which involve discrimination in education…
CDE, Article 3
45
The Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, in Volume II of its 2008 report, Making the Law Work
for Everyone, argues that: ‘(t)he usual arguments for user fees for government services do not apply for legal
registration: legal identity is not a scarce resource that a government might legitimately might to ration, nor is
registration a service that people have an incentive to ‘over-consume’ if they do not bear the costs of providing
the service.’ Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, Volume II, above n 36, 7.
46
Ibid, 8.
47
Ibid. See also The ‘Rights’ Start, above n 22, 24: ‘…there is a confluence between children who are
registered and those who are fully vaccinated, receive vitamin A supplementation, and/or are taken to a
health-care professional when ill. (This) demonstrates the potential for integration between birth registration
and programming for maternal and child health and early childhood development.’
48
49
Harper, above n 25, 141.

Compulsory and Free Education
[p]rimary education shall be compulsory and available free to all.
ICESCR, Article 3
States Parties…shall…[m]ake primary education compulsory and available free to all.
CRC, Article 28
The States Parties to this Convention undertake …[t]o make primary education free
and compulsory; make secondary education in its different forms generally available
and accessible to all; make higher education equally accessible to all on the basis of
individual capacity…
CDE, Article 4
Universal education for all, which is compulsory at least at the level of primary school, is
widely regarded as a fundamental human right. Millennium Development Goal 2 (MDG-2)
sets 2015 as the target for achieving universal primary education, and MDG-3 refers to
the elimination of “gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by
2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015.” In the Dakar Framework for
Action on Education for All, adopted at the World Education Forum in 2000, governments
committed to ensure that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult
circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, would have access to, and
complete, free and compulsory primary education of good quality. They further promised
to eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005, and achieve
gender equality in education by 2015.
1.2.1 Education as a means of promoting individual rights and autonomy
Education is itself a human right, and it is crucial for achieving a range of civil, political,
economic, social and cultural rights. It is, moreover, a basic building block for girls’
empowerment and autonomy, and has been shown to produce enhanced employment
possibilities and higher incomes.50
Conversely, lack of education can lead to exclusion
from the labor market and social security. Research indicates that providing girls with
even one extra year of education beyond the average raises their eventual wages by 10–
20 percent.51
In contrast, the link between lack of education and financial insecurity is
well-documented, with a host of international bodies advocating the expansion of
educational opportunities as a means of alleviating poverty, ensuring a more equitable
distribution of wealth and income and allowing people to participate fully in decisions
relating to their own development.52
50
B Herz and G Sperling, What Works in Girls’ Education: Evidence and Policies From the Developing World
(2004) 3.
51
Center for Global Development, above n 3, 16.
52
For example, UNESCO, Education for Sustainable Development
<http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=27554&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION
=201.html> at 16 June 2009; Report Submitted by the Special Rapporteur, Katarina Tomasevski
(2004) E/CN.4/2004/45, para 11; ILO, Employment and Poverty
<http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/recon/poverty/index.htm> at 16 June 2009.

Accordingly, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) has
stressed that: “(a)s an empowerment right, education is the primary vehicle by which
economically and socially marginalized adults and children can lift themselves out of
poverty and obtain the means to participate fully in their communities.”53
Further, access
to education also helps to protect against certain risks, such as exploitative and
hazardous labor, which have a negative effect on girls’ empowerment.54
Girls without
education may also be reluctant to interact with law enforcement authorities for the
purpose of gaining access to remedies for violations of their legal rights.55
While reforms promoting access to education often focus on primary school, secondary
and higher levels of education are also vital in ensuring that girls have the skills that
they need to function effectively in society. In this context, the Center for Global
Development has observed that:
In many developing countries few boys or girls ages 15–19 attend secondary
school. They have dropped out before or upon completing primary school, they
never attended school at all, or they are still attending primary school. This
failed ascension stunts adolescents’ lifetime capacity for problem-solving and
analysis, because typically only secondary school goes beyond basic literacy and
numeracy to teaching the lifelong learning skills of critical thinking…56
1.2.2 Education and development
In terms of wider societal economic development, research points to the particular
importance of educating girls and women. Countries with a large gender imbalance in
education have been shown to have slower rates of economic growth given that, as
Stephan Klasen notes, “those countries with a gender imbalance are not drawing on their
best talents, but are neglecting one half of their population.”57
Recent data suggests that
increasing the share of women with a secondary education by 1 percent raises annual
per capital income growth by 0.3 percentage points.58
In fact, girls’ education produces
some of the highest returns of all investments in development, including by:
 leading to fewer and healthier babies;
 reducing infant and child mortality rates;
 reducing maternal mortality rates;
 protecting against HIV/AIDS infection;
 increasing women’s labor force participation rates and earnings; and
 creating inter-generational education benefits.59
53
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment 13 (1999) paragraph 1.
54
Ibid.
55
Human Rights Council, Recommendations on Minorities and the Right to Education (2008)
A/HRC/FMI/2008/2 [hereinafter A/HRC/FMI/2008/2].
56
Center for Global Development, above n 3, 29.
57
Stephan Klasen, Economics of Girls’ Education <http://www.ungei.org/gap/interviewsKlasen.php>
at 16 June 2009.
58
B. Herz and G. Sperling, above n 50, 3.
59
The World Bank, Girls Education
<http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTEDUCATION/0,,contentMDK:20298916~menuPK:6
17572~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:282386,00.html> at 16 June 2009.

In terms of inter-generational benefits more broadly, the educational level of mothers
has important repercussions for their children. Research demonstrates, for example, that
girls without education are less likely to register the birth of their own children when
they become mothers.60
In contrast, higher educational attainment is associated with a
range of benefits including a reduced likelihood of children working, increased girls’
enrollment in school and improved child health.61
Indeed, as Lawrence Summers has
suggested “(i)nvestment in girls’ education may be the highest-return investment
available in the developing world…(t)he question is not whether countries can afford this
investment, but whether countries can afford not to educate more girls.”62
1.2.3 Problems with access to education in practice
Despite the demonstrated link between education, human rights and development,
access to quality education on a non-discriminatory basis remains a major problem in
many developing countries. Girl children suffer disproportionately from lack of access to
education and high illiteracy levels.63
Notably, 57 percent of the 115 million children who
have dropped out of elementary school are girls and, in South and West Asia, two thirds
of out-of-school children are girls.64
According to statistics from 2007, girls represent 55
percent of all children not attending school: “Worldwide, for every 100 boys out-of-
school there are 122 girls. In some countries the gender gap is much wider. For every
100 boys out of school in Yemen there are 270 girls, in Iraq 316 girls, in India 426 girls,
and in Benin 257 girls.”65
Gender-related disparities in terms of educational access overlap with other disparities.
For example, UNICEF notes that girls belonging to marginalized social and economic
groups in India are more likely to drop out of school at an early age.66
It is frequently
observed that refugees, internally displaced persons, minorities and children with
disabilities face difficulties accessing education.67
The former UN Special Rapporteur on
Education noted that government reports processed under the CRC point to no less than
32 categories of children who experience particular difficulties with respect to
educational access. These include: beggars, child laborers, child mothers, child
prostitutes, children born out of wedlock, domestic servants, homeless children, married
children, orphans, pregnant girls, children without identity papers, sexually exploited
children, stateless children, street children, trafficked children and war-affected children.
As most of these combine several grounds of discrimination with poverty-related
exclusion from education, the Special Rapporteur recommended merging legislative
60
Plan, The Case for Universal Birth Registration, above n 23.
61
ILO, The End of Child Labour: Within Reach (2006) 33.
62
Quoted in Kristof and Wudunn, above n 2, xx.
63
A/HRC/FMI/2008/2, above n 55, paragraph 2. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against
Women has also frequently pointed to problems with girls’ access to education. See, for example,
A/56/38(SUPP) (25th
Session, 2001) paragraph 126; CEDAW/C/BHR/CO/2 (2008) paragraph 33; and
CEDAW/C/COD/CO/5 (2006) paragraph 358.
64
Kristof and Wudunn, above n 2, 171.
65
The World Bank, above n 59. See also UNICEF, above n 26, 16: ‘There are important regional differences [in
terms of gender parity in education]. The largest gender gaps at the primary level are in West/Central Africa,
Middle East/North Africa and South Asia.’
66
UNICEF, India: Education <http://www.unicef.org/india/children_2359.htm> at 16 June 2009.
67
ILO, above n 61, 59.

measures for the elimination of discrimination with measures aimed at eliminating
poverty-based exclusion.68
Indeed, while the reasons for problems with access to education vary between countries
and regions, poverty is undoubtedly a major contributory factor.69
Accordingly, the
elimination of fees for primary school is often cited as an important means of raising
rates of attendance. A 2003 report of the former UN Special Rapporteur on Education,
Katarina Tomasevski, states that “(t)hese fees epitomize the impossibility of alleviating
poverty through education for all those who are too poor to afford its cost. They also
reflect discriminatory denials of the right to education on the grounds of poverty and
age.”70
School fees keep more girls than boys out of school partly because many parents
living in poverty do not see the benefit of spending money for the education of girls
when they are needed to provide assistance at home, and because educating girls is
often seen as benefitting only the family of the girl’s future husband.71
Even where
school is technically ‘free’, poor families may be precluded from sending their daughters
to school due to costs such as books and uniform fees. Girls’ education may in fact cost
more than boy’s education in practice, for example where girls require special transport
or clothing in order to avoid impropriety.72
Problems related to poor health also keep many children from enrolling in, and
attending, school. For instance, as Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn have noted,
“(o)ne of the most cost-effective ways to increase school attendance is to deworm
students”. The anemia resulting from worm infection particularly affects menstruating
girls. Kristof and Wudunn notes that, in a landmark study in Kenya, de-worming was
shown to decrease school absenteeism by a quarter.73
Another factor leading to low rates of school attendance is the inaccessibility of schools,
for geographic, financial and other reasons. Thus, attendance rates sometimes vary
widely within countries, for example between urban areas where schools are readily
accessible and rural areas where schools are located far from a child’s home.74
Frequently, long distances to schools and perceived low school quality discourage
parents from educating girls, and parents may refrain from sending daughters to school
where the latter is seen as not providing adequate sanitation facilities or where their
daughters risk violence or abuse.75
In this context, a report produced by the 2006 Expert
Group Meeting on the elimination of all forms of violence and discrimination against the
68
Katarina Tomasevski, Report of the Special Rapporteur, ,submitted pursuant to Commission on Human
Rights Resolution 2002/23 (2003) E/CN.4/2003/9 (hereinafter E/CN.4/2003/9) paragraph 24.
69
The CESCR has pointed to the link between non-attendance at school and acute family poverty.
E/C.12/1/ADD.91 (2003), paragraph 29. See also UNICEF, above n 26, 16: ‘Gender disparities [at the primary
school level] are greatest in rural areas and among poor households.’
70
E/CN.4/2003/9, above n 68, paragraph 8.
71
Herz and Sperling, above n 50, 42-43. The Committee on the Rights of the Child observed with reference to
Kenya that elevated poverty rates among certain groups limited access of their children to basic education,
especially in the case of girls. CRC/C/KEN/CO/2 (2007), paragraph 69.
72
Herz and Sperling, above n 50, 43.
73
Kristof and Wudunn, above n 2, 171.
74
Herz and Sperling, above n 50, 2.
75
Ibid, 55, 63, 64 and 68.

girl child, organized by the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women in
collaboration with UNICEF, stressed that:
(s)chooling per se will not empower girls unless the current focus on enrollment
in schools is expanded to give more attention to the quality, content of education,
and the social structures that reinforce schooling and reward a schooled girl… The
school environment for many girls contains many negative aspects, such as
obsolete and gender-insensitive textbooks and teaching methods that reproduce
gender stereotypes.76
It should also be emphasized that protection risks such as child marriage contribute to
gender disparities in school attendance,77
and the World Bank has pointed to emerging
challenges that have a similarly negative impact, such as HIV/AIDS and the information-
technology gender gap.78
Finally, as indicated in the previous section, access to identity
documents impact on rates of school enrollment/attendance. The highest rates of out-of-
school children are found in countries without birth registration systems.79
1.2.4 Areas for intervention
Existing problems relating to access to education, including those relating to gender
disparities, have led to widespread calls for reform in many developing countries.
According to the CESCR, it is essential that education in all its forms and at all levels be
a) available; b) accessible; c) acceptable; and d) adaptable.80
Education-related reforms
should invariably be grounded in a rich understanding of the contextual factors that give
rise to gender-related inequalities in accessing education. This requires investigating the
extent to which the domestic legal framework complies with international standards
concerning universal education, as well as the reasons for any deviation from such
standards in practice.
As suggested above, concerns regarding the direct and indirect costs of sending girls to
school indicate that, apart from making school attendance compulsory for all children,
girls’ access to education might be bolstered by implementing national poverty reduction
programs, eliminating school fees and providing economic incentives/stipends to needy
parents, as well as by adapting school schedules to the rhythm of subsistence food
production or family life—which often create conflicting expectations of girls.81

Enhancing the accessibility, safety and quality of school environments (for example,
through curriculum development, greater recruitment of female teachers and by
ensuring adequate sanitation facilities) is also frequently suggested as means for
improving girls’ access to education.82
76
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination and Violence Against the Girl Child, above n 10, 27.
77
See, for example, CEDAW/C/PER/CO/6 (2007) paragraph 34.
78
World Bank, above n 59.
79
ILO, above n 61, 59.
80
General Comment 13, above n 53, paragraph 6.
81
Katarina Tomasevski, Preliminary report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to education, submitted in
accordance with Commission on Human Rights Resolution 1998/33 (1999) E/CN.4/1999/49, paragraph 60.
82
ILO, above n 61, 59-60; Herz and Sperling, above n 50, C.4.

Finally, it is crucial that girls, their families and communities be made aware of the
importance of education, as a right belonging to all children and as a crucial foundation
for empowerment. In this regard, there is a need to devote attention to particularly
vulnerable girls, including those living on the streets, those involved in child labor, and
those married at an early age.
1.3 Access to property
Non-Discrimination and the right to property and inheritance
States Parties shall respect and ensure the rights set forth in the present Convention
to each child within their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind, irrespective of
the child's or his or her parent's or legal guardian's race, colour, sex, language,
religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability,
birth or other status.
States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that the child is protected
against all forms of discrimination or punishment on the basis of the status, activities,
expressed opinions, or beliefs of the child's parents, legal guardians, or family
members.
CRC, Article 2
“Discrimination against women” shall mean any distinction, exclusion or restriction
made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the
recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a
basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in
the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field.
States Parties condemn discrimination against women in all its forms, agree to pursue
by all appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating discrimination
against women and, to this end, undertake… (t)o adopt appropriate legislative and
other measures, including sanctions where appropriate, prohibiting all discrimination
against women;
CEDAW, Articles 1,2
States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against
women in all matters relating to marriage and family relations and in particular shall
ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women… (t)he same rights for both spouses
in respect of the ownership, acquisition, management, administration, enjoyment and
disposition of property, whether free of charge or for a valuable consideration.
CEDAW, Article 16(1)h
…all appropriate measures, particularly legislative measures, shall be taken to ensure
to women, married or unmarried, equal rights with men in the field of civil law, and in
particular…the right to acquire, administer, enjoy, dispose of and inherit property,
including property acquired during marriage…
DEDAW, Article 6.1(a)
States Parties shall enact appropriate legislation to ensure that women and men enjoy

the same rights in case of separation, divorce or annulment of marriage. In this
regard, they shall ensure that…in case of separation, divorce or annulment of
marriage, women and men shall have the right to an equitable sharing of the joint
property deriving from the marriage.
PACHPRA, Article 7
A widow shall have the right to an equitable share in the inheritance of the property of
her husband. A widow shall have the right to continue to live in the matrimonial
house. In case of remarriage, she shall retain this right if the house belongs to her or
she has inherited it. Women and men shall have the right to inherit, in equitable
shares, their parents’ properties.
PACHPRA, Article 21
The economic empowerment of girls (and later women) requires taking steps to reduce
their dependency and ensuring that they have access to a livelihood. Guaranteeing equal
access to property and inheritance rights is vital in this regard. As the Rural
Development Institute observes in a 2009 report on girls’ inheritance rights, “(g)ranting
girls rights to wealth and status-generating property and enforcing those rights will
begin to break down established social and economic hierarchies and give girls a
productive asset and means to enter the … economy.”83
Property also provides girls with
an important means of security in situations of personal and societal crisis.
The principle of non-discrimination in property and inheritance matters finds support in
the international and regional norms listed above. Additionally, various international
bodies have emphasized the importance of non-discrimination in this area, though
largely referring to the property rights of ‘women’ (as opposed to girl children in
particular). Notably, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women,
in a 1994 General Recommendation on Marriage and Family Relations, established that a
male preference in inheritance rights is in contravention of CEDAW.84
In 2002, the UN Commission on Human Rights (now the UN Human Rights Council)
reaffirmed “women's right to an adequate standard of living, including adequate
housing…[and urged] Governments to comply fully with their international and regional
obligations and commitments concerning land tenure and the equal rights of women to
own property and to an adequate standard of living, including adequate housing”.85
The
Commission also affirmed that “discrimination in law against women with respect to
having access to, acquiring and securing land, property and housing, as well as financing
for land, property and housing, constitutes a violation of women's human right to
protection against discrimination…”.86
83
Rural Development Institute, Claiming their Future: Capturing the Land Inheritance Rights of Girls for their
Economic and Social Empowerment (2009) 1.
84
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, General Recommendation 21: Equality in
Marriage and Family Relations (1994) paragraph 35.
85
Women's equal ownership of, access to and control over land and the equal rights to own property and to
adequate housing (2002) 2002/49.
86
Ibid.

More recently, Millennium Development Goal 3 concerning gender empowerment has
been elaborated to incorporate equal access to resources, including land. The 2005
report of the UN Millennium Project Task Force on Education and Gender Equality
identified strategic priorities and practical actions to be taken with the aim of achieving
women’s empowerment by 2015, including the guarantee of women’s and girls’ property
and inheritance rights.87
Finally, in the World Summit Outcome Document, Heads of
State and Governments resolved to “promote gender equality and eliminate pervasive
gender discrimination” by, inter alia, “[g]uaranteeing the free and equal right of women
to own and inherit property and ensuring secure tenure of property and housing by
women…”.88
1.3.1 Practical obstacles to female access to property
In practice, the distribution of property and inheritance in society is determined by
domestic law and practices, which may be formal, customary, or (as in many cases) a
mixture of the two.89
Certainly, on paper, many countries comply with international
human rights standards with regard to non-discrimination on the basis of gender.
Increasingly, countries also have legislation and policies that specifically recognize the
equal rights of females to property, land and housing.90
Nevertheless, problems with
female access to property are pervasive. In some cases, this can partly be attributed to
gaps in the law, but many countries also maintain discriminatory provisions in statutory
law (for example, inheritance laws that favor male over female children or laws requiring
that property be registered in the name of a male) and/or allow for discrimination in
customary and personal law matters.91
Here it should be emphasized that customary law
frequently grants only male family members access to property.92
These problems are often compounded by problems with the enforcement of such
property rights as do exist for females, for instance where property and inheritance
claims are processed by actors with minimal legal training who take decisions on an
effectively ad hoc basis.93
In addition, many examples exist of domestic courts upholding
gender discrimination in property/inheritance matters.94
In some cases, structures for
protecting girl children have broken down as a result of crises, as in Uganda where girls’
inheritance rights and rights to clan land have been compromised as a result of the
many years of conflict in the country.95
87
UN-HABITAT, Progress Report on Removing Discrimination Against Women in Respect of Property &
Inheritance Rights (2006) [hereinafter Progress Report] 6.
88
World Summit Outcome Document (24 October 2005) A/RES/60/1.
89
ICRW, To Have and To Hold: Women’s Property and Inheritance Rights in the Context of HIV/AIDS in Sub-
Saharan Africa (2004) [hereinafter To Have and to Hold].
90
UN-HABITAT, Policy Makers Guide to Women’s Land, Property and Housing Rights Across the World
(2007) [hereinafter Policy Makers Guide] 9.
91
Ibid, 36; Progress Report, above n 87, 7.
92
Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) Women’s Inheritance Rights and Equal Rights to Marital
Property <http://www.cohre.org/view_page.php?page_id=180> at 10 March 2010.
93
Women in Development Technical Assistance Project, Women’s Property and Inheritance Rights: Improving
Lives in Changing Times (2003) [hereinafter Improving Lives in Changing Times] 2.
94
Policy Makers Guide, above n 90, 15.
95
Rural Development Institute, above n 83, 5.

Cultural attitudes that oppose female property rights are another impediment to equality
of access to property/inheritance. Females may be deprived of formal rights as a result
of contrary ‘traditional’ values held by law enforcement officials, judges, land officials
and customary rulers.96
In addition, family pressure (sometimes associated with
violence) can lead females to relinquish property/inheritance rights.97
As the Centre on
Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) notes: “[e]xtended families often fear that it is
inappropriate for a girl to be given property because she will one day marry and become
part of her husband’s family, taking with her any wealth that her parents accumulated,
and leaving her blood relatives with nothing.”98
A patrilocal residence system operates in
many countries whereby girls, upon their marriage, move to the home of their husbands’
families. As a practical matter, this frequently operates to prevent their reliance on
property rights in their natal villages.99
Further, in cases where the parents of a girl
provide dowry to her husband’s family, this may be considered the girl’s share of the
family’s assets—removing the need to provide her with inheritance rights.
In certain countries, it is common for girls and women to be evicted by in-laws upon the
death of their husbands, and denied inheritance rights upon the death of their fathers.100
Another example of resistance to female property rights can be found in sub-Saharan
Africa, where the death of men due to HIV/AIDS has led to females associated with such
men being ostracized from their homes and communities—frequently ending up in city
slums.101
Here it should be stressed that girls and women living in slums suffer
disproportionately to men and boys, including in terms of lack of access to services,
housing insecurity and lack of privacy.102

A 2008 report of the Special Rapporteur on
adequate housing points to several obstacles to the effective realization of property
(particularly housing) rights for females, including violence; discriminatory family,
personal, cultural and social norms; multiple discrimination; privatization of public
housing stocks and unaffordability of housing; and the impact of natural disasters, forced
evictions and HIV/AIDS.103

The result of the various obstacles discussed above is that, while patterns of property
ownership vary, and while more data is needed, it is estimated that females own only 10
percent of the world’s property.104
Moreover, males often exercise control over property
that is independently or jointly owned by females.105
In response, the Special Rapporteur
96
Progress Report, above n 87, 8.
97
M Benschop, Women’s Rights to Land and Property, Commission on Sustainable Development (22 April
2004); To Have and to Hold, above n 89.
98
COHRE, Bringing Equality Home: Promoting and Protecting the Inheritance Rights of Women (2004) 27.
99
100
COHRE Media Release on International Women’s Day 2007 [hereinafter COHRE Media Release]
<www.cohre.org> at 16 June 2009.
101
Ibid.
102
COHRE, Women, Slums and Urbanisation: Examining the Causes and Consequences (2008) [hereinafter
Women, Slums and Urbanisation] <www.cohre.org> at 16 June 2009, 120.
103
Report of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard
of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context (2008) A/63/275, paragraph 18.
104
Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, Volume I, above n 11, 6 and 36 (Women, who constitute
half of the world’s population, own very little of the world’s property – as little as two percent in some
countries.)
105

on adequate housing has continually expressed concern regarding discrimination against
females with respect to housing rights, land, inheritance and property.106
All too frequently, female access to property has simply not been made a priority in
domestic policy concerning land and housing. According to UN-HABITAT, “(w)hile some
countries do treat land as a human rights issue, others have allowed market forces or
customary law to determine who has access to land”,107
with limited opportunities for
females to influence policy on property/inheritance. COHRE further stresses that:
[a]ccess to and control over land and housing are absolutely vital factors in the
struggle for development and indeed the survival of individuals, families and
communities, particularly amongst the poor. Yet these are still commonly
regarded as the undisputed realm of men. Typically, land title and housing
leases are written in the name of the male on the property….108
Thus, in the developing world, it is typically sons rather than daughters who grow up
with the knowledge that they will have access to family land and resources, along with
the social status associated with such assets.109
1.3.2 Key risks associated with lack of female access to property
In the absence of strong property and inheritance rights, females must depend on males
(for example, husbands, fathers) for access to resources, and —as suggested above—
they run the risk of losing such access in the event of divorce, widowhood or desertion.
This contributes to their low social and economic status,110
and may prevent them from
maintaining the basic conditions necessary for survival. Without land or property,
females may be deprived of a secure place to live; services such as water, sanitation and
electricity; and the means to a livelihood. In addition, as property is an important means
of collateral, it may be difficult (if not impossible) for females deprived of property and
inheritance rights to access loans and credit.111
Females who lack safe housing have reduced access to social services such as health
care and education. A direct relationship has also been identified between the need for
106
A/63/275 above n 103, paragraph 17. In addition, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
Against Women has stressed the link between the precarious economic situation of females in many countries
and their access to land and inheritance rights, as well as the need for countries to eliminate discrimination
against females in this respect. See CEDAW/C/MWI/CO/5 (2006) Paragraph(s) 33 and 34; CEDAW/C/SLE/CO/5
(2007) Paragraph 36; CEDAW/C/LBN/CO/3 (2008) Paragraph 37; A/59/38(SUPP) (31st
Session, 2004)
Paragraph 190; CEDAW/C/TGO/CO/5 (2006), Paragraph 31; CEDAW/C/AZE/CO/3 (2007), Paragraph 28;
CEDAW/C/MDG/CO/5 (2008), Paragraph 32 and A/60/38(SUPP) (33rd
Session, 2005), Paragraph 348. The
Committee has recommended that a gender perspective be included in poverty reduction plans and strategies.
See, for example, CEDAW/C/GIN/CO/6 (2007), Paragraph(s) 42 and 43.
107
108
COHRE Media Release, above n 100.
109
110
COHRE, Women and Housing Rights: Fact Sheet No. 4, Custom, Tradition and Women’s Rights, Inheritance
and Equal Rights to Marital Property <www.cohre.org> at 16 June 2009.
111
ICRW, Property and Inheritance Rights for Women
<http://www.icrw.org/html/projects/projects_propertyrights.htm> at 16 June 2009; Harper, above n 25, 191,
quoting UNHCR, Action Sheet: Land, Housing and Property Restitution, 1; COHRE, Women and Housing Rights:
Fact Sheet No. 10, Women’s Housing Rights in the Context of HIV and AIDS <www.cohre.org> at 16 June
2009.

adequate housing and gender-based violence.112
Females without property rights have
been shown to be vulnerable to commercial sexual exploitation.113
It has also been
shown that when children, including orphans and children who have been separated from
their families, have difficulty obtaining access to safe and adequate housing, they are
especially at risk of discrimination, exploitation, violence, trafficking and abduction.

These difficulties can be more pronounced in the event of a conflict or crisis, including
the AIDS epidemic, with minorities, refugees, the disabled and those living in informal
settlements among the least able to assert their rights.114
Preventing females from gaining access to property and inheritance rights also has
broader implications for families and society as a whole. Research indicates that females
use most of the earnings that they control to fulfill the needs of their households.115
Female asset ownership has been shown to contribute to both the health of children and
increased education for girls.116
Conversely, lack of female property and inheritance
rights is increasingly linked to societal problems such as hunger and poor health.117
1.3.3 Areas for intervention
As discussed above, a number of factors (for example, legal, social, cultural) contribute
to gender-related disparities in property rights. This points to the need for a holistic
response that addresses the intersection of poverty, land, housing, property and gender
gaps. Legislative and policy reform consistent with international standards, and with
female involvement, is important. However, it must be accompanied by efforts to
remedy problems in the area of enforcement. This requires both resources and political
will. In this connection, there is a clear need to address the cultural attitudes that inform
problems with the enforcement of female property/inheritance rights. Thus, for example,
the International Commission of Jurists (Kenya Section) has helped facilitate the
establishment of a Family Division of the High Court of Kenya to provide specialized
arbitration of cases concerning, inter alia, property and maintenance, and initiated the
training of judicial officers with the aim of correcting gender biases within the judicial
system.118
UN-HABITAT also suggests engaging in dialogue with “elders and other
enforcers of customs and traditions…to raise awareness and find ways [of] harmonizing
customary norms” while respecting gender equality.119
112
Statement by Miloon Kothari, UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, on International Women’s Day
<http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/1743.html> at 16 June 2009. In addition, the United Nations
Special Representative on internally displaced persons has noted that displaced women are particularly
vulnerable to violence (including physical and sexual attacks, rape, domestic violence and sexual harassment)
as the protection afforded to them by their homes and communities disappears. Displaced women are often
forced to exchange sex for basic necessities, as well as for protection, additional aid and access to records.
Quoted in COHRE, Women and Housing Rights: Fact Sheet No. 5, The Housing Rights of Displaced Women
<www.cohre.org> at 16 June 2009.
113
COHRE Media Release, above n 100.
114
Policy Makers Guide, above n 90, 8 and 36.
115
Improving Lives in Changing Times, above n 93, 3.
116
ICRW, above n 111.
117
Improving Lives in Changing Times, above n 93.

118
To Have and to Hold, above n 89.
119

More broadly, it is important to educate individuals about female property and
inheritance rights. In many communities, there is a fundamental lack of awareness of
existing law in this area, as well as legal opportunities and means for defending such
rights.120
As UN-HABITAT stresses, few females have access to legal assistance to
address the view that property ownership is the exclusive province of males:
… Awareness is not only required for rights holders but in many instances other
stakeholders and actors including land professionals, policy makers, judges and
magistrates who need the capacity and knowledge to interpret and implement
national laws with respect to equal inheritance rights. Support for paralegal
services…, support for strategic litigation that can establish legal precedents,
training for lawyers, judges, registrars and police…, advocacy with traditional
leaders, financial support for community and women’s organizations and
networks to provide advice and emergency assistance… is necessary.121
Awareness generation of this sort provides an important foundation for interventions
designed to provide girls with access to access property, whether inheritance rights or an
equivalent. Here it is interesting to note that, in some contexts, customary law has
evolved to protect daughters from what are often seen as discriminatory aspects of
Islamic inheritance principles. For example, certain districts of Aceh, Indonesia,
recognize a form of personal property called hareuta peunulang, a bequest of immovable
property (a house or land) to daughters by their parents at marriage. Significantly,
although peunulang property may be considered “inheritance”, it does not form part of
the parents’ estate, nor does it displace a daughter’s normal inheritance rights. In
practice, this means that peunulang property is personal property and hence remains
under the daughter’s complete and exclusive control. When such property is factored
into overall inheritance distributions, daughters often receive a greater proportion of
inheritance than sons.122
Finally, given the fact that decisions regarding the access of girls to property are often
linked to community livelihood systems, efforts to enhance access call for a sophisticated
understanding of local context, as well as the significant involvement of community
members.123
120
Improving Lives in Changing Times, above n 93, v.
121
122
Harper, above n 25, 216-217.
123
Rural Development Institute, above n 83.

2. Risks
2.1 Child labor
States Parties recognize the right of the child to be protected from economic
exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to
interfere with the child’s education, or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical,
mental, spiritual, moral or social development.
States Parties shall take legislative, administrative, social and educational measures
to ensure the implementation of the present article. To this end, and having regard to
the relevant provisions of other international instruments, States Parties shall in
particular:
(a) Provide for a minimum age or minimum ages for admission to employment;
(b) Provide for appropriate regulation of the hours and conditions of employment;
(c) Provide for appropriate penalties or other sanctions to ensure the effective
enforcement of the present article.
CRC, Article 32
A Member shall take measures to ensure that child labour is not used or supplied by
private employment agencies.
ILO Convention 181, Article 9
Minimum ages for employment
Pursuant to ILO Convention 138, there are three minimum age limits for
employment:
 18 years: for work that is likely to jeopardize the worker’s health, safety or
morals;
 15 years (and not less than the age for completion of compulsory schooling):
for full-time work that does not pose a risk to the worker’s health; and
 13 years: for ‘light work’ that does not pose a health risk or prejudice school
attendance.
States Parties whose economy and educational facilities are insufficiently developed
to make the above age limits realistic are permitted to substitute the minimum ages
of 14 years for full-time non-hazardous work and 12 years for light work.
Worst forms of child labor
For the purpose of (ILO Convention 182), the term “child” shall apply to all persons
under the age of 18.

(a) all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery such as the sale and
trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory
labour, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed
conflict;
(b) the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of
pornography or for pornographic performances;
(c) the use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the
production and trafficking of drugs as defined in the relevant international
treaties;
(d) work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely
to harm the health, safety or morals of children.
Each Member shall design and implement programmes of action to eliminate as a
priority the worst forms of child labour.
1. Each Member shall take all necessary measures to ensure the effective
implementation and enforcement of the provisions giving effect to this Convention
including the provision and application of penal sanctions or, as appropriate, other
sanctions.
2. Each Member shall, taking into account the importance of education in eliminating
child labour, take effective and time-bound measures to:
(a) prevent the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour;
(b) provide the necessary and appropriate direct assistance for the removal of
children from the worst forms of child labour and for their rehabilitation and
social integration;
(c) ensure access to free basic education, and, wherever possible and appropriate,
vocational training, for all children removed from the worst forms of child
labour;
(d) identify and reach out to children at special risk; and
(e) take account of the special situation of girls.
While not all work performed by children under the age of 18 is problematic, certain
types of employment or unpaid work are injurious to children’s health, threaten their
education and lead to further exploitation and abuse.124
This type of work is referred to
as ‘child labor’ and is prohibited under international law. There are three main forms of
child labor:
124
UNICEF, Child Protection Information Sheets: Child Labor (2006) [hereinafter CPIS: Child Labor] 15.

1. Labor performed by a child who is below the minimum age for performing that
type of labor;
2. Labor that jeopardizes the moral, mental or physical well-being of a child
(hazardous work); and
3. The unconditional worst forms of child labor, which include slavery, trafficking,
debt bondage and other forms of forced labor, forced recruitment for use in
armed conflict, prostitution, pornography and other illicit activities.
2.1.1 Child labor in practice
According to statistics from 2004, approximately 218 million children worldwide can be
regarded as child laborers, with approximately 126 million children engaged in
hazardous work.125
The percentage of children working in 2004 was estimated at 13.9
percent for the 5-17 year age group.126
Child laborers are present in various types of
environments, including agriculture, industry, trade, and the services sector, and also
perform personal/community services.127
A particular concern in many developing
countries experiencing armed conflict is the number of children, both boys and girls, who
are used as fighters, spies and sexual slaves for armed forces.

In general, those children who are most vulnerable to child labor are those who are also
subject to discrimination and marginalization, including girls and members of ethnic
minority groups.128
In many societies, girls are at high risk of being drawn into underage
labor because of gender discrimination and the existence of industries such as
prostitution that demand girl workers.129
While statistics have shown a general decline in
the number of child laborers since 2000, the proportion of girls among child laborers has
remained steady.130
Estimates indicate that girls and boys aged 5-11 years are involved in child labor at
similar rates (51 percent for girls and 49 percent for boys), while six out of ten working
children aged 12-17 years are boys.131
However, it is important to emphasize that girls
frequently work in informal sectors of the economy, where they are often ‘invisible’. In
particular, girls have higher rates of commercial sexual exploitation and are more highly
represented in domestic work than boys.132
Throughout the world, millions of school-age
girls are working as domestic servants,133
frequently beginning work at very young
ages—sometimes at five or six years.134
Girls are also less likely than boys to be paid for
125
The End of Child Labour: Within Reach, above n 61, executive summary.
126
Ibid, 7.
127
Ibid.
128
UNICEF, Beyond Child Labor: Affirming Rights (2001) [Beyond Child Labor] 6.
129
Ibid, 2-3.
130
The End of Child Labour: Within Reach, above n 61.
131
Busakorn Suriyasarn, From the Kitchen to the Classroom: Call for Political Commitment and Empowerment
to Get Girls out of Child Domestic Labour and into School, EGM/DVGC/2006/EP2 (2006)
<http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/elim-disc-viol-girlchild/ExpertPapers/EP.2%20%20%20
Suriyasarn.pdf> at 10 March 2010.
132
ILO, A Future Without Child Labour (2002) 32; The End of Child Labour: Within Reach, above n 61, 24.
133
Suriyasarn, above n 131, 2.
134
A Future Without Child Labour, above n 132, 29.

domestic work.135

Apart from these types of labor, and as suggested above, girls are
often expected to perform significant amounts of work in their own homes.

In many countries, domestic laws establish a minimum age for work and regulate
working conditions. However, while such laws are frequently useful in combating child
labor in the formal sector, the protection that they provide generally does not extend to
the informal sector; thus, the types of work in which most girls are engaged —including
domestic and agricultural work—are under-regulated.136
An additional problem is that, in
many countries, labor laws do not apply to factories employing less than ten people. For
instance, the carpet industry in Pakistan is predominantly a cottage industry, organized
so as to avoid labor laws.137
2.1.2 Damaging effects of child labor
The damaging effects of child labor are clear. As noted in a 2006 Report prepared by the
International Labour Organization (ILO):
[e]specially in its worst forms, [child labor] dehumanizes children, reducing
them to an economic asset, which in turn fuels spiraling population growth
among countries least able to cope. By turning a blind eye to abuse of young
workers, it impoverishes and even destroys the human capital that is necessary
for the economy to grow in the future. Allowing children to be part of an
international market involving sexual exploitation erodes the social fabric of
societies. Child labour remains a central obstacle to realizing the right of all
children to education and to protection from violence, abuse and exploitation.138
One of the main ways in which child labor serves to disempower girls is by preventing
full-time school attendance, depriving girls of the skills necessary to participate
effectively in society. Recent findings by the World Bank in Brazil indicate that early
entry into the labor market reduces lifetime earnings by 13 to 20 percent.139
Child labor
also contributes to inter-generational poverty cycles given that, when child laborers
become adults, it is increasingly likely that their children will work rather than attend
school.140
Finally, child labor also has a negative effect on the health and
physical/psychological development of children, due to the long hours that children may
work and the occupational hazards frequently involved. Children are also sometimes
exposed to physical and sexual abuse at the workplace.141
Girls working in the sex
industry are at particularly high risk for such abuse, as well as sexually transmitted
diseases. Domestic labor, as well, is commonly associated with physical and sexual
violence:
Girl domestic workers may work up to 15 hours or more and often are on-call 24
hours a day. They can be subject to verbal, physical, psychological and sexual
135
The End of Child Labour: Within Reach, above n 61, 42.
136
Free the Children, above n 7.
137
Ibid.
138
The End of Child Labour: Within Reach, above n 61, 2.
139
Ibid, 24.
140
Ibid, 20.
141
A Future Without Child Labour, above n 132, 11.

Comparative Report

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (13)

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (9)

Similar to Comparative Report

Similar to Comparative Report (20)

Comparative Report