Gender Based Injustice

Injustices Today that Exclusively Affect More Girls than Boys

Modern justice issues disproportionately affect and limit women rather than men and girls rather than boys. I call this “Gender Based Injustice” and truly believe that injustice today is sexist. Depending on where you are born, being born a girl can be fatal. The sheer quantity of hinderances to a girl's potential can be crushing, especially when she is born into poverty.

As humans and/or Christians hoping for a better world, we need to be informed on trends of injustice and begin reading between the lines to ask why certain groups are repeatedly marginalised. Below, I introduce you to the selection of injustices that statistically affect more girls than boys.

Child Labour - In nations with few restrictions on child labour, families often choose to send their daughters to work instead of to school. [1]

Child Marriage - Each year approximately 12 million girls get married aged under 18 - almost one girl every two seconds. Forced child marriage violates a girl’s human rights, interrupts schooling, limits opportunities and increases her risk of maternal mortality and domestic violence. [2, 3, 4, 6]
Conflict - All forms of violence against women increase during disasters and displacement. Girls and women face heightened risks due to displacement and the breakdown of normal protective structures and support. [8]
Economic Restriction - Globally, over 2.7 billion women are legally restricted from having the same choice of jobs as men. Women are paid 23% less than men, are less likely to have access to financial institutions and are over-represented in informal and vulnerable employment. [9]
Female Genital Mutilation -“FGM” is a non-medical procedure removing female genital organs and it is internationally recognised as a human rights violation. There are no known health benefits to FGM but a number of harmful consequences. At least 200 million girls and women have undergone female genital mutilation in 31 countries across three continents. [4, 5]
Gender Based Violence - Globally, 35% of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner or a non-parter. Gender based violence can come in many forms, for instance acid attacks, bride burnings, child marriage, female genital mutilation, honour killings, intimate partner violence, rape (including rape as a weapon of war) and sexual harassment. [4, 10]
Gender Bias - There is no place in the world where girls and women experience total equity and equality with boys and men. Long-held misconceptions and cultural norms can keep girls from reaching their full potential and can further inequality in society. [1, 12]
HIV - Violence against women and girls increases their risk of acquiring HIV. [13, 14]
Honour Killing - Honour killing is the killing of a relative (especially a girl or woman) who is perceived to have brought dishonour on the family. Illicit relationships are seen to bring dishonour upon the family and the preservation of a woman's chastity and fidelity becomes the responsibility of the men to whom she “belongs.” [10, 11]
Human Trafficking - Girls and women account for 71% of human trafficking victims, largely for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Girls represent more than three out of every four child trafficking victims. [4]
Infanticide - Infanticide is the systematic elimination of a gender group, predominately female. This gender-based killing takes several forms including selective abortion, infanticide, severe malnutrition, medical neglect and abandonment. [15]
Lack of Access to Education - Worldwide, more than 130 million girls are not in school and more than half of today’s illiterate youth are female. Girls have more reasons to drop out of school than boys do. These reasons include marrying young, menstruation shaming and the route to school being too dangerous for a girl to walk. [1, 16, 17, 18]
Lack of Access to Medication - In poor families, boys will generally receive food or medication before or instead of their sisters.
Malnutrition - Around 60% of the world’s undernourished people are girls or women. In many societies, women and girls eat the food remaining after the male family members have eaten. [18]
Maternal Mortality - More than 800 women die every day from pregnancy or birth-related complications every day - one women every two minutes. 94% of maternal deaths occur in low and lower middle-income countries. [6, 7]
Natural Disasters - Disasters such as droughts, floods and storms kill more women than men due to structural gender inequalities. [8]

Whether you’re a feminist or an avid avoider of all things feminist; whether your Christian tradition is egalitarian or complimentarian, I invite you to rise above these discussions to engage with the ongoing reality of gender based injustice today. We can do better than this.

To act justly is to treat someone with the dignity that they are worth. As a Christian, I believe that every human hosts inherent dignity because we each have the immense privilege of somehow bearing God’s image in our very humanness (Genesis 1:27, Psalm 8:4-6). I find gender based injustice completely unsettling and hope to offer you some of that spurring discomfort.

If you would like to learn more, I recommend reading Half the Sky, How to Change the World by Nicholas D. Kristof & Sheryl Wudunn. If you would like to respond practically, divert some of your shopping or gift purchases towards companies who champion girls and women. As consumers, the money we spend is powerful and there are plenty of inspiring companies out there who do good with their business or profits.