Blog #2: Schoolgirls Are Facing More Threats.

According to a report on the United Nations Human Rights Council's website, more attacks on schools have been occurring from 2009 - 2014 in at least 70 different countries. Many of these attacks were specifically targeted towards females, and teachers and parents who advocated for gender quality in education. The research is compiled of instances that include the Pakistani Taliban's assault on a school in Peshawar that killed more than 132 schoolchildren, boys and girls, last December. It also included the shooting of Malala Yousafzai in 2012, the abduction of about 300 schoolgirls last April in northern Nigeria, and countless incidents of acid and poisoning attacks on schoolgirls in Afghanistan during 2012 to 2015. The report states that women and girls are targeted more whether it's being targeted for abduction or being forcibly recruited, because they were educated. For instance, the Lord's Resistance Army of Central Africa, a renegade guerrilla force, will kidnap school girls from northern Uganda who excel in math and literacy skills to be recruits for military communications work. Additionally from the report, The Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees in Central America has documented numerous threats, sexual violences and harassment of girls thus forcing them to leave school in the hand of criminal gangs. This following report is to be used for an upcoming United Nations study which started when the Security Council adopted a resolution on gender equality. The study led by Radhika Coomaraswamy, is to be released to a high-level United Nations review in October on the amount of progress made when the resolution was made 15 years ago. 

Based on the amount of conflict that has been surrounding women and girls especially, it's not hard to deem this an issue. Having school girls targeted by criminal gangs or guerrilla forces gives others a bad connotation about school. It might make parents, other girls or other children in general, in other nations scared to get an education. Education in some areas are already hard to come by and is considered a huge privilege for those who are able to attend. However, if children are being scared out of their education due to things they cannot control, it takes away their civil rights to receive that education. 

Rachel Ear
Wednesday, February 10 2015.
4:45 pm.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/10/world/schoolgirls-are-facing-more-threats-united-nations-reports.html?_r=0