What do girls need to do to live in safety and equality?

Meaningful sharing

To celebrate the International Day of the Girl Child this year, a drawing contest on the topic of girls was also organized by the Provincial Population Steering Committee in collaboration with Nguyen Canh Chan High School, Dang Thai Mai High School and Thanh Chuong 3 High School of Thanh Chuong District. Through this contest, students had quite impressive presentations expressing their dreams, ambitions, opinions, views and aspirations on issues related to girls' rights. In particular, in the presentation of Thanh Chuong 3 High School, although mentioning the topic "Girls are the weaker sex", the students gave many examples to affirm that there are many good things that only girls can do. Moreover, in any circumstance, girls are also the beautiful sex, beautiful in intelligence, in soul and can be a reliable support for everyone.

With the theme "Empowering girls", the students also boldly mentioned a burning issue today, which is the prevention of sexual abuse, pregnancy and abortion in adolescents. From the true story of a female student in the school who got pregnant early and had to drop out of school, the female students of Nguyen Canh Chan High School also hope that all levels, sectors and schools will regularly pay attention and create all conditions for them to be equipped with the necessary skills to protect themselves. Families should be a solid support for their children so that they have the opportunity to share and express their concerns and thoughts...

Regarding this program, teacher Le Van Hai - Secretary of the Youth Union of Nguyen Canh Chan High School, commented: “The program is a meaningful communication activity for the organizers to have the opportunity to listen to the thoughts of today's students revolving around issues related to girls. From there, it also highlights the role of the whole society in the cause of protecting, caring for and educating girls, to ensure that all girls receive health care. At the same time, it strengthens good coordination between family, school and society to educate, shape personality and equip girls with necessary knowledge and skills for their comprehensive development”.

At the ceremony, the participants also expressed the message of the International Day of the Girl Child by placing their hands on the left side of their chest, where there is a pink bow. This is an act of love, listening, respect, responsibility, commitment to attitude, action, belief and the best things for girls so that they can live their childhood with their aspirations and ambitions without being hindered by gender inequality.

Strengthen communication

In fact, in recent times, sectors and localities in the whole province have been propagating and disseminating the Law on Children and other related regulations, while integrating gender education and gender equality programs. In Van Son commune (Do Luong), the Population Committee coordinated with the Women's Union to organize the Golden Bell Contest "Learning about preventing and combating violence and child abuse". The interesting thing is that the contestants participating in this contest are mothers and daughters. Therefore, although the contest is quite intense, through each round, the audience can see more and more the connection between the contestants. And whether winning or losing, the contest has left a beautiful echo, a bridge to connect family affection, love and sharing between mothers and daughters.

A series of activities in response to the International Day of the Girl Child was also organized by Hung Nguyen district for many days with many different contents. That is, organizing communication for students of Lam Thanh Secondary School to provide basic knowledge about reproductive health care for adolescents and young people; physical and psychological changes in adolescence.

At Hung Tay Secondary School, on this day, the “Girls” club was also launched so that every month the girls can meet and participate in collective activities such as culture, arts, and sports. In addition, the clubs are also a place for the girls to share, express themselves and educate them on behavioral skills and how to handle situations in life.

In 2019, Nghe An province also took the theme "Ending sexual abuse and violence against girls" to promote the International Day of the Girl Child. This is also a burning issue that is becoming increasingly serious in our country when statistics show that on average each year there are 3,000 - 4,000 cases of child violence, of which about 100 children are found murdered and 1,000 children are sexually abused.

Through research on 2,000 students of reform schools, it was shown that about 50% of them had lived in a harsh situation with their parents during their childhood. Of these, the number of children who were beaten by their fathers accounted for 23% - 6 times higher than the rate of being beaten by their mothers. The majority of victims of sexual abuse are girls. In addition, child violence is also very common when up to 68.4% of Vietnamese children (under 18 years old) have experienced violence at least once in one of several forms, from being beaten, physically abused to sexually abused...

Faced with this reality, the Population sector has recently invested heavily in communication work. That is, implementing a series of reproductive health projects with hundreds of communication and consultation sessions: Consulting on adolescent reproductive health care, preventing sexual abuse for junior high school students in the form of thematic talks, direct consultation integrated with cultural and artistic activities; establishing "life skills and adolescent reproductive health" clubs in schools. Consulting via phone - switchboard to help girls recognize and prevent the dangers of sexual abuse and violence, gain experience in self-care related to reproductive health.

Sharing more about the meaning of this year's International Day of the Girl Child, Mr. Nguyen Trung Thanh - Deputy Head of the Provincial Department of Population and Family Planning said: "To solve the problem of sexual abuse and violence against girls, it is necessary to have the attention and leadership of Party committees, authorities, departments, branches, organizations and the whole society. We also see that all investment programs for girls, whether supporting them in health, education or safety, help them improve their lives and create a safe and equal environment for them to develop comprehensively."