By: Fariha Fawziah
For centuries, the notion that girls should stay at home, play with dolls, and grow up to be housewives remains a part of many people’s beliefs in countries like Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Cambodia. People in these countries also think it’s fine for girls to marry when they’re 13-16 years old without any education. Although the United States extended the rights of women in the 19th Amendment, other countries are still struggling to secure education for girls. Other countries are afraid to let their girls go to school because the patriarchal society is threatened by an educated woman.
For instance, on the nights of April 14 and April 15 2014, 276 girls were kidnapped from the Government Secondary School in the town of Chibok, Nigeria. The school had been closed for four weeks due to an attack and a deteriorating security situation. Students from multiple schools were coming to take their physics exam.
An extremist Islamist group called Boko Haram, which has abducted thousands of Nigerians over the past several years, broke into the school that night, pretending to be guards. Boko Haram aims to make Northern Nigeria an Islamist state; Chiboktown will not be the only place prone to these attacks. A girl who escaped, named Peace, says, “They tell us who wanted to die and who wanted to be alive?” Peace recalled. “We kept quiet. [They said] if you want to die, stay here, if you want to be alive enter this car. So we were afraid. We had to enter the car. If not, they would kill us. We entered.” And many students were taken away in trucks. Boko Haram has used these girls and women as suicide bombers. The girls who were able to escape told stories of being raped and forced to marry the fighters.
As of today, 93 girls were rescued from Boko Haram. A lot of gratitude goes to this nationwide hashtag, #BringBackOurGirls. After a year, with a lot of people’s help, including that of our First Lady, Michelle Obama, more girls were rescued.
Malala Yousafzai, the girl who stood up for education for women and got shot by the Taliban, is also giving courage to these girls who want to give up and leave the country. On the eve of the one-year mark since nearly 300 girls were abducted, Malala wrote this open letter to the Boko Haram Girls: “To my brave sisters, the kidnapped schoolgirls of Chibok, on this first anniversary of your captivity, I write to you with a message of solidarity, love and hope…Like you, I was a target of militants who did not want girls to go to school…Remember that one day your tragic ordeal will end, you will be reunited with your families and friends, and you will have the chance to finish the education you courageously sought. Until then, stay strong, and never lose hope. You are my heroes.” In this letter, she convinces the Nigerian government and the international community to take action. Also, she gives the girls hope that everything will be okay, and for now, she wants them to have strength.
It’s not just Boko Haram that abducts girls with the preconception that women are inferior to men. Other groups and gangs in different countries also believe the same. There are gangs who throw acid on girls who try to go to school in Cambodia and Bangladesh. There, resilient girls trying to claim their rights must navigate horrendous impediments.
Everyone deserves education, no matter one’s gender, religion, or identity. Although this is the 21st century and these issues don’t affect our girls in the United States, it is our duty to help correct the societal ills harming the status and lives of women worldwide in order to make this world a better place for everyone.