Five victories for the girl child in 2017

Outgoing Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Photo | File

What you need to know:

  • This year alone, there have been some of those victories in good measure and with the International Day of the girl child just past, it is only right for us to celebrate them, whether for the first time or all over again.

The fight for rights for the girl child has been ongoing on a number of fronts and due to these different battles, there comes around. once in a while, a victory that the girl child will certainly be grateful for immediately or in a couple of years down the line.

This year alone, there have been some of those victories in good measure and with the International Day of the girl child just past, it is only right for us to celebrate them, whether for the first time or all over again.

Women drivers in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia had remained the last country where women were not allowed to drive. This year, however, a rather unexpected law gave women the permission to obtain driver’s licenses. The law also allows women to drive alone without needing the permission of their guardians to get a driver’s license. The interior ministry was also to make a decision on whether women could be professional drivers.

You can now marry anyone in Tunisia

The right to choose one’s spouse is one of the many great freedoms that people all over the world take for granted but until recently, Muslim women in Tunisia could not marry non-Muslim men. In September, however, the 44-year ban preventing Muslim women from marrying non-Muslims was lifted. The President of Tunisia, Beji Caid Essebsi, who had campaigned tirelessly for gender equality ever since he took office, pushed for the ban to be lifted arguing that it contravened Tunisia’s 2014 constitution.

First Female President in Singapore

Halimah Yacob a 63 year old politician became Singapore’s first female President in 2017 and this is a victory for the girl child because the more female Presidents that there are in the world or even through history, the more they know that no height is too high for them. Yacob had been announced as the President in September with no elections conducted after two of her contenders dropped out of the race.

Despite the fact that the President’s office in Singapore is mostly ceremonial with the President having no significant executive powers and only some authority over Singapore’s asset and financial reserves, Yacob gave a speech filled with joy over her victory, assuring the people of a fair and committed leadership.

Child Bride As Rape

On the 11th of October 2017, the International Day of the girl child, India’s Supreme Court ruled that sex with an underage wife constitutes rape. It was a landmark ruling which campaigners have said could affect the lives of millions of girls.

It overturned an initial clause that permitted men to have sex with a married girl as young as fifteen and according to Girls Not Brides.

With the new ruling, girls who are raped by their husbands can bring charges within one year of the offence.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf ends term as President of Liberia

The first female President of Liberia and the first female President in the African continent at large saw her tenure draw to a close in October and true to her word, worked to ensure a peaceful transfer of power by supervising a democratic election to choose her successor.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is leaving office with a lot of goodwill directed at her she has set an amazing example for the girl child and female leadership as a whole