Youth Voices can Drive away Gender-Based Violence

Young people are the forces of change in their communities through addressing issues that affect them the most , Child marriage is an issue worth addressing it deprives a girl child the freedom to achieve her full potentials , while Gender Abuse affects both girls and boys and surprisingly all these are Global issues as much as it happens in the south it happens in the west too .

In order for young people to demystify customs , traditions and other lead factors which attribute to Child marriage / Female Genital Mutilation young people need to be bold and stand up for their rights , speak up , call for change in the laws that lead to Gender abuse .

I have been a girls’ rights activist in Tanzania for about seven years. Having spoken to girls who were forced into child marriage or FGM, they said they were told that they had to do it in order to be respectable/ because their Parents needed the bride price , It made me wonder are girls really sold off in the shadows of marriage just cause the parents needed 15U$D or 1kg of Sugar? For some parents they will even chase their daughters from home if they refuse to accept the marriage or worst still stop sending them to schools.

Its time we all talk about Rape Culture , Gender Abuse come in many forms and among the horrific acts of rape culture , domestic violence that face young people are silenced due to fear of embarrassment , community eyes that they will look at someone differently if they speak out , World leaders from the worst need to step it up more efforts to be made to invest on girls and women’s rights treaties , statutory laws are signed but yet not implemented , Actions needs to be taken.

We can turn the SDGs into reality as young people we are the ‘now generation’ – the young people of today can lead the implementation of the SDGs and they will feel its impact . Young people are passionate and can influence others in our communities, including our fellow young people and Government leaders nationally and Internationally .

My message to young people is this: don’t sit back and let change happen. Change happens with you. Everything is possible if you decide to do it. I began my work as a girls’ rights activist at 15, whenrealising that many children’s, especially girls’, rights wereviolated in her community since then my goal is to work for girls’ rights until gender equality is reached. As ambitious as it may sound, gender-based violence can be ended. It may take baby steps but with collective common vision this can be achieved.

“Society can find me modern and look at me badly but as long as I am doing something for my fellow girls I can see past this to a world where gender equality is possible.”