If girls education makes societies stronger, more peaceful and prosperous, then the chances of Asia achieving those goals have become more distant with the coronavirus pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, girls’ enrollments in school had seen significant improvements in Asia. But with the pandemic, those gains have been wiped out. UNESCO estimates that about 24 Read more
Sixteen-year-old Suneeta and her 12-year-old sister were walking home in March when they were kidnapped. The men who took them forced the girls to convert to Islam. “We were walking back to our house after working on the farm when men in a car came out of nowhere and dragged us in with them,” said Read more
Role models matter. Research has consistently shown that positive adult role models can contribute to the health, education, and overall well-being of young people. Albert Bandura has argued that children learn how to “perform” adult roles by observing the behavior of prominent adults in their lives and trying to imitate it. Other research has shown Read more
In 2011, American child psychologist Jennifer Hartstein published an advice book for parents wishing to rid their female children of so-called “princess syndrome,” her name for the inevitable insecurities and superficial obsessions that little girls allegedly develop when they are exposed to an abundance of girly-girl commercial culture, particularly in the form of Disney princesses. Read more
What makes a male child become a “boy,” as we understand that concept socially? In her new book, When Boys Become Boys, Judy Y. Chu reports on her two-year study in which she followed a group of boys from pre-kindergarten through first grade. She concluded that most of what we think of as “boy” behaviour isn’t Read more
On the day that Durga Mala was rescued, she lay crying on the stone floor, where she was attempting to cool her back. She was 11 years old and her skin was covered with blisters, from her shoulder blades to her buttocks. A few days earlier, her owners had poured hot oil over her because Read more
The Holy Father, Pope Francis, Wednesday rallied against the slavery of child labour calling it a “disgusting phenomenon that is constantly increasing, particularly in poor countries.” “There are millions of children, mostly young girls, who are victims of this hidden form of exploitation that often leads to sexual abuse, poor treatment and discrimination,” the Holy Read more
India Today reports eye-witness accounts of doctors in one city are so desperate to hide evidence that they are doing sex-selection abortions that they are feeding the remains of aborted girl babies to dogs. Sme physicians in the city of Beed, India are engaging in the practice, according to India Today, which spoke with Varsha Deshpande Read more
Girls are not allowed to serve at the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, commonly known as the Tridendine Rite. The clarification comes after the recent Vatican encouragement to bishops, for them to “be generous” in providing the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. In answer to question whether female altar servers were permitted in the Extraordinary Read more