I was born in 1986 in Gazipaşa, Antalya. I was the first and last daughter of my parents, and I had two brothers after me. They had nothing but a scooter, household items and us. Nevertheless, they attached great importance to our education and sent us to the best public school in the town. Especially in the first grade of primary school, the moments when my mother and I did homework by the stove are still very vivid in my memory. My father worked very hard; we didn't see him much. Those good memories with my mother ended when my father bought a field in the village with all his savings and started farming. When I was about 10 years old, my younger brother was born and I had to take care of him after school, while my middle brother was in the fields.
As if working in the fields after school during term time was not enough, in the summer we would go to our village at the foot of the Taurus Mountains to work. We would wake up in the morning before sunrise, work before the heat set in, and only come home and have breakfast when the sun started to burn. The work was especially hard for us children. We used to water each tree one by one in our field at the foot of the hill with hoses that were difficult to pull. It would take at least an hour to water each foundation, and the trees would get thirsty again until we finished all the foundations. Our only entertainment in the village was the television, in the afternoon, while waiting for my favourite TV series to start, work time would come and we would go down to the garden. I had 2 close friends in the village, one of them was married off before she turned 18 and left, she has been made a wife and a child mother before she could experience her childhood. The other one, when we were 14-15 years old, although we were the same age, she started to behave as if she was much older than me, she did not leave the house much, she was waiting to be married off. I dreamed of not being there, of playing with my friends, of going to the sea. When I could not, I argued with my parents, complained to myself in the fields, and constantly blamed them. My parents, I knew, were in a hurry to build a good future for us, and they worked tirelessly. I knew their good intentions, but I was full of the desire to live my childhood to the fullest, it was my right. Many summers passed like this... In my adult life, I had to make at least twice as much effort as most people, especially men, for the opportunities I missed in my childhood, for every game I could not play in the summers, for everything I could not learn. I was tired, I was sad, but I was a child and I did not lose hope. I think I tried to live some of my childhood when I grew up. I can even say that now I am trying to fulfil my childhood dreams by trying to make my own child live his childhood in the best way possible...
The burden of the world on the shoulders of girls
11 October is International Day of the Girl Child. There was no such day when I was a girl, but since 2011, the United Nations has commemorated the day to draw attention to the challenges facing girls and to promote girls' empowerment and the realization of their human rights.
Today, there are 1.1 billion girls in the world, almost 70 million girls are in labour.[1] One out of every 4 girls between the ages of 15-19 is neither in school nor has a job. [2] Girls between the ages of 5-14 spend 160 million more hours every day on unpaid care and housework than boys of the same age.[3]
In Turkey, it was estimated that 2 million children, including refugee children, were working before the earthquake; after the earthquake, it is stated that the education of 4 million children was disrupted.[4] Especially in rural areas, many girls, like my 2 girlfriends, are forced to drop out of school when they are 14-15 years old and are directed to domestic and field work. Some families want to send their daughters to religious schools, but when these schools are far away, they do not allow them to commute by bus.
I would like to draw special attention to seasonal agricultural areas. Families involved in seasonal agriculture usually stay in tents. Here, girls have to sleep in the same tent with other family members, close to other tents. Privacy is a luxury in these areas. They usually use the same makeshift toilet and bathroom, cannot live in adequate hygiene and health conditions, and may face the risk of abuse and violence. Moreover, they may not know where to turn to if something happens to them, they hesitate or feel ashamed to speak out about their experiences due to social pressure, and thus many stories of violence and abuse are covered up and ignored.
Together for a better future
Today, we live in a world where we have to prove through research that girls who go to school are happier and more hopeful than those who cannot go to school; that girls in countries where gender equality is embraced as a principle are more satisfied with their lives, more self-confident and productive. [5] Today, we live in a world where we have to cry out ‘Don’t make girls work, don’t punish them, beat them, kill them, marry them, do protect them and do send them to school’. Today, in a world where we are not equal, we are trying to survive, grow, succeed, flourish and share as women and girls against those who abuse their power or have the potential to do so. Despite everyone and everything, we strive for education, equality, and the protection of our rights without giving up or losing hope. So, what can we do to hear the voices of girls who are forced to work and to share their dreams?
- We can ensure the enforcement of existing laws and the functioning of child protection mechanisms to eliminate the risks faced by all children, especially girls, who are forced to work. By defining these risks well, we can loudly voice our demands for stronger legal sanctions to be implemented.
- Regardless of language, religion and race, while taking into account the special needs of each child, we can understand the obstacles that girls face for continuing their education, and we can hear the girls and remove these obstacles together.
- We can carry out awareness-raising activities and community-based projects to support both the children and their families so that girls who are forced to work or who are prevented from school can go to school and fulfil their potential.
- By reducing poverty in households through employment opportunities for adults, we can endeavor to remove the burden of ‘breadwinning’ from the shoulders of children.
- We can offer financial support and social assistance programmes designed to reduce financial barriers to quality education and training for girls.
- We can identify the lines of work in which girls are employed, we can ensure that they can attend school or vocational training instead of working in these areas, and we can request to impose the necessary sanctions on employers and parents who employ them.
- We can take steps in all areas to ensure gender equality, ensure that girls have access to the same rights and services as boys, and work to ensure that women have equal opportunities and equal rights with men.
- In order for all girls to benefit from quality education, we can create educational opportunities that will enable more equal employment opportunities in all sectors, including in fields such as science and technology.
- We can work to improve the housing and living conditions of girls who cannot live in adequate hygienic conditions, especially in agricultural areas, and we can prevent health problems that may adversely affect their lives in the future by ensuring that girls have regular and adequate access to health services.
And most importantly, not only today but every day, we can build a future together with girls by truly listening to them, understanding them, respecting and protecting their rights, making room for their dreams and hopes. Because we know that hopeful and resilient girls are indispensable for the change necessary for a better future.
Happy International Day of the Girl Child to all girls. I would like to thank everyone, especially my mother and father, who have been instrumental in supporting me as a humanitarian aid worker to all people affected by disasters and living under disaster conditions, especially girls.
Hatem Efe
STL Protection, Child and Adult Safety Consultant
[1] https://www.ilo.org/publications/major-publications/child-labour-global-estimates-2020-trends-and-road-forward
[2] https://www.unicef.org/gender-equality/skills4girls
[3] https://www.un.org/en/observances/girl-child-day
[4] https://www.unicefturk.org/yazi/cocukisciligi
[5] In Pursuit of Happiness: Girls' striking optimism in a time of crisis
*This article was published in Gazete Duvar on October 10, 2024.
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