We'll have to deal with that as a world."Ī 14 year old school girl Hafsa sits with friends and neighbors while posing for photos on her wedding day at a village named Joymoni from a coastal area from Mongla in Bagerhat district. "Because the children will have issues, and they're going to question and have challenges. "The girls got pregnant, but the people responsible for those pregnancies were closer to them - fathers, cousins, laborers, teachers, pastors or siblings. "We're going to have to deal with the children born during COVID-19," says Igoye of Uganda, pointing to rising rates of teen pregnancy. "In what's being called 'the shadow pandemic,' the burden was falling a lot on girls."Īnd the world is just beginning to unpack the impact, including the pandemic newborns. "What we're seeing is a shadow pandemic - even though I hate the term, because it makes it seem lesser," Musho says. ![]() Teen pregnancy - including pregnancy from rape and incest - is just one of the ways the pandemic has stalled progress for girls in many countries. "It is extremely devastating and sad," says Igoye. Girls were often in homes "with a lot of abuse," says Stephanie Musho, a human rights lawyer in Kenya who is also an Aspen fellow. During the pandemic, she said, parents are going out to work or do errands and kids have not been able to go to school – their safe space – during various lockdowns. She's referring to one of the many ways that COVID-19 has had an impact on the lives of girls. Instead of offering hope, Igoye replied with a cause for concern: "In 10 years, the children born of incest will have grown, so we'll have to have that discussion as a world." She's Agnes Igoye, Uganda's deputy national coordinator of the prevention of trafficking in persons during the first two years of the pandemic and a Senior Aspen New Voices fellow. ![]() I asked one of the experts I interviewed for this story if she could offer a reason to be hopeful for the future of girls. It's also a day to assess where girls stand: what they want and what the world needs to do to give them their rights.īut finding signs of progress for girls in 2022 is difficult. It's a day created by the United Nations to "highlight and address the needs and challenges girls face." ![]() October 11 marks the 10th anniversary of the International Day of the Girl.
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