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GUEST: Marie Staunton, Chief Executive at Plan International UK

Millions of girls and young women are victim to staggering gender inequalities across the world according to a new report from Plan International. Published in time for the United Nation’s International Day of the Family, the report, “Because I’m a Girl: The State of the World’s Girls,” compiles and analyzes global statistics that illustrate the prevalence of gender discrimination. Among the report’s findings is the fact that young women between the ages of 15 and 19 are the victims of half of all sexual assaults worldwide. Also, of the 1.5 billion people living on less than a dollar per day, 70 percent are female. 450 million women suffer stunted growth due to malnutrition. Plan International, a global child development agency, has launched a campaign to improve gender inequalities in conjunction with the release of the report. “Because I’m a Girl,” is just the first in a series of nine studies that will run until 2015. The report concludes by outlining an eight point action plan in order to change course on the reality of gender inequality in our world today. It cautions that if actions are not taken, the UN’s millennium development goals will be out of reach and the rights of girls and women will continue to be abused.

For more information and to download the report, visit www.becauseiamagirl.org.