Human rights abuses such as child and forced marriage, gender based violence, human trafficking, sexual exploitation, assault, rape, and domestic violence dominate media stations and websites around the world. Yet, they only share a small picture of the millions of women and children who are subjected to abuses every day.
That is why the education of human rights is so vital. It is necessary to raise a new generation of activists and advocates who will shed light on what people endure often in silence behind close doors. The #MeToo Movement has opened the floodgates for women to share their personal stories of abuse, however, the #MeToo Movement is just the tip of the iceberg. Sexual exploitation happens in many different ways around the world.
For example, young girls like Miriyam who are forced into a child marriage at 14. There are millions of girls like her. Yet, what happens when she has daughters of her own? What will happen to their future? What kind of life will they lead? What kind of abuses will they have to endure because of the lack of gender neutral laws and policies to protect women and children around the world?
We must educate ourselves otherwise we become silent in oppression that spams the globe in ways that are greater than what the media is reporting. For many girls like Miriyam their lives have been altered. Yet, it’s never too late to create change for this generation and a new generation of girls who are just being born by learning about what is happening to women around the world and taking a stand to demand change while inspiring and educating a new generation of activists who will create change in their own lifetimes.
The next generation of advocates will be the true trailblazers of our time and take the fight for equality and social justice further. We need to educate our children. By not teaching human rights to young people in school, we are doing a great disservice to them and the next generation whose lives they can change for the better.
