eGirl Power's blog

Significant changes have occurred in India over the past several years regarding the life of young girls.  In 2009, the World Bank upgraded India’s status from a poor country to a middle income country, citing significant economic improvements.  In that same year, the ‘Rights to an Education’ Act passed and granted all children from the age of 6 to 14 a free education.  Many advancements have been made in the economy and education, so why are India’s girls still continuing to struggle?

Belief in one’s self.  These four words are the root of what it means to be confident.  And it appears that sometime around adolescence these words begin gradually slipping from females grasp.  Their self-esteem beings to plummet, they underestimate their abilities and are discouraged by fear.  Girls lose confidence in the face of perfectionism.  They become so concerned with being right that they begin to doubt themselves.  But why is this so common in girls and not so much boys?

What do we take for granted? Or, more powerfully, what do we not know about what we have and do not have?

Now, we know that every girl, and in a larger sense, every person, faces challenges…this means growth! But not all are afforded the same opportunities as others.

In recent years, no one has given more of a voice to Girls Education than Malala Yousafzai.  Her relentless fight for education has transported her to international fame.  After surviving an assassination attempt, she is even more determined to bring awareness and social change to education equality.

In the past couple of decades, we began to see the rise of many local movements to help promote gender equality. Inspired by a larger goal of becoming a fairer society and the ever-growing presence of women in our economy and politics, these movements were created and supported by local activists and non-profits. Their goals are usually geographically targeted, as their work focuses on improving the lives of girls and women in communities in need.