What Are Girls’ Human Rights? Why Should We Be Concerned About Them?
Published on Exchange Chambers. Written in connection with the International Day of the Girl Child and Celestine’s work with the Cambridge Girls Human Rights Hub.
Girls’ human rights are, at their core, the universal human rights to which all girls are entitled by virtue of their humanity — yet which, because of their gender and their age, are routinely denied, curtailed, or violated across the world, including in the United Kingdom.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) and CEDAW (1979) together provide the foundational international legal framework for girls’ rights. Yet the gap between what these instruments promise and what girls actually experience — in terms of access to education, freedom from violence, reproductive autonomy, and participation in public life — remains vast.
In this piece I explore what girls’ human rights mean in practice, why they deserve specific and sustained attention, and what lawyers, advocates and citizens can do to advance them. It draws on my work with the Girls Human Rights Hub at the University of Cambridge, where I serve as an expert speaker and contribute to the Young Experts Programme.