%0 Journal Article
%T The World On Her Shoulders: The Rights of the Girl-Child in the Context of Culture & Identity
%A JEWEL AMOAH
%J Essex Human Rights Review
%D 2007
%I Essex Human Rights Centre
%X Somewhere in the balance between protecting human rights and promoting culture hangs thegirl-child, on the margins of equality. In order to move the girl-child from the margin to thecentre of equality, any analysis must give full consideration to her intersecting identities, as well asthe cultural context in which she lives. The method of analysis proposed herein is the GRACEmodel, and is premised on the fact that Gender, Race, Age and Culture intersect to inform thegirl-childĄ¯s particular Experience of the world. The way in which the girl-child experiences theworld is traditionally negative, as it is characterized by disadvantage, marginalization anddiscrimination of the girl-child, vis-¨¤-vis other members of her society. The GRACE analysis issuggested as a means to demarginalize the girl-child, and empower her through fullyacknowledging her intersecting identity.This article argues that there is a cultural context to rights, and that the specific rightsthat the girl-child lacks may vary from culture to culture. Despite this variation in rights, the linkbetween culture and lack is one that identifies the girl-child in all cultures. By way of example,reference is made to the cultural practices of Trokosi (sexual slavery) in Ghana, and femaleinfanticide. Through these practices the girl-child is marginalized, because of the intersection ofher gender, age, race and culture. Since it is the intersection of these characteristics that hasdisadvantaged the girl-child, the solution must also lie in a thorough analysis of theintersectionality. The Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on theRights and Welfare of the Child are presented as international human rights instruments whichprescribe the human rights of children. However, without a consideration of the intersectingidentity of the girl-child, and a corresponding intersectionality analysis to rights promotion andprotection, these instruments fall short of the needs of the girl-child. If the girl-childĄ¯s right tosubstantive equality is to be fully realized, then consideration must be given to her intersectingidentity and the cultural context in which she lives. Anything less aggravates the burden ofinequality borne on the shoulders of the girl-child. The GRACE analysis however, empowers thegirl-child to stand tall, liberated by the acknowledgment of her intersecting identity, rather thanstooped under the weight of inequality and disadvantage that results from a failure to considerher intersecting identity.
%U http://projects.essex.ac.uk/ehrr/V4N2/amoah.pdf