Focus: The girl child
Will the girl child be allowed the same support to pursue her career and her dreams?
She was battered and abused simply for being born a girl. Two weeks ago, three-month-old baby girl Afreen died in a hospital in Bangalore, India, after succumbing to those injuries. While that may be an extreme case of gender discrimination, how equal is the girl child truly treated in today's world. From receiving the same education to getting pampered by parents just as much as boys, and sometimes even more, guardians today have come a long way in treating their sons and daughters equally. But is this simply an illusion? Will the girl child be allowed the same support to pursue her career and her dreams? Do parents continue to bank on their sons as an old-age safety net? Join the debate by posting your thoughts on our Facebook page ‘Gulf News Al Nisr Publishing UAE' or tell us at readers@gulfnews.com
15:35 Gulf News: The girl child is still not treated as equal to a boy.
15:39 Annu Pramod: This depends on which part of the world the girl child is born in. Although in several parts of the world, girls are treated on par with the boys, there are still so many areas in this world where the girl child is denied even the right to basic education.
15:39 Lodhi Azmat Allah: Not in every family is the girl child treated equal to the boy. Some family enjoys and celebrates the birth of a girl child and some families mourn it.
15:43 Jerusha Sequeira: I think parents often tend to be more protective of girls. They do have a valid reasons for doing so, but in some cases, this can be taken to the extreme. This could be interpreted as discrimination by the children — or daughters —even when it was not the intent of the parent to do so.
15:46 Pavan Kumar: The girl child should be treated equally … by everyone. Also, every country should have a law that girls be treated equal.
15:48 Sunil Roy: When discrimination happens it shows an absence of mental strength and moral culture. We show preference to someone when we expect something in return and in a way it is this selfishness that forces people to act in such a manner.
15:49 Aisha Naseem: A girl child fights for her rights through her mother. If the mother takes a stand, nothing can harm the child or her rights.
15:52 Gulf News: Girls are made to feel guilty for opting for a career over building a family.
15:54 Jerusha Sequeira: I disagree. It is a very old mindset that a woman's sole priority is her family. More and more women are opting to focus on their careers now, and this would not be possible in the absence of any family support.
15:56 Sunil Roy: In certain societies women are expected to give up their career for family. The reasons for these are varied. By nature a woman plays a crucial role in the development of the child during the early stages. Hence it is only natural that a woman is expected to sacrifice a part of her career life for the family.
16:00 Fatima Khan: I am an MBBS student and many in my extended family thought as soon as I got into medicine, the suitor search would begin. However they were in for a shock when I told them of my plans to pursue medicine for the purpose of service. My family supports me and the extended family members don't really matter.
16:01 Vasanthi Samuel: I knew a doctor who gave up her career just for the sake of her husband's job and for the children. Even though she has sacrificed her career her children are brilliant. But sometimes she feels she should have pursued it and should not have given up her career.
16:03 Gulf News: The pursuit for security in old age pushes parents to give preferential treatment to boys.
16:07 Sunil Roy: Dependency or the feeling that I may need the support of my son during my old age is one of the main factors.
16:11 Annu Pramod: There is always a limitation with regard to the girl child — to how much she can study, how much she can play, how much she can talk … everything. After she becomes a homemaker it could reflect on the way she brings up her children, although not necessarily.
16:11 Lodhi Azmat Allah: My father had a cardiac attack once, and at that time all my brothers were either in the UAE or in another city. Only my mother and sister were home, but with my sister's courage, she took care of all the things without any fear or problem. She took care of all the family for more than six moths, taking my father to the hospital every day and taking care of him until the last day.
16:12 Gulf News: People fail to realise that by denying women their rights, they create ignorant societies.
16:12 Annu Pramod: The one principal reason why the society is still not growing at its potential is because of the inequality existing between genders that is dragging the economy down.
16:13 Aisha Naseem: Yes, in many families the girl is told to concentrate on the household chores while the son in the house is not even expected to do his work. Gender discrimination right from the beginning. This is what the son and daughter will do with their children and so on.
16:15 P J Thiyagarajan: People will realise in the days to come that by denying the rights to the girl child they cause damage to their own future generations. It may take some time for the poor and rural areas to understand but education and modern day experiences shall slowly create change.
16:15 Fatima Khan: Changes started long ago but they have yet to seep deep enough to strike at the roots of gender discrimination. Till then we can only hope for the best and actively condemn all acts of gender discrimination.
