Shout it from the rooftops, every street corner and down the valleys! LEAVE GIRLS ALONE! Stop aborting them (just because they are girls). Stop cutting out their genitalia! Don’t touch them in anger. Do not molest or rape them! A 12 year old does not get pregnant. She is raped and impregnated. Let her get an abortion! Don’t hide her away. Don’t make your toxic masculinity her problem. In short, sort yourselves out!
Let girls be born. Give them hugs. Let them grow up whole. Provide them safe homes, food and clothing. Send them to school. Let them roam freely and without fear. Allow them to thrive and become themselves, not property. Treat girls equally, or get out of the way.
Rape, abuse and FGM are always wrong. The stories in this issue–and most of our issues–illustrate this reality. Don’t second guess your gut if someone tries to justify these crimes. Hurting girls is wrong. Throw off the blinders of patriarchal brain training and media equivocating, and look at what we do through clear eyes.
-Ashley E. Remer
Editor
Girl News International