-
1 IN 4
AMERICAN GIRLS
WILL EXPERIENCE SEXUAL VIOLENCE BY THE AGE OF 18
-
4X
MORE LIKELY
THAN OTHERS THAT GIRLS AGED 16-19 WILL BE VICTIMS OF RAPE, ATTEMPTED RAPE, OR SEXUAL ASSAULT
-
1 IN 5
WOMEN
REPORTS BEING RAPED IN HER LIFETIME
These rates of violence are comparable to the scope and intensity of gendered violence abroad, in African, Latin American, and Asian nations in which violence against women and girls is acknowledged as a human rights issue. Now is the time for a similar human approach to highlight the conditions of sexual violence, domestic violence, rape, exploitation, and trafficking in the U.S. Now is the time to understand that gendered violence here in the U.S., like gendered violence abroad, restricts girls' rights and the realization of their full potential and dignity.
WHY POLICY?
Policy reform does not save just one girl from being trafficked and exploited; it establishes recognition in law that provides safety and services to thousands of exploited and trafficked girls.
Rights4Girls achieves policy change through education, engagement, and movement building. We focus on policy because we believe in transformation that is comprehensive, lasting and generational.
Rights4Girls is building coalitions with other human rights, women’s rights, child welfare, and criminal justice organizations to grow a human rights movement for girls in the U.S. We feel that the time is ripe to engage all communities in an effort to end the pervasive violence against young women and girls.
GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Our U.S.-based human rights work for young women and girls focuses on the following goals:
Advance public policy that protects the dignity and rights of young women and girls, especially those from vulnerable communities.
Develop public awareness and social media campaigns to give visibility to gendered violence in the U.S.
Create global partnerships with international human rights and women’s rights organizations to include the experience of violence against young women and girls in the U.S.
Dismantle the sexual violence to prison pipeline.
End domestic child sex trafficking.
Empower young women and girl survivors to foster a new generation of leaders.