Girls Inc. Celebrates Girls’ Rights Week!

Girls Inc, the national nonprofit organization that helps girls be strong, smart, and bold, is celebrating Girls’ Rights Week, and that means they want you to think about this question: If all girls had their rights, how would the world be different? So, maybe you’re wondering what girls’ rights I’m referring to? Here’s the Girls Inc. Bill of Rights in support of gender equality:

• Girls have the right to be themselves and to resist gender stereotypes
• Girls have the right to express themselves with originality and enthusiasm
• Girls have the right to take risks, to strive freely, and to take pride in success
• Girls have the right to accept and appreciate their bodies
• Girls have the right to have confidence in themselves and be safe in the world
• Girls have the right to prepare for interesting work and economic independence

Here’s my answer to the question. If all girls had these rights, there would be less poverty, less war, less torture, more compassion, more passion, more understanding. Genocide would end, centuries-old conflicts would cease, and global warming would be stopped. Oh yeah, and girls would get to grow up feeling good about themselves, and know they have the power within them to create they life they want.

What do you think the world would look like if all girls had these rights?

Visit the Girls Inc. website to watch video clips of how other girls answered the question. And to read an interview with the fearless woman at the helm of Girls Inc, Executive Director Joyce Roche, check out my book In Their Shoes: Extraordinary Women Describe Their Amazing Careers!