Do girls have women's or children's rights?

Abstract

This paper investigates whether girls have women's or children's rights. In the first part, I will describe the human rights afforded, to them, on the international and regional arena by exploring the different human rights instruments and those that deal with women's and children's rights. The purpose is to check if there are any specific rights exclusive to girls. Then, I will examine the situation of the girl-child, documenting the status of women and children in the world and especially in some Muslim countries. The next part is an assessment of the extent of the improvement of the position of girls. It also reveals that since they are human beings, women, children and the girl-child have the right to enjoy the universal human rights declared in the first international human rights instruments promoting people's rights, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which was adopted in 1948. However, the reality shows that there is a gap between the afforded rights and the protection of these rights. Indeed, in many countries, there is a disparity between the international law, the domestic legislation and the real situation that some girls live in.