It must come to an end

Painful but true: if a man in the Netherlands earns 1 euro per hour, a woman in precisely the same position earns 93 euro cents. That sometimes makes me angry. If your mother and father are both dentists, work the same number of hours, and are even the same age, there is a good chance that dad still earns more. Quite unfair for a ‘equal’ country, right? Well, the truth.

Every time this makes me angry, I think that we are actually doing quite well in terms of emancipation in the Netherlands. Especially when you compare it to poorer countries. Worldwide, over 130 million girls cannot go to school. They have babies from strangers when their bodies are not even ready for pregnancy and childbirth. Honestly, I could vomit with rage from this kind of news.

That’s why I hope you take a moment today to think about those girls. It’s International Day of the Girl, something that Plan International has been advocating for years to draw attention to the (in)equal position of girls worldwide. A thousand girls are taking important positions today in politics, business, sports, and media. Yes, even here in the Netherlands.

To be vice president for one day, CEO of a multinational, or chairperson of the Senate. To indicate that it is ridiculous that some of us cannot choose whether we can be educated. Deliberately kept ignorant. Because it is precisely girls and women who can contribute to solving poverty. In fact, if all girls in developing countries completed secondary school, child mortality would drop by 49 percent, it turns out. Isn’t that bizarre, people?

Google is participating, Coca-Cola, L’Oréal, Facebook; you name it. And of course, Amayzine has also been participating for years. Until girls worldwide matter just as much as boys. Because a young girl should damn well have a school uniform, not a wedding dress.

#GirlsGetEqual