The Glass Ceiling
VOKOUMA Jocelyne (Burkina Faso)
For a woman, it is so difficult to write about such a sensitive subject like “discriminationand violence against the girl child” and work for the “elimination of this.” Moreover,there is a link between these two states: the girl child on the one hand and woman on
the other hand. The kind of care the girl child had, determines her future social profile.
If she suffered too much, her personality would be destroyed. And then, it will be hardfor her to be able to protect or defend herself. That is why most women are weak ingeneral even if they have some capacities. Discrimination and violence against the girlchild raises the problem of human beings, freedom, traditions and cultures. These
practices equal societies’ way of refusing more than 50% of the population represented
by women whose right is to be or to live like everybody else. Girl children do not havethe same opportunities growing up. The aim of this paper is to denounce the bad aspectsof this kind of sexist discrimination felt by most women as gender violence organized by
all of society. In the past, when a mother is pregnant, if the baby to be born is a female,the parents promise her to a man as future wife before the baby is born. The boy childreceives no wife before his birth. The community rules allow the boy to take all time heneeds before having or choosing his wife. Culturally people in the society prefer boys
than girls. That is the reason why boys and men have more opportunities to develop
than girls and women. The society has naturally prepared places and best positions forboys and men. The boy child is developing into a strong man. At the same time, the girlchild is not empowered the rights. Thus, it means no possibility of becoming a strong
woman. The boy child has to follow the same men’s role. And the girl child follows thestagnating powers of her mother. There is a social and psychological limit girls andwomen cannot pass called the glass ceiling. This way to stop women’s progress began
when girls are still small. Violence is one way to harden discrimination against the girlchild, not letting them go so far than their mothers. It is not good for the girl child forexample to go to school or to stay too long at school. The way she will learn too much. If
she is more educated, she becomes a danger to society, according to the popular way ofthinking. The first way as a strategy to eliminate the situation of social and culturalinequality is to fight against the traditional way of seeing human organization byteaching new ways of thinking about men and women relationships. Another kind ofviolence includes sexual abuse―a kind of taboo nobody likes talking about fears; sexual
harassment in school; domestic tasks; precocious pregnancies; AIDS, etc. It is urgent toprotect the girl child. Moreover, their future depends that of the women. At the national

level, the government has ratified conventions about children rights. There are somelaws that punish violence and discrimination against children. Nevertheless, today, themain challenge is to help people to know or to be informed about strong texts which
protect the girl child. It is our duty along with all of women worldwide. In Burkina Faso,
with the help of United Nations Fund for Children, children have a parliament throughwhich they can exercise democracy and power management by defending their rights.
As adults have helped them become more and guiltier of all kinds of offense towards
children. We also have judges and the tribunal for children. In addition, there is a radio
to give out information about children rights. More and more journalists are by
denouncing abuse of the girl child by publishing through their writing and pictures
about children’s bad treatments. Nowadays, it is difficult to behave badly toward
children without punishment.
We trust in the security future of

the girl children, even if we are at the beginning of

the implementation of new strategies that are necessary to change the ancient order ofsocial structures.