Here are on-site accounts that Feminist Majority Delegation members posted on The Feminist Majority Foundation Online throughout the conference. Widespread agreement in the international community centered on the rights of girls and teenagers to say not to incest, date rape, sexual harassment, and other forms of sexual exploitation. In a major victory for girls, the international community agreed that the practice of female genital mutilation, common in some of the Islamic portions of Africa, is harmful to the health of girls. It is believed to be common in many other Islamic countries. Child marriage, where girls as young as 10 years old are married off by greedy fathers anxious to obtain dowry payments given for their daughters, were also condemned.
Early marriage is very detrimental to the health of girls and young teenagers.
The condemnation by the international conference underscored the importance of eradicating these practices. These practices occur in some African cultures, as well as some cultures in Southeast Asia, such as Nepal, where girls are sometimes sold to sex traffickers by their fathers. For the first time, an international conference condemned son preference, which give boys the first and the best opportunity to eat, whatever food is available, pays for boys' access to professional medical services, and encourages boys but not girls to become educated. Approximately twice as many girls under the age of four die of malnutrition as boys, for example, in Bangladesh. Girls' Rights to Privacy, Respect and Confidentiality Affirmed Conference delegates agreed to compromise provisions defining the appropriate role for parents in matters involving their daughters' access to health services and education.