For a long time now, activists have been fighting for the rights of the girl child. But society has made the boy child feel neglected. The rights of the girl child and her empowerment seem to have taken centre stage in all aspects of life and have overshadowed boy child empowerment. Society seems to be more inclined to support girls more than boys.
Boys are assumed to be less vulnerable to social misdeeds such as sexual harassment, child labour and violence, among others. On matters education, girls have been getting admitted to universities and colleges at lower cluster points than boys. This policy was adopted by KUCCPS (formerly JAB) based on the argument that girls have been undermined by society and they lose study time doing household chores not to mention that they miss school for at least a week every month due to menses.
It's like it was assumed that boys don't face any challenges while schooling and they cannot lose study time for any reason whatsoever.
In the job market, affirmative action seems to be working against men. There is an emerging trend in the world of human resource management where more often than not, women are preferred for job placement over men. It's not rare to see a job advertisement with a caption that says 'Female candidates are highly encouraged to apply' but it's quite seldom to see one encouraging men to apply.
These reasons do not hold water anymore because the environment in which the boy child and the girl child grow up today is more or less harmonised.
Today, boys do household chores that used to be a preserve of girls. Girls do not (or rather rarely) miss school anymore due to monthly periods thanks to better access to sanitary towels and tampons, which are actually provided for free in quite a number of schools.
The exclusion of boys has crippled the dream to achieve gender equality, which remains a global concern. Most gender equality campaigns focus on protecting girls while forgetting that boys too grapple with insecurities.
The Ministry of Labour and Social Security has neglected boys. The children’s department has failed to monitor the implementation of the policy. Most young boys within the age of compulsory education are found doing informal jobs because there is no strict enforcement of the policy.
Ladies and gentlemen, let's support gender equality and empowerment of the girl child and uphold her dignity and rights, and, most importantly, let's not forget to do the same for the boy child. We need a society with concerned government, stakeholders and netizens who care for the boy child.
Student, University of Eastern Africa Baraton
