Mr. Speaker, if there is any evidence that the violence and abuse of women and girls often goes under the radar, this urgent issue we are talking about this evening is a clear example of that.
Over the past few weeks, the world has become captivated by this egregious abuse of human freedom and rights. Unfortunately, Boko Haram's abduction of 276 school girls is not its first. About a year ago, in May 2013, the Boko Haram leader released a video saying that it had taken women and children, including teenage girls, hostage. Mr. Shekau said that the hostages would be treated as slaves.
In November 2013, Human Rights Watch said that Boko Haram reported that it had abducted scores of women and girls and used girls as young as 12 in hostilities.
Daniel Bekele, the Africa director at Human Rights Watch, has said:
For a group that claims to be religious, Boko Haram's tactics are the most profane acts we can imagine. The killing and mutilation of ordinary Nigerians, the abduction and rape of women and girls, and the use of children for fighting are horrifying human rights violations.
Mma Odi, executive director of the Nigerian charity Baobab Women's Human Rights said:
It is a very bad situation for those girls. The men went to the school for no other reason than to make them their sex objects. The men will have reduced them to sex slaves, raping them over and over again. And any girl who tries to resist will be shot by them. They have no conscience. The conditions will be terrible and it seems like the government has just abandoned them because they are girls and they are poor.
As many members in the House are aware, I have worked hard to raise the issue of human trafficking, which is modern-day slavery in our century. When we are raising the issue of these abductions in this House, we must ensure that human trafficking is part of that discussion.
Boko Haram has made it clear that it will use these girls, just as it has in the past, as slaves. Many of the men in Boko Haram have left behind wives and families, and these young school girls will be given to them as sex slaves. The leader of Boko Haram has also publicly threatened to sell these girls for as little as $12 apiece, stating that there is a “market for selling humans”. Boko Haram clearly recognizes that modern-day slavery is alive and well. Today it is estimated that over 27 million are enslaved around the world, and of those most are women and children.
A common form of modern-day slavery is child, early, and forced marriage. Child, early, and forced marriage is a widespread, harmful practice that threatens the lives and futures of girls and young women around the world. It affects an estimated 14 million girls each year. In Nigeria, approximately 39% of girls are married before their 18th birthdays and 16% are married before they turn 15.
Child, early, and forced marriage is a violation of human rights. It denies girls their childhoods. It disrupts or ends their education, jeopardizes their health, makes them more vulnerable to violence, and limits their participation in economic and social spheres. Child, early, and forced marriage also hinders development. When girls are not able to reach their full potential, everyone suffers: the girls, their families, their communities, and their countries.
Our government is standing up for these girls, even when it is not always popular or expedient to do so. In doing so, we have made ending the practice of child, early, and forced marriage a foreign policy and development priority.
Over the last two years, international momentum to address child, early, and forced marriage has been building. Canada has been instrumental in bringing world attention and action to this issue. For example, Canada led the international initiative to establish the annual International Day of the Girl Child in 2011, which focused on child, early, and forced marriage in its first year. A year later, Canada played an active role in the development of the first resolution focused on child, early, and forced marriage at the Human Rights Council. We also co-led with Zambia the first ever stand-alone resolution on this issue at the UN General Assembly last year. I am proud to say that both resolutions were adopted by consensus, with over 100 co-sponsors, thus putting the issue firmly on the international agenda for the first time.
Canada is also committed to intensifying our programming efforts to end child, early, and forced marriage globally. Through its children and youth strategy, the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development works to strengthen and implement national protection frameworks to safeguard the rights of children and youth. The strategy also contributes to increasing girls' access to basic education, which can help prevent child, early, and forced marriage.
In 2013, DFATD spent over $1 million on programming supporting the implementation of the children and youth strategy. In addition, last October, the Minister of Foreign Affairs announced $5 million in programming support to help address the causes and consequences of child, early, and forced marriage in high-prevalence countries around the world.
Through the Canada fund for local initiatives, a fund that supports small-scale community projects around the world, Canada also works to address child, early, and forced marriage. For example, a project in northern Nigeria allowed the Centre for Girls Education to create safe spaces for community discussion about child, early, and forced marriage. Local mentors led weekly meetings with traditional and religious leaders and parents on the value of education for girls within communities. The Centre for Girls Education also led career workshops to showcase the benefits of girls staying in school.
On April 14, the Minister of Foreign Affairs announced that over the next two years, Canada will reallocate funds from our voluntary contribution to the Commonwealth toward supporting initiatives that espouse Commonwealth values. A large portion of these funds will be used to combat the practice of child, early, and forced marriage and to promote human rights, including in Nigeria.
Canada knows that the leadership of high-prevalence countries is critical to all successful efforts to address child, early, and forced marriage. Later this month, the African Union will launch a two-year campaign to end child, early, and forced marriage. We are impressed by the fierce determination of many affected countries, including in Africa, to lead the charge on this issue.
We are proud of the work we are doing to end child, early, and forced marriage and are committed to intensifying our efforts to help end this harmful practice worldwide. This intersects with Canadian work on women, peace, and security, including our active efforts to prevent sexual violence in conflict zones. Make no mistake, the kidnapping of these girl children was an act of sexual violence. Whether they have been abused sexually yet or not, the threat of sexual violence is very real.
I am proud that Canada has been in the vanguard of international efforts to address sexual violence. In September, at the United Nations General Assembly, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and others launched the Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict, which has now been endorsed by 143 countries.
Our advocacy work continues. Next month, the Minister of Foreign Affairs will lead a Canadian delegation to the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict in London, U.K. The summit will be the largest gathering ever on preventing sexual violence and will deliver practical coordinated action to make real impacts on the ground.
Beyond advocacy, Canada is working to address the issue of sexual violence through programming in specific countries of concern. Sexual violence is a serious violation of human rights. It exacerbates situations of conflict and inhibits peace, security, and development. Canada will continue to fight this violence.
This horrendous issue in Nigeria of these 278 children who were abducted by this terrorist group is something we should always hold in our thoughts and prayers. I am so proud that Canada, the U.K., the U.S., and other countries are taking action on a global level to find these girls. As each day passes, they continue to be in ever more danger.
I thank the Speaker for this debate tonight and members on all sides of the House for discussing this very important issue and putting the global spotlight on it.
