Throughout Oceania — a region comprising the Pacific, Australia, and New Zealand — harmful gender stereotypes mean adolescent girls are often systematically oppressed by violence and discrimination, which can have major flow-on effects on their health and education.

Below, we look at just some of the devastating inequalities facing girls aged 10 through 18 in the region.

  1. Just 7% of Girls Complete Secondary School in the Solomon Islands
  2. In the Asia and Pacific Region, 23 Million Adolescents Are Currently Married or in Union
  3. 59% of First Nations Australian Girls Don’t Attend Secondary School Consistently
  4. Pacific Girls Are 1.8 Times Less Likely to Own a Phone With Internet Access Than Boys 
  5. Pregnancies Among Teenagers in Tonga Continues to Rise, Nation Has Highest Mortality Rate in Pacific
  6. Domestic Work Has Increased for Girls at a Much Higher Rate Than Boys Since the Pandemic Began

Read the full article about rights for women and girls in Oceania by Madeleine Keck at Global Citizen.