Girls on the Frontlines of Crisis

This issue of Girlhood Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal is the second of two Special Issues on the ways in which marriage and pregnancy continue to intervene in the lives of girls and young women. Part One (18:2), a Special Issue on early pregnancy and young motherhood, guest edited by Doris Kakaru and Grace Bantebya Kyomuhendo, focusses mostly on Uganda but also ranges from Kenya and Tanzania to 18th Century London, United Kingdom. Issue 18: 3, guest edited by Boroka Godley and Lisa Wiebesiek, takes up Child, Early and Forced Marriages and Unions (CEFMU) across Zimbabwe, South Africa, Turkey, Venezuela, Indonesia, Nepal, Iran, and Brazil. Coinciding with the recent commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the publishing of these two issues offers an impressive collection of new scholarship about pregnancy, young motherhood, and forced and early marriage, coming at a time when governments around the world are recognizing the gains and the ongoing challenges in the struggle to achieve gender equality, and when evidence through scholarly research is so needed in the area of Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights. These two Special Issues align with the official theme of the 2025 International Day of the Girl, celebrated on 11 October, as does the title of this editorial—“The Girl I Am, The Change I Lead: Girls on the Frontlines of Crisis.” Furthermore, Plan International, as one of the key NGOs working on girls’ education, is taking as its focus for the 2025 International Day of the Girl the ending of child marriage

Declaration · Fourth World · Girl · Human rights · Publishing · Reproductive health · Scholarship · Tanzania · Theme (computing · African studies and sociopolitical issues · Feminism, Gender, and Intersectionality · Gender, Feminism, and Media