ABSTRACT
In our world today, adolescent girls are the center of attention in both positive and negative ways. While most governments, multilaterals, development agencies, and non-governmental agencies (NGOs) champion education and human rights for girls, numerous challenges and obstacles both tangible and intangible narrow the opportunities for girls’ education, empowerment, and success. In the last decade, increased global communication through the Internet and the use of social media has enlightened many more citizens of the world with ideologies and discourses expounding the reasons why adolescent girls should be educated (Brown, 2012; Girl Effect, 2014), and often citing their education as a panacea. Simultaneously, stories of adolescent girls being abused, sometimes in the voices of the girls themselves, remind us that challenges exist on many fronts, and issues of power and privilege (Giroux, 1983) still must be recognized and addressed before girls can attend schools in safety with peace of mind as equals.
