Every day, hundreds of thousands of girls around the world are subjected to practices that harm them physically or psychologically, or both, with the full knowledge and consent of their families, friends and communities.

The practices reduce and limit their capacity to participate fully in society and to reach their full potential. The impact ripples throughout society and reinforces the very gender stereotypes and inequalities that gave rise to the harm in the first place.

Three widespread harmful practices are female genital mutilation, child marriage and son preference.

What’s new in this report? This is the first analysis of its kind to show that 19 harmful practices are grounded in negative attitudes about the value of girls and are a means for controlling their bodies and sexuality. This report is also ground-breaking in its treatment of harmful practices as human rights violations.