Schoolgirls face threats in over 70 countries

Girls in at least 70 countries have faced threats, violent attacks and other abuse for trying to go to school over the past five years, the UN human rights office has revealed. A report by the Geneva-based body noted that, despite some progress, girls still face difficulty getting an education in many countries around the world.

“Attacks against girls accessing education persist and, alarmingly, appear in some countries to be occurring with increasing regularity,” the authors found.

The report cites as examples the kidnapping of nearly 300 schoolgirls in Nigeria last year, the shooting of education activist Malala Yousafzai in 2012 and the forced removal of girls from schools by the Somali extremist group al-Shabab in 2010.