Our friends at International Justice Mission have identified five hidden impacts of violence, ways that violence impacts the world’s poor unexpectedly. Here is the first:
When a girl is raped at school:
She’s highly likely to drop out—depriving her community of a future leader.
In fact, according to the World Health Organization, sexual violence at or on the way to school is one of the main reasons girls in the developing world drop out. And leaving school early is already a huge problem: Fewer than one in five girls in sub-Saharan Africa makes it to secondary school (Academy for Educational Development).
But when girls feel safe going to school, they can build great futures.
The World Bank says an extra year of primary school education boosts girls’ eventual wages by 10-20%, and an extra year of secondary school adds up to 25%.
Read more at their site for The Locust Effect. The Locust Effect is Gary Haugen’s new book (coauthored with Victor Boutros) that addresses the impact of everyday violence on the world’s poor. Learn more at The Locust Effect site or pick up a copy on Amazon.