further suffer from abuse from family members and judgment from others, resulting in depression. 10. Discrimination. Girls shared cases of discrimination due to their ethnicity and physical appearance, oftentimes leading to bullying in schools. Some also shared their experience of being cat-called. They also mentioned that boys are allowed to stay out late while girls are not 11. Sexual abuse. Some participants reported news and stories of rape and murder of girls in their communities. these children experience harassment, sexual or otherwise due to their physical appearance mist of the time. 12. Suicide. The prevalence of suicide in this age group is mentioned by most of the participants. They attributed this to bullying in school and depression due to family problems, i.e., separated parents, irresponsible or neglectful parents. 12. Poverty. Some girls help their families to earn a living instead of going to school. Others do not have enough money to travel to school or to pay for school projects, or even for regular meals. 13. Family problems. This contribute to girl children’s exposure to alcohol and other illegal substance and gang involvement and violence. These problems include financial problems, neglect or lack of attention by parents, pressure on the child, maltreatment and abuse, and the general lack of peace in the family. 14. Peer pressure. When peer pressure adds to family problems, girl children are pushed further into drug use and addiction. Drug addiction affects their decision-making and could lead to bad choices in life, teenage pregnancy, poverty, and criminality. 8

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