India doesn’t have the best track record for what Prime Minister Narendra Modi calls “the girl child.”
In an effort to redress the current belief that female babies are less desirable or worthy than their male counterparts, Modi called on fathers to post selfies with their daughters, and post them on Twitter with the hashtag #SelfieWithDaughter. The Save your Daughter, Teach your Daughter campaign aims to bring awareness to the declining birth rate of girls.
My daughters are my world. They fill my life with joy. I love them. #SelfieWithDaughter pic.twitter.com/spw3A5TzTM
— Gautam Trivedi (@Gotham3) June 28, 2015
His radio address on Sunday has led to a viral campaign seeing proud fathers uploading images and stories about their experiences parenting their daughters. A staggering 100 districts of India are plagued by declining birth rates, owing to widespread female foeticide.
2 daughters. 2 selfies. Thank you God! #SelfieWithDaughter pic.twitter.com/lnlZgQLbV4
— Professor (@BeerOholic) June 28, 2015
The Prime Minister hopes the social media campaign will raise the importance of girls and has promised to retweet selfies fathers are posting with their girls. The hierarchy in terms of importance of girls in families is exemplified by the lack of photos in people’s homes.
The campaign has gone viral with dads of daughters from all over the world pledging their support.Here’s hoping the new visibility inspired by the viral campaign changes the status quo in homes and beyond.
What do you think about Prime Minister Modi’s social media selfie call to arms?
