I'm an eighteen year old girl living in Norway. I'm healthy, I go to school, I have good friends and a nice family. I'm also very active after school and on weekends. At school, I have the same rights as everybody else. For the most part, I can have any type of career I hope for, depending on what I do with my education.
             In some of my classes, I get better grades than most of the boys, and in some subjects, they do better than me. I play football, hang out with friends, have fun, go to school, play soccer and wear a bikini during the summer. Where I live, girls are equal to boys. But in some parts of the world, some girls aren't as lucky as me.
             From reading the newspapers, watching the news or surfing the net, we see that millions of girls and women around the world are oppressed and abused. Since oppression is a part of their everyday reality, they often aren't aware that they're being mistreated.
             The fact that some countries and religions allow and reinforce the abuse of girls and women is something that shocks those living in societies where females are seen as equal to men. It's difficult to understand how, in our modern and technologically connected world, this can continue to happen. How can entire societies of men feel justified abusing and mistreating their daughters, sisters and wives?
             As a woman myself, I can't fathom this. I've always been free and have had equal rights. I've never experienced discrimination or abuse. And when do I feel I'm being treated unfairly, I'm confident enough to defend myself and to make sure that my voice is heard.
             But many women in a male-dominated countries or societies have few rights. Girls who grow up abused or do not have equal rights become women who are accepting of abuse and the fact that they hold a lower rank than the men in their lives. Some religions back up this attitude in their scriptures;
             "If you experience rebellion from the women, you shall first ta...