Chapter 8 employs Welby’s Meaning Triad to examine the boundary separating girlhood and womanhood under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and its repercussions on the protection of the girl child. It examines the definition of ‘woman’ in international law and the English language, and the life-cycle approach. It notes that the CEDAW fails to provide a parameter for the beginning of womanhood, thus it is not clear whether girls of all ages – young girls and adolescent girls – are covered by this treaty. It observes that female human beings located at the intersection of girlhood and womanhood may fall short of the protection of both the CRC and many provisions of the CEDAW. It applies semioethics theory and considers revising the CEDAW to undoubtedly ensure that girls are covered under this treaty, save for provisions allocating ‘adult rights’.

Chapter 6 employs Welby’s Meaning Triad to investigate whether the boundary for the beginning of girlhood should be clearly identified in the international legal framework. It studies the definitions of child under international law and in the English language to assess whether they establish a beginning point for girlhood. It conducts two case studies concerning, respectively, the practice of prenatal sex selection and the right of young and adolescent girls to a safe abortion, to illustrate the significance for girl children of the current boundary for the beginning of girlhood under international law. It studies the sense, meaning and significance of provisions in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and refers to their respective travaux préparatoires.