A/HRC/11/6 page 20 increased access to knowledge and better health. Lack of it on the other hand, can be a major source of marginalization and isolation within and outside the home, leading to lower status and increased vulnerability to abuse. 62. Although girls’ education is on the rise in many parts of the world, their right to education is frequently violated by economic circumstances. For instance, when the cost of living and food are driven up by financial crisis, privatization or import liberalization, girls are far more likely to drop out of school than boys. Of the estimated 150 million children currently enrolled in primary school that will drop out before completion, at least 100 million will be girls.55 Child marriage - a form of violence against girls - is associated with lower educational attainment for girls, limiting their employment opportunities and economic security as well as their access to social and economic resources and decision-making in the family.56 63. Although higher levels of education are generally associated with a lesser risk to women of experiencing violence, some studies reveal contradictory patterns. “Educated women know their rights and are therefore not prepared to follow orders unquestioningly. Asking questions leads to conflicts which then lead to violence.”57 These findings can be interpreted as a patriarchal backlash against women’s newfound empowerment through education and the challenge that this represents to male domination in the family and society at large. 7. Rights to work, livelihood and social security 64. Paid work, particularly under market conditions, secures a livelihood for women and their family and provides them with a degree of independence. In so doing, it enhances women’s ability to escape poverty and potentially abusive environments such as “crowded living conditions, limited scope of action, as well as psychological strain”.58 While evidence shows that women’s earnings can trigger spousal resentment that end in violence, 59 access to paid work provides women with better bargaining power or the option to leave an abusive relationship in 55 Dennis and Zuckerman, op. cit. (note 35 above), p. 10. 56 International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), Knot Ready: Lessons from India on Delaying Marriage for Girls, Washington and New Delhi, 2008 (available at http://www.iiav.nl/ epublications//2008/Knot_ready.pdf). 57 Hombrecher, Una et al, Overcoming Domestic Violence: A Global Challenge, Social Service Agency of the Protestant Church in Germany, Stuttgart, 2007, p. 47 (available at http://www2. wcc-coe.org/dov.nsf/51bb65526e8149bac1256c1c003547c6/6714af73bd48efe 9c12574aa003 d0616/$FILE/BfdW-BUCHHuslGewENGL_final2.pdf). 58 59 Ibid., p. 33. S.R. Schuler, S.M. Hashemi, and S.H. Badal, “Men’s violence against women in Bangladesh: Undermined or exacerbated by microcredit programmes?” Development in Practice, Vol. 8, No. 2 (1998), pp. 148-157.