New study on state of girls in India shows need for National Policy for Girl Child

The World of India’s Girls (WINGS) 2014 report produced by Save the Children provides comprehensive insights into what are the needs of girls in India today
By: Save the Children
 
NEW DELHI - Nov. 19, 2014 - PRLog -- New Delhi, 19 November. Dr. Najma Heptulla, Minister for Minority Affairs, and Lalitha Kumaramanglam, Chairperson, National Commission for Women released Save the Children’s report on the status of girl child in India called ‘’World of India’s Girls (WINGS) 2014’’ at a function here today. The report looks at how gender-based discrimination starts even before birth in India, affecting the way the girl child experiences her childhood impacts a woman throughout her life. Among other recommendations, it calls for a National Policy for the Girl Child. WINGS focuses specifically on how poverty exacerbates the effect of gender discrimination for girls and manifests itself through unequal opportunity to health and education impacting her throughout her life.

Set in the backdrop of the last two decades, it looks at how girls have fared on access to healthcare; nutrition; water and sanitation facilities; education and safe spaces and protection from abuse. WINGS findings show that for the girl child, the struggle for survival begins in the womb. Even after she is (allowed to be) born, widespread neglect makes her survival precarious. Together, these two factors ensure that we bear the tragic burden of being a nation of disappearing daughters. The census of 2011 shows that overall there are 38 million missing women. The boy-girl divide over the last few decades has widened to such an extent that today, in the age group of 0-6 years, there are 7.1 million fewer girls than boys as against 4.2 million in 1991.

Speaking at the release function, Dr. Heptulla affirmed that the government is taking bold measures to improve the lot of India’s girls. ‘The report points out the rising aspirations of the girls to be full citizens and their desire to have greater control over their lives beyond the defined roles of wife and mothers – and our government is committed to the realization of these aspirations,” she stated.

Government, civil society, media and the other stakeholders must work together to secure the future of girls in every part of India,” Kumaramanglam added. The analysis in WINGS shows that the onset of adolescence brings a plethora of problems for girls. It is during this period that the girl is most vulnerable, bearing as she does now the double burden of childhood and sexuality. This phase is marked firstly by a halt in her schooling - due to various reasons such as poverty, prioritisation of brothers’ education - and subsequently, involvement in various activities that put them at risk. “

The dropout rates at various levels of schooling can be dramatic and telling. For instance, in 2011, the dropout rate at Class 5 for girls was 24.4%, while the dropout rate at Class 8 was 41.3%. Overall, at the secondary level, the attendance rate for girls was 42.3% as against 52.7% for boys.

There has also been a steady increase in the number of dowry-related cases with a 36% increase in reported cases from 2011 to 2012.

Save the Children’s Chairman, Harpal Singh, pointed out, “Concerns for safety emerged as a major motif as we tried to understand why girls were confined to households or were restricted from going to places like markets or made to stay at home when schools were far away. Exercising masculinity through sexual assault is so deeply rooted that a Save the Children study in Sitamarhi district showed that a majority of male respondents strongly agreed that they can tease girls they do not know in public transport. Our organization is working across thematic areas to ensure child rights and protection of girls has emerged as major focus for us in recent years.’’

The report strongly recommends that a National Policy for the Girl Child be formulated to guide and inform all laws, policies, plans and programmes directed at the girl child. At present, there are several policies and programmes at national and state level, but in order to have a comprehensive and coordinated action, it is critical to have a targeted National Policy; else, all efforts would remain standalone.

In a panel discussion held at the release function, media personalities Sagarika Ghose and Kaveree Bamzai moderated deliberations among the panellists Anoyara Khatun (Young Crusader for Child Rights from West Bengal), Anurag Thakur (BJP MP) and Suneeta Dhar (Director, JAGORI) along with a participatory audience, which concluded that the time for change for India’s girls had indeed come.

Save the Children works across 17 states of India to ensure proper education, health and protection of children, and also responds to their humanitarian needs across India.

Contact
Devendra Tak
***@savethechildren.in
End
Source:Save the Children
Email:***@savethechildren.in
Tags:Child Survival, Child Rights, Child Education, Girl Child
Industry:Non-profit, Society
Location:New Delhi - Delhi - India
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