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A survey of 1,000 girls in 10 districts of Uttar Pradesh has revealed how many adoloscent girls face sexual abuse by their own male relatives. The study was carried out by the Mahila Samakhya — a Union Government initiative to educate and empower women in the State — in the course of profiling the girls for admission to the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBV) in the districts.
More than 80 per cent of the girls who filled the forms expressed a fear of their male relatives, sometimes even beyond the fear of snakes, scorpions or wild animals. In Mathura, there was not a single girl who didn’t express fear of a male relative. Besides Mathura, the other districts where the survey was carried out were Saharanpur, Muzzafarnagar, Sitapur, Pratapgarh, Jaunpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Mau and Gorakhpur.
The findings have shocked the officials of the Mahila Samakhya. “I was surprised to see the names of the male relatives, including the father, in the list of those whom these adoloscent girls fear,” said Dr Rashmi Sinha, the State project director of Mahila Samakhya, Uttar Pradesh.
The officials’ “friendly chat” with the girls confirmed their fears. “What started off as just noting down some basics about these girls ended up as an exercise in delving into their psyche,” said Sinha.
Dr Smriti Singh, consultant at Mahila Samakhya, said that the survey indicated the effect of domestic violence and sexual abuse on these girls. “The show of power by the men, though sexual and physical abuse, has a deep impact on these girls. When they grow up, they end up getting beaten by their husbands.
“They feel that it’s a routine part of their lives as they have seen this since their childhood. We have a difficult time counselling these girls and making them realise that it is against their rights to be beaten up,” said Dr Singh.
As a part of the KGVV curriculum of the Mahila Samakhya, the girls are taught to raise their voice against injustice and oppression on women.
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