A Report On The State Of India’s Girls
photo courtesy Plan Asia
The 7th billionth baby born on earth, was born in India. Her name is Nargis, and you see her in this photo here. What sort of a life awaits Nargis in India?
According to this 2011 report on global gender equality, India is one of the worst countries in the globe for women, ranking at 129 out of the 146 countries in this survey. In fact in Asia, there is only one country that is worse for women than India – and that is Afghanistan!
So if India is no country for women , what does it mean to be born a girl here?
For Children’s Day (November 14) The 50 Million Missing Campaign brings you the following Report on The State of India’s Little Girls: (click on the links for more information).
- 50% of girls in India don’t want to be girls. They feel so unloved and unwanted as girls in this society that they wish they were born as boys (according to a government survey)!
- Hundreds of girls born in India are given names like ‘Unwanted’ and ‘Undesired’ by their parents.
photo by Subir Basak
90% of abandoned children in India are girls who were discarded by their parents who did not want daughters. There are about 10 million abandoned girls in India.
- 25 million girls in India are married off before the age of 10, according to Unicef. India accounts for 1/3 of the worlds ‘child brides.’ Almost 50% of girls in India are married under the legal age, a rate higher than even other poorer countries in Asia or Africa. Because they are children, these girls are also most at risk for domestic and sexual violence.
- There are 300,000 married teenage mothers in India according to the government census who have already had 2 children by the age of 15. India has the highest maternal mortality rate in the world, and this is the age group that is most vulnerable, since their bodies are not able to cope with the rigors of reproduction.
- Literacy rates for girls is 54% while that for boys is 75%
- India is now the world’s ‘hub’ for child prostitution and child sex-trafficking. According to reports filed with the Supreme Court about 40 minor girls under the age of 15 are forced into prostitution every day!
- The group with the highest HIV infection rates in India are girls who are under 18 years.
- 53.22% of children in India have experienced some sexual abuse; 22% of them extreme forms of sexual violence.
- Up to 5 years of age, girls in India have a 40% higher mortality rate than boys the same age. Studies conclude that this is because the parents deliberately starve them or don’t give them medical care when they need it, because they don’t think a girl is worth it! Due to chronic malnutrition about 90% of girls in India are anemic.
- Almost 2 million girls between the ages of 1 day and 6 years were battered to death by their families, over a 20 year period, only they because they were girls. The research concluded that if they were “lucky” enough to be born as boys they would not be beaten or killed.
LISTED BELOW ARE SOME OF THE RELEVANT POSTS FROM OUR BLOG. JUST CLICK ON THE LINK.
We Are A Nation of Daughter Killers: Says India’s 2011 Census
When Cultures Give Parents The Right To Trash Their Daughters: Dimple’s Story
When Mothers Kill Their Daughters
Her Grandmother Tried To Kill Her: Karishma’s Story
Documentary Film on Female Infanticide
Molested By Hundreds of Men: Sunita Murmu’s Story
The Girl Called ‘Blind Pigeon’: Anita’s Story
Teenagers Killed For ‘Honor’: Celebrating Diwali With Boys
Taking The Wheels: Sunita Chauhan’s Story
A Daughter Dreams: Tikuli Dogra’s Story
What Do Mothers Teach Their Daughters About Violence?
They Prostitute Their Daughters: The Bedia
Indian Girls ‘Missing’ Worldwide
The Place Where No Woman Walked
In My Skin: Moving Past Child Sexual Abuse
The Disturbing Reason For The Reluctance To Call India’s Female Genocide By Name
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ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER: Subir Basak is a member of The 50 Million Missing Campaign’s Photographers’ Group which is supported by more than 2400 photographers. To see more of his works click here .
Plan Asia, which has been working in Asia since 1948, has projects to help communities in 14 countries. Visit them on Facebook, and see photos of their work on flickr.
who do i contact to report a child molester who is hiding in India? this is serious he molested my daugther 20 years a go and when discovered fled to India don’t know hwere exactly
Try to contact the the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights. Details here (givve them all the details). Also see National Commission for women. Details here. A private ngo is Child Line — details here.
IDK… that’s so horrible! I will be praying for you, & her.
he nar naaraayani naari maatra aapkaa vichaar hi is srishti kaa srijan,paalan,bharan-poshan evam sanhaar kaa dyotak hai aur is atulneeya,anmol prakriti ke var ko agar hum tiraskaar ki drishti se dekh rahein hain to nissandeh naron-purushon kaa astitva vinaash ke kagaar par hai