Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Sociocultural
Economic
These are connected with absence of livelihood and improper living conditions
example
Psychological
Desire for physical pleasure, Increasing craze for money, Fun and pleasure,
Family’s dependence on their daughter’s income, Desire to benefit by
providing sexual favours.
A good number of girl prostitutes in India are from countries (Nepal and
Bangladesh) other than India. They mainly operate in cities that too in metro-
cities like Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi, etc. Presence of girl prostitutes from Nepal
and Bangladesh can be attributed to prevailing abject poverty and ignorance in
both these countries. In response to a question as to why they have come to
India, one girl prostitute of Nepal origin practicing in Delhi said, "In our
country, it is not easy to get employment. Our economic situation is very bad.
It is not easy even to get two square meals a day, as a result many people come
to India in search of some employment, income and other opportunities. I too
came for the same purpose."
The girl child prostitutes are mainly from both rural areas and urban slums.
Studies and discussion indicate that there are about 146 districts spread over 17
states, which are stated to have girl child prostitutes, girl prostitutes from many
of these districts are found in metro-cities like Bombay, Calcutta and Delhi and
several other areas. These districts can be viewed as prone districts in terms of
operation and origin of the girl child prostitutes. Characteristic features of
these districts / areas are :
The Hindu girl prostitutes are mainly from the Scheduled Castes, Tribes and
other backward castes. As per available information, they comprise about there
fourth of the total girl prostitutes. This in other words indicate that the girl
prostitutes basically belong to lower rank of the caste and social hierarchy. It is
interesting to note that there are certain castes and tribes which either
traditionally accept prostitution in forms or are gradually succumbing to the
pressure to work as prostitute due to loss of livelihood, and lure of easy money
or among whom sexual laxity has been considered as a traditional phenomena.
These include :
Nats,RajNats,,Bhil,
(Gometi),Banjaras,Chamars,Jatavs,Dommara,Doms,Dowari,Dehredars,Dohli,G
andharvas,Haburia,Kanjars,Koltas,Kurmi,Naik,Mali,Mahars,Mang,Munda
/Samthal,Orai
A brief description of some of these caste /tribes groups is given to have better
understanding about them and the girls vulnerability to prostitution due to
traditional acceptance of the profession:
Nut : They are found mainly scattered all over north western provinces and
Oudh and also in scattered forms in some districts of Rajasthan. Despite
several changes, occupation of their women is singing and dancing, acrobatics
and prostitution. A girl on attaining puberty is given the option between
marriage, acrobatics, singing and dancing and prostitution. If she opts for the
latter, she is presented before the caste council for their consent. Then the girl
is formally declared as prostitute and the occasion is celebrated with feasts.
Some of them also indulge in way-side prostitution.
Bedias / Berias - They are found in Uttar Pradesh (Agra, Kanpur, Etah,
Etawah, Manipur, Fatehpur, Banda, Lalitpur and Barabanki) and in some parts
of Rajasthan (Dholpur, Bharatpur) and Madhya Pradesh. Among the Bedias, it
is almost understood that the girls of the community will join prostitution. It is
not a question of giving them any option to choose between marriage and
prostitution. Their formal entry into the trade is marked by the 'Nath-Utarna'
ceremony. Bedias also obtain girls from other communities and introduce
them into prostitution. They openly talk of such involvement, without any
sense of guilt.
Bhartu & Habura - They are basically found in Uttar Pradesh and belong to
criminal communities where men are engaged in petty crimes and women in
illicit liquor making and prostitution. The castes occupation provides a
favorable environment for practice of prostitution.
Dehredar - They are found mainly in U.P. among them singing, dancing and
prostitution are accepted occupations. Dehredars are considered to be
descendants of the courtesans of the Mughal court and the tradition of singing
and dancing has been well preserved in these families. A Dehredar girl's entry
into trade is celebrated as 'Missi' ceremony.
Gandharva - They are found in U.P. and in some other states. This is a caste
of singers and prostitutes. The community selects beautiful girls with some
flair for music for prostitution. Once a girl takes to prostitution, she is not
allowed to marry and then who do not opt for prostitution, marry within the
community.
1. Physical attraction.
3. Greater sensation;
Explaining the reasons for greater demand for young girls, one of the pimps of
Udaipur said, "men, particularly the middle aged ones, prefer young girls
because they feel that sex with young girls will keep them young.
Based on the information available about the marital status of prostitute, it can
be said that the overwhelming majority of the girl prostitutes (over about two
third) are unmarried. This can be explained on the ground of greater demand of
girls who uare virgin and have greater physical attraction. The married girl
prostitutes that these girls frequently go for abortion both voluntarily and
involuntary to avoid having dependents, which can be a hindrance to the
practice of the profession.
The girl prostitutes are basically drawn from families which are resourceless
and poor. The overwhelming majority of these families live in perpetual debt.
These contribute both to their entry into prostitution as well as to their
continuance in prostitution.
In many cases, it has been seen, that they perceive their family members as
responsible for their entry into prostitution. One young girl prostitute, who was
sold by her family members (uncle), to a trafficker-giving vent to feelings said
"my 'mama' was just like Kansa mama of lord Krishna. If I am able to get out
of this trade, I shall see he pays for his action."
GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT
UNICEF's strategy of meeting the needs of the whole child inevitably requires
equipping the mother to shape the child's immediate environment. The
demands of equity too dictate that women - and not just mothers - who have
long been disadvantaged in almost every walk of life, get better opportunities.
Indeed, gender disparities have been identified as being among the key
concerns to be addressed in the current Master Plan of Operations with India.
While the recent 73 rd and 74 th Constitutional Amendments have attracted
UNICEF attention in view of the increased role of women in local government
UNICEF has also advocated for the promotion of legal literacy for women and
actions to counter the scourges of female foeticide, infanticide and early
marriage.
The "Girl Child" in India, who embodies both children and adolescents and
constitutes more than a quarter of the country's population, is considered the
"Lesser Child".
Although the principle of gender equality and gender equity is basic to Indian
thinking, girls in our country are still deprived of equal opportunities for
survival and development and unfortunately, this begins early in life or rather
before birth. In terms of Gender Development Index, India ranks 99 among the
130 countries included in the Index (UNDP 1995).
Born into indifference and reared on neglect, the girl child is caught in a web
of cultural practices and prejudices that hamper her development, both
physically and mentally. In India, for a Girl Child the period from infancy to
adolescence in a perilous path. In this socially inhospitable environment of
patriarchal and male dominated society, a girl is considered to be someone,
who will never contribute to the family income and who at marriage will take a
large portion of family assets as dowry.
The legal definition of the Girl Child varies depending upon the purpose.
As per Article 1 of UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Girl and boys
below 18 years of age are considered as children.
"….a child means every human being below the age of eighteen years, unless
under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier".
Existing Support System for Survival and Development of the Girl Child
Government Machinery
Department of Women and Child Development, Department of Education,
Department of Family Welfare, Ministry of Labour , Ministry of Social Justice
and Empowerment, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
Voluntary Sector
Constitutional Provisions
Article 24 "…No child below the age of fourteen years shall be employed
to work….in any other hazardous employment…."
Article 39 "…the tender age of children are not abused…." "…to enter
avocations unsuited to their age of strength…."
Policies
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child "….State Parties shall respect and
ensure the rights set forth in the present Convention to each child….
Irrespective of the child's sex…." Article 2, CRC, 1990
Adolescent Girl scheme provides family life education to school dropouts and
attempts to raise their health and nutritional cycle. It also imparts skills to
enable the girl child to take up useful economic activities later in her life. The
Scheme comprises two sub schemes i.e. Girl to Girl Approach for adolescent
girl in the age group of 11-15 years and Balika Mandal to reach adolescent
girls in the age group of 11-18 years. So far, about 4 lakh adolescent girls have
been provided services under the scheme.
The scheme delivers an integrated package of six services. During the year
1997, the Government of India spent Rs. 750/- crores on implementation of the
Programme.
The programme has come to be regarded as the most viable vehicle for
achieving the goals set in the National Plan of Action for Children. The Plan
gives special emphasis on development of the Girl Child and Adolescent Girls.
• Improve the nutritional and health status of children below the age of six
years.
• Lay the foundation for the proper psychological, physical and social
development of the child.
• Enhance the capability of the mother to look after the normal health and
nutritional needs of the child, through proper health and nutrition
education.
At present, 149 districts in 14 states are being covered under the scheme.
Although, the girl child has a natural biological advantage over the boy, yet in
India social disadvantage outweighs the genetic advantage of girls.
Demographic trends indicate the deep-rooted gender discrimination.
As per the 1991 census, out of 402.8 million women there were 153.85 million
girls in the age group 0-14 yeas. Approximately more than a quarter of India's
population comprises of girls upto the age of 19 years. During 1981-91,
comparatively the female population grew at a slower pace (21.77%) than male
population (22.40%). Similar trends were also observed in girl child
population.
Sex Ratio : Unfavorable to women-Sex ratio for girls has been deteriorating
from decade to decade in the 20 th century. From 972 in 1901, it has come down
to 929 in 1991.
As per the 1991 Census, there are 31.3 million more men than women in the
country. At each age level, there is a large number of "Missing Girls" i.e.
comparatively less number of girls than boys.
The main reason for negative sex ratio for girls is the higher female mortality
at all age levels.Sex Ratio is most unfavorable to girls in the states of Tamil
Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana.
Sex ratio has been negative for girls at all age levels
Mean age at marriage has been increasing steadily, and at present it is 20 years
for female and 25 years for males.
Age at marriage for rural girls is very low due to the value system, beliefs and
social problems. During 1992-93, 39% of girls between 15-19 yeas were
married and in the age group of 20-24 yeas more than 50% of women were
married before 18 years of age (NFHS - National Family Health Survey, 1992).
Early marriage and early pregnancies are resulting in physical wastage, birth
complications and low birth-weight babies having poor survival rate. During
1996. There has been s substantial increase in the incidence of cases reported
under the Child Marriage Restraint Act.
As per the 1991 census, literacy rates have more than doubled from 24% in
1961 52% in 1991 and female literacy has gone up five times I.e, increased
from 8.86% in 1951 to 39.29% in 1991. Still there are 60 million more
illiterates in the country than there were in 1961. About 60.8% of the female
population is illiterates; and over two third of this population lives in rural
areas. Rural-urban difference in female literacy have further increased.
Girls form more than half of illiterate children in the age group of 5-9 years.
Although, girls' enrolment at various levels of school education has improved
appreciably, girls account for only 43.2% of enrolment at the primary state and
39% at the upper primary stage.
(F) 39.19
(T) 52.19 Adult literacy rate
of 80% (1991) in
the age group of
15-35 years.
Enrolment
(F) 47.8
(T) 110.3
(1996-97)
F 24.2 (1994)
Health Care
Sex-bias in health care prevails in the country, which accounts for higher
female mortality and poor girl child survival. Studies indicate that girls do not
receive timely and adequate health care. And, when they are treated, it is
generally by a traditional healer or are taken to a hospital at a late stage of
illness, when chances of survival are reduced. Fewer resources are invested on
girl's health-expenditure on treatment of girls is less than half of that of boys.
Girls at Work
As per the 1991 Census, out of 11.28 million child labour, 3.42 million girls
under 14 years of age were main workers and 1.68 million were marginal
workers.
In India, much of the young girls' work is invisible, remains unrecognized and
undervalued. A large number of girls are mostly engage in unorganized sector.
In rural areas, a majority of girls are unskilled and low paid workers. Nearly
50% of female child workers in urban areas are engaged in household industry
The Girl Child is either burdened with household responsibilities and sibling
care or is engaged as child labourer. She is deprived of joys of childhood,
misses out on schooling, and lacks capabilities for economic participation
As per Crime in India 1996, during the year, incidence of child rape
increased and the share of child rape victims to total rape victims was 27.5%.
Also, there has been increase in the incidence of buying girls for prostitution
(22%), foeticide (39%) and child marriages (89%).
Juvenile Delinquency
As per Juvenile Justice Act, 1986, girls below 18 years as offenders are
considered juveniles. Juvenile crime has declined in India and during 1995-96
the share of juvenile crime to total crime was 0.6%. However, there has been
increase in the number of girls apprehended. Girls in the age group of 12-16
years have been found to be more susceptible to crimes. The proportion of girls
apprehended as juveniles reached 26.3% in 1996, the highest in the last six
years.
Trafficking of Girls
Destitute
Destitute and abandoned girls among the street children and young girls in
urban slums are victims of exploitation and sexual abuse..
• Better pay Rs. 500/- now than to pay Rs. 5,00,000/- and more later on as a
dowry.
With the declaration of 1990 as SAARC year of the Girl Child, long-ignored
issue concerning girls have emerged to the forefront. As a result, an empathetic
environment has been created for the Girl Child. During 1990s, gender equality
received top priority in all the commitments and programme interventions
concerning children at the national and international levels.
The revolution for 'Girl Child Survival' that began in 1990s, is still on, as
there is much more to be done to mobilise political, cultural, administrative and
community resources to give Girl Child her rights. As the Girl Child is the
responsibility of all, her empowerment calls for partnership between all
concerned for building-up her capacity and providing her equal opportunities
for development. In this effort, the very moral fibre of the society which
considers girls as a liability has to be discarded.
3. Review progress on the status of the girl child and revise time bound
goals & objectives.
7. Free the girl child from household responsibilities and sibling care.
10. Undertake information search and set up Data Base on girl child.
The Vision
A Girl, buoyant with joy and happiness, standing with confidence at the
threshold of adulthood, as a decision-maker and at par with boys, in a
society which considers her an asset and gives her the freedom of making
her own destiny.
FEMALE EDUCATION
consequences include lower fertility rates, lower infant and child mortality
rates, lower population growth rates, higher age at marriage, higher life
economy.
The gap between the participation rates of boys and girls in elementary
education is the biggest single gap that needs to be filled for universalization.
rural areas, reflect the discriminatory social attitude with respect to the girl
child. While the solution for this problem does not lie entirely in the
decision-making skills in girls. This would have far reaching implication for
primary stage from 0.5 million to 13 million. The growth rate of girls
enrolment has been higher than that of boys byt disparities still
remain.
• In states with medium female literacy rate (40-50 per cent) the
• In 1991, 60.8 per cent of the female population aged 7 years and
declined from 78.2 per cent in 1981 to 60.8 per cent in 1991, in
enrolment at that level. GERs are sometimes higher than 100 because
per cent for girls as compared to 74.2 per cent for boys.
• There is a great deal of variation in GERs frin state ti state. In
Rajasthan the primary and upper primary GERs for girls are 50 and
• The Drop Out Rate 2 (1988-89) for girls from Classes I - V was
49.69 and for boys 46.74. Thus fir every 10 girls who entered Class I
cent of the total enrolment; of this only 39.46 per cent are girls. In
Classes VI-VIII, Scheduled Caste children account for 13.61 per cent
of the total enrolment and only 33.16 per cent are girls.
• In Classes I-V Scheduled Tribe children form 7.91 per cent of the
total enrolment; of this 38.37 per cent are girls. In classes VI-VIII,
Scheduled Tribe children account for 5.19 per cent of the total
highest Drop Out Rate at the primary level. The corresponding figure
girls.
learning rather than the mere provision of facilities are pivotal in the
Working Girl
According to the 1981 Census 1 , 8.35 per cent girls under 14 years of age
were main workers (involved in full time economic activity) and 9.35 per
cent were marginal workers (not working full time). Several studies show
that, in part, the exploitation of the female child is a direct result of the
exploitation of women.
activity, boys are often marginal workers; this is partly because boys go
Between 1971 and 1981 there was an increase in the work participation
Whereas the child labour force according to the 1981 census was 13.59
caring for younger sibling, cooking, cleaning, fetching fodder and fuel; in
child, the girl in rural India has contributed assistance to the family
picking, begging, home based piece rate work such as pasting cartons,
making joss sticks, basket weaving, and tailoring. Girls usually earn
between Rs.5 and 15 for 8-10 hours of work. In most cases they do not
even get separate wages as they generally work with their mother. Unlike
the male child girls are not sent to workshops or factories except in the
case of the match, fireworks and bangle industries. Some girls are
conditions.
The basic premise of the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act,
girl workers are beyond the reach of law; furthermore, their numbers
"worker. The 1981 Census reported nationally that only 13.6 million
children - 8.1 m males and 5.5 m females- in the 5-14 age group were
working. It has been argued that the census figures account essentially
employed.
A survey of 182 low income households in two Delhi slums showed that :
early marriage;
or surrogate mothers; they had often been pulled out of school for
precisely that reason; girls most often slid from the role of surrogate
- most children followed the occupation of the parent of the same sex;
children;
compensation;
- female children in almost all cases gave all their earnings to their
parents and;
- girls had much less free time for play and leisure activities.
status and opportunity for the girl child in the 1990s. There are a number
basic health, nutrition, education and social status of the girls child.
resources to create an ethos of care and value for the girl child. Such
9. Advocate equal rights for girls in all national and international for a .
STRATEGY
We thought of having this kind of strategy that is
approach because seeing all the environment. We find that there are problems
in belief, attitudes values, norms and behaviors of the target group that is
first we have to convert their negative attitude to neutral and then neutral to
positive which is a long process. And it can't be done so easily so first we had
to make them learn that girls are not weak or secondary in anyway. But we
human beings just like men. It is a different thing that they have been made
biologically so as to conceive, give birth end feed infants with their milk. But
this is what, which all of us men receive at some stag. That is had their been no
women how can a man get birth. It is she who gives birth, feed him on her milk
and give all the love and affection required to him. So we should understand
that mothers play important role in development of man. Similarly the girl is
same as a boy child. She also has some parents and is born by similar process.
So she is entitled to get similar love, affection and care by the parents. She has
similar mental make up. If given less attention and care , she won't be able to
develop fully. So we should not treat a girl and a wife badly or discriminate
upon, simply because our fathers/forefathers did to like this but rather shed our
The problem which we likely will face is that this scheme has everything right
from moral, social to psychological front. But has not monetary gains involved
for villagers if they remove gender bias. So we will find it difficult to attract
This is because the product is such that unless and until people learn that this
approach id right. The entire process gets defeated. Then people not only
should learn, but also feel that this process or adoption is right and then and
only then they will act. So in easy terms we can say that target adopters should
develop the right knowledge, develop attitudes for the rightness of approach
and then act upon it. It will create a sense of goodness and a contagion effect
So our basic aim is to tackle the problem from four points. These are :
Psychological front
we have to show them that in western societies women and girls child have an
equal status. The urban society and other firm personalities which are regarded
those people.
Moral
enjoyed equal status in Indian society, Islam provides lots of rights to women,
even Christianity provides all such rights. However, all these rights are not
being given to them. So we should atleast give all these rights to them.
Benefit
We can highlight and tell them that benefits they can get if they raise status of
women example. If empowered or made to learn new techniques they can earn
and help poor villagers in increasing their family income. The organisly
women on cooperative lines help to earn money as they did in Amul case. This
will help the farmers to fulfill day to day needs. As earnings of harvest is used
in the purchase of clothes, seeds etc. Even if women become powerful and
become acute in panchayats. It will raise the status of her husband or father. So
maintain the women or girl confined at home shows lagging behind in the
society.
protected by law.
5. Art 38 - direct the state to promote the welfare of people and to secure just
social order.
6. Art 39(d) - Equal pay for equal work for both men and women.
7. Art 42 - directs state for just and human conditions of work and maternity
relief.