Girl child 29.9.16

nkpsims and lmh nagpur by dr praman kushwah

1. GIRL CHILD By – Dr Shyam Kartikey Dwivedi Moderator- Dr Meenakshi Girish

2. Girl is not only a matter of gender discrimination; it is bad economics and bad social policy. Experience has shown, over and over again, that investments in girls’ education translate directly and quickly into better nutrition for the whole family, better health care, declining fertility, poverty reduction and better overall economic performance." --From the  Millennium Report

3. INTRODUCTION India is a signatory to the Alma Ata Declaration and is committed to goal health for all by 2000 AD. which sadly has remain under-realized in later and spirit even a decade after 2000 AD. The latest development in the health scenario for the girl child from the fetal stage till she attains motherhood is discussed.

4. ISSUE AND PROBLEM: Discrimination against the girl child begins even before her birth. The so called “sex determination shop” are having roaring business, offering amniocentesis and ultrasound facilities for finding the unborn baby sex and indirectly investigating abortion of the female fetus.

5. The practice attracts clients from all socio economic group, even if the money has to be begged or borrowed. Now, there is a legal ban on abortion of female fetus following sex determination test. However, the practice is going on ‘though illegal’ under a grab such as MTP.

6. NUTRITIONAL STATUS The girl has poorer nutritional status than the boys. She is more likely to have a low birth weight and given artificial feed and the amount of food ,quality of food are poorer than that of boys. Often it is a practice to postpone onset of puberty in young girls by restricting her food intake so that parents can buy sufficient time to arrange dowry and a suitable groom for her.

7. MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY: The medical needs of the girl are also ignored ,while the biological truth is ,the more males dies in infancy than the females. 1981-933:1000 2012-940:1000 2013-941:1000 2014-942:1000 2015-943:1000 2016-944:1000

8. EDUCATIONAL STATUS: Educating the girl is hailed as the best investment in a nation, that it can make for its bright future. Yet education of girl in India presents a sordid picture. High rate of school dropout Many parents do not wish to allow girls to get exposed to modern ideas.

9. GIRL CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT: Girl child is denied very survival from adequate food intake, education, health care etc. She is brought up to be submissive and docile ,playing second fiddle to the brother. Her attitude are moulded in such a manner that she herself get gravely biased against her own gender

10. GIRL CHILD LABORER: In India alone there are 8 million working female children ,out of these 2 million are engaged as domestic servant. Girl child laborer are more exploited than their male counterparts. They are paid less and asked to do more work.

11. GIRL STREET CHILD: Girl street child is much worse than male counter part. She is often harassed, sexually abused and often pushed into prostitution.

12. Solution and practical approach : No discrimination on the basis of sex. A total ban on female feticide in all states and union territories needs to be implemented strictly and in true letter and spirit. Awareness of importance of various aspects of girl child , e.g.education,legal status,etc . need to be emphasied with the help of local language , poster,cartoon at prominent of localites , televison radio,skits ,seminar etc.

13. Education of girl on priority basis. Free education for all girls upto secondary school level Improvement of nutritional statuses: Midday school meal programme Special supplementation programme for severely malnourished children Vitamin d supplementation Compulsory immunization for all Home visit by health worker ,stress on female heath

14. C hild labour act and law pertaining to exploitation of children and especially girls should be revised simplified and implemented Motivation of adoption of girl children Handicap and socially deprived girls should be given job opportunity on preferential basis

15. GIRL CHILD IN 11 TH -FIVE YEAR PLAN 2007-2012 Planning commission’s special subgroup on girl child : Separate subgroup of girl child made by working group on development children. This has been constituted by the planning commission, under the ministry of women and child with the basic objective to carry out a review of existing approach and strategy along with the program for protection, welfare and development of children.

16. HEALTH IS A STATE SUBJECT Constitution of india offers all citizens,including childern certain basic fundamental rights like RIGHT TO LIFE AND LIBERTY,RIGHT TO EQUALITY,RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND EXPRESSION,RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF RELIGION,RIGHT TO CONSERVE CULTURE .

17. To realize the letter and spirit of constitution and the state formulized the number of legislations. 1.Child marriage restrained at 1929 2.Immoral traffic prevention at 1956 3.Child labor(prohibition and regulation act) 4.Juvenile justice(care and protection of children)

18. WORLD FIT FOR CHILDREN India is signatory to a number of international instrument such as UN convention of right of the child, with its to personal protocol and conventional on elimination of all form of discrimination against women(CEDAW), there by affirming its commitment to the growth and development of women and children

19. SEX RATIO UNFAVORABLE FOR GIRL CHILD

20. Current status of sex ratio in India census 2011-11

21. GOALS OF 10 TH FIVE-YEAR PLAN2002-2007 All the children in school by 2003 and all children complete five years schooling by 2007. Reduction in gender gaps in literacy and wage rates bt at least 50 percent by 2007 Reduction of infant mortality rate(IMR)to 45 per 1000 live births by 2007 and 28 by 2012

22. OTHER OBJECTIVES INCLUDED;- 1.Arresting the decline in the child sex ratio 2.Increasing the representation of women in premier services and in parliament 3.Universalization of the integrated child development services scheme(ICDS)

23. PROBLEM OF THE GIRL CHILD FROM FETAL LIFE ONWARD AND SOLUTION AVAILABLE: 1)FEMALE FETICIDE 2)CHILD TRAFFICKING for commercial sexual exploitation,organ transplant, begging, entertainment, labor, domestic work, drug peddling, participation in armed conflict 3) CHILDREN WITH HIV AND AIDS 4)CHILD MARRIAGE 5)INSECURITY VIOLENCE AND NEGLECT 6)CHILD LABOR

24. PROBLEM WITH GIRL CHILD FROM FOETUS TO ADOLESCENCE:

25. DWINDLING SEX RATIO: important indicator Sex ratio is dwindling even in states like haryana,punjab uttar pradesh,madhya pradesh,gujarat,rajasthan . Female feticide has been reported from parts of Rajasthan, Bihar,UP , West Bengal,Tamil Nadu. Child mortality: About 12 million girls born in India every year ,in that a third of girls die in the first year of their ,25% do not survive(3million dp not survive till their 15 th birthday).

26. SCHOOL ENROLLEMENT 34% girls dropout before they complete class 5 th .The reason for their dropout being workload, both within and outside the household.

27. CHILD MARRIAGE AND ADOLESCENCE:

28. ADOLESCENT GIRL:

29. ELEVENTH PLAN -2007-2012(THE PATH AHEAD) OBJECTIVE: Strategy and action laid out in the national plan of action for children 2005 will be given and attention with focus on her survival ,protection and well being.

30. Special importance will be accorded to ensuring all girl children the right to life and liberty to uploading the dignity and security in family and society with utmost attention to their right to equality and social justice.

31. 4 “E”s for Girl child development 1)EQUALITY 2)EDUCATION 3)ENABLING ENVIRONMENT 4)EMPOWERMENT

32. DIARY OF A BABY 15 June: I was attached with my mom. 17 June: I am a tissue now.

33. DIARY OF A BABY 30 June : Mom said to Dad, “You are going to be a Father”. Mom and Dad were very Happy.

34. DIARY OF A BABY 15 July: My food is what my mom eats. 15 Sep: I can feel my heart beat. 14 Oct: I have little hands, legs and stomach.

35. DIARY OF A BABY 13 Nov: Today I was in ultrascan. WOW!!!! I’M A GIRL

36. DIARY OF A BABY 14 Nov: I was DEAD! My Mom and Dad killed me…. WHY? :-( Is it just because I was a girl??? or Is it my only crime, that I was a girl?

37. People love to have a “MOTHER” People love to have a “WIFE” People love to have a “SISTER” People love to have a “GIRL FRIEND” too, Then why not a daughter?

38. LIFE CYCLE APPROACH: The life cycle approach of the girl child with had ultimate objective of marriage and motherhood should be now revised to a capability approach,where the girl child’s contribution both economic and social terms are given due recognition as equal in value and potential to those of boys.

39. Following concerns need to be addressed: 1)All programming provisions of National Plan of Action for Children 2005,covering survival protection development and participation apply to the girl child. Where the fact of being a girl impedes a child from enjoying entitlement covered by NPA.

40. 2)All measures to serve and benefit girl children must be designed to address the needs of each age among children and each stage of childhood. Interventions, and their delivery mechanisms must effectively reach the girl child on the basis of her age and specific setting 3)the status and condition of the girl child should be used to gauge the effectiveness of development measures in reaching out to all children.

41. 4)Key issues to be tracked are: Survival of the girl child and her Right to be born (preventing female feticide) Health and nutrition Education facilities for girl child Abolition of child marriage Preventing child abuse, violence, exploitation Welfare and development of adolescent girls.

42. RECOMMENDATION OF THE SUBGROUPS FOR WELFARE OF THE GIRL CHILD FOR IMPLEMENTATION DURING 2007-2012 1 ) SURVIVAL OF THE GIRL CHILD AND HER RIGHT TO BE BORN : 2)EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PC AND PNDT ACT: Fall in female sex ratio of 0-6 years age group-976/1000 to 927/1000 in the 2001census The act need to be thoroughly reviewed to evaluate its existing administrative,enforcement and monitoring.Some suggestions in this regard include: -National inspection and monitoring committee -Stringent penalities and action:

43. Female feticide should be taken as crime Magistrates should be held accountable Enhancement of punishment of all violation of PNDT Act State medical council should take action against doctors who commit such crime A system of incentives can be formulated for tip off on clinics which are indulging in sex determination.

44. How did all this begin ? Amniocentesis test by AIIMS for genetic diagnosis a break thru in India 1980’s Tests were soon commercially available Test abuse started for sex determination and for diagnosis of female fetus A lot of hue and cry was made by NGO’S and altered sex ratio was detected in the census 1990 Govt committee, law drafted as pndt act, law modified as pcpndt act…a lot of time taken for gazette notifications in states Many clerical and administrative and forms to be filled The punishment to DOCTOR was same for mistake in form filling and actual sex determination A lot of misunderstanding and misinterpretation of law by law enforcing agencies A lot of harrassment and no or very few people actually caught for the crime( most cases for not filling forms correctly) Many NGO’s like CEHAT and others in court as PIL’S GOVT AND FOGSI AND IRIA NOW TAKING TO SIMPLIFY THE REPORTING AND TO DEAL WITH THE ACTUAL CRIME

45. PC PNDT ACT A law was passed in 1994 prohibiting tests that reveal the gender of a fetus prenatally and abortions on the basis of fetal sex are also illegal but the laws are not well enforced.

46. EFFECTS OF SON PREFERENCE IN INDIA MOST FAMILIES KEEP HAVING CHILDREN TILL THEY GET A SON BENEFITS OF SONS IN INDIAN SOCIETY 1.ECONOMIC UTILITY 2.SOCIO CULTURAL UTILITY 3.RELIGIOUS UTILITY (DAUGHTERS ARE CONSIDERED ECONOMIC LIABILITY,DOWRY AND SYSTEM OF HEAVY COSTS WEDDINGS)

47. 3)Monitoring and Surveillance 4)Nationwide Awareness and Sensitisation Campaign against Female feticide

48. 5)Scheme to address Falling Female Sex ratio - The Cradle Baby Scheme -Conditional Transfer Scheme cash and non cash) -Health and Nutrition for Girl child -Enabling Education for the Girl child -Gender sensitisation of educational system -Abolition of Child marriage(THE CHILD MARRIAGE RESTRAINT Act1929) -Girl child abuse and exploitation and violence -trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation -children of sex worker Prevention of cross border trafficking

49. Welfare and development of adolscent girl(11-18 yrs) Vocational training Nutritional program for adolscent girl(NPAG and its merger with Kishori shakti yojna ) Health status of adolescent girl.

50. Trafficking for Commercial Sexual Exploitation: The eleventh plan will need to adopt a Multi pronged Approach to combat Trafficking with distinct component of: 1)Preventive measures 2)Rescue and rehabilitation measures 3)Awareness generation and sensitisation 4)Training and capacity building.

51. GIRL CHILD FRIENDLY VILLAGES/CLUSTER: To encourage villages to become more sensitive to the girl child need and facilitate her welfare, development and empowerment.

52. HEALTH NUTRITION INDICATORS: PREGNANCY REGISTRATION IMMUNISATION FOR MOTHERS NUTRITION SUPPLEMENTS FOIR THE MOTHER INSTITUTIONAL DELIVERY REGULAR HEALTH CHECKUP ACCESSIBILITY OF HEALTH CENTER AVAILABILITY OF MEDICINE REGULAR MONITORING OF HEALTH OF CHILD IMMUNISATION SUPPLEMENTARY NUTRITION

53. EDUCATION INDICATORS: Preschool education and supplementary nutrition facility Enrollment of girl child in school Primary education facility Availability and assessibility of elementary and secondary education facility Number of female teacher and trained teachers Provision of mid day meal School books and stationary Pucca school building Toilet and sanitation facilites Extracurricular activity in school Special education for disabled Sports facilites

54. PROTECTION INDICATOR: Birth registration of the girl child Protection from child abuse and marriage Protection for sexual exploitation and trafficking Prevention of child labor Care for street children -Award and Public communication:

55. SPECIAL TOPIC ON GIRL CHILD WELFARE PROGRAMMES FOR IMPLEMENTATION DURING 2007-2012 Conditional cash transfer Scheme(along with non cash transfer)

56. PROPOSED SCHEME FOR EMPOWERMENT OF ADOLESCENT GIRL: Empower adolescent girl and built their self esteem. Promote awareness of health, hygeine nutrition,family welfare ,home management and child care. Health and nutritional status Help them understand nutrition and health safegaurd Provide them with learning and discussion opportunities and access to information along with some employment related skill Promote community and environment supportive to adolescent girl

57. TARGET GROUPS: 11 to 18 years of age Improvement of life skills,health nutrition education in the regular curiculum Regular health check up Iron and folic acid and deworming intervention Registration of all adolescent girl in age group 11-14 in aanganwadi for monitoring growth and development and suuplementary nutrition All malnourished girl to getready to eat ration at aanganwadi .

58. PROGRAM APPROCH COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT AND AWARENESS GENERATION RESEARCH AND CREATION OF DATA BASE ROLE OF PANCHAYAT

59. CHILD MARRIAGE- marriage before 18 years of age (according to UNICEF ) CHILD LABOR CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE

60. STORY IN NUTSHELL GENDER BIAS,GENDER GAP,DISCRIMINIATION AGAINST FEMALE In India and rest of the third world not only the girl child but the women as such continues to be discriminated. The sex biased is far more pronounced among the down troden and the rural settings .The discriminated girl child ,if she manages to survive ,grows up to show discrimination to her female children. This viscious cycle goes on and on and is hard to break

61. Currently, we are in the thick of campaign to generate awareness among people for safe gaurding the rights of the girl child and for upliftment of her status. This will eventually have a positive bearing on the status of the woman as well.

62. Every year, 18-24 SEPTEMBER is observed as GIRL CHILD WEEK

63. National Girl Child Day – 24 th January

64. References: Recent advances in paediatrics – Suraj Gupte Park Textbook of PSM UNICEF www.unicef.org

65. Thank You