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This report brings out the realities and challenges that adolescent girls face in their
attempts to lead healthy, fulfilling lives and suggests how the right investments in
empowering them could have the highest impact.
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the kiawah trust in sanskrit dasra means enlightened giving dasra is india s leading strategic philanthropy foundation dasra works with philanthropists and successful social entrepreneurs to bring together knowledge funding and people as a catalyst for social change we ensure that strategic funding and capacity building skills reach non profit organizations and social businesses to have the greatest impact on the lives of people living in poverty www.dasra.org india m.r co-op housing society bldg no j/18 1st floor opposite raheja college of arts and commerce relief road off juhu tara road santa cruz west mumbai 400 054 e info@dasra.org t +91 22 61200 0400 uk e alison@dasra.org t +44 7949645370 the kiawah trust commissioned dasra to write this report in order to understand the most effective way to educate and empower adolescent girls and also to identify exceptional non profits who are achieving impact within this sector in some of the most underdeveloped states of northern india in addition to this report the kiawah trust also commissioned copal partners to compile a report entitled landscaping women s empowerment through learning and education the kiawah trust is a uk family foundation that exists to improve the lives of disadvantaged and vulnerable young people we believe that educating adolescent girls from poor communities allows them to thrive to have greater choice in their life and a louder voice in their community this leads to healthier more prosperous and more stable families communities and nations the kiawah trust london uk info@thekiawahtrust.com cover image jaipur rugs charlotte anderson[close]
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l ever ag ingthedividend table of contents thes tat eofempl oya bilityinindia executive summary adolescent girls in india an invisible and often powerless group an overview of issues and challenges in empowerment 2 5 11 19 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 i ii adolescent policy and interventions the role of government and non profits in empowering adolescent girls iii empowering adolescent girls through systemic change cornerstones best practices and non profit interventions iv mapping non profits with high impact interventions crea mipd naz magic bus mamta sarathi aangan trust pathfinder vatsalya seva mandir concluding thoughts a dasra research process c b glossary bibliography 46 49 49 52 53 55 56 appendices e d acknowledgements and organization database endnotes 1[close]
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e xecutivesummary india s rapid economic advances over the last two decades are a cause of satisfaction however that satisfaction is allayed by the fact that several groups are being left out of girls as evident in the steadily deteriorating ratio of females to males which declined from these advances one group that rarely comes to mind but that badly needs to be brought into are at a particular disadvantage since they are systematically denied the advantages of autonomy mobility and economic opportunity that adolescent boys enjoy empowering them could have the highest impact the report shows that l the center of development is adolescent girls india lacks an institutional system to protect executive summary ow ningherfuture 972 females to 1,000 males in 1991 to 940 females to 1,000 males in 2011.1 adolescent girls this report brings out the realities and challenges that adolescent girls face in their attempts to lead healthy fulfilling lives and suggests how the right investments in adolescent girls in india are a large invisible population amounting to 113 million or 20 of the world s adolescent girls and are trapped in a society with socio-cultural in bihar rajasthan and uttar pradesh where over half of all adolescent girls are married before the age of 18 up to 95 of drop out of schools and over 50 face domestic violence l essential life-choices research indicates that adolescent girls are particularly vulnerable practices and contrasting stages of development that leaves them powerless to make key influencers and influences in her life at home in school and at work that can help realize her potential including self peers families communities and institutions addressing the challenges facing the adolescent girl in india requires mobilizing the l needs of adolescent girls however the last decade has seen great improvements with the such as women or children creating a gap for effective policies that address the introduction of the national youth policy and more recently the sabla scheme l policies have systematically considered adolescent girls as a subset of larger groups the renewed focus of the government of india on adolescent girls empowerment is an opportunity for non profits to use their expertise and on-the-ground experience these services at a community level and increase impact dasra has evaluated over 100 to help significantly improve the quality of services delivered create demand for non profits in bihar rajasthan and uttar pradesh and identified innovative approaches foundation seva mandir and vatsalya 2 bus mamta mipd naz foundation pathfinder international sarathi development some non profits are doing high potential work in this area with innovative scalable models that incorporate best practices for empowering adolescent girls ten are highlighted as high potential non profits with innovative scalable models aangan trust crea magic[close]
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ow ningherfutureexecutivesummary jaipur rugs charlotte anderson only the social benefit but the economic importance of investing in empowering adolescent girls their well-being is crucial for societies and communities improvements in their health in girl-specific programs in the areas of reproductive health education and financial literacy has an intergenerational impact impact through subsequent life stages and education ripple out to their children families and communities statistics show that and pregnancy could add $110 billion to india s gdp over their lifetimes indicating not giving adolescent girls the opportunity to stay in school and delay early marriage future social and economic indicators depend on the condition of adolescent girls today not adolescence is the last chance for interventions that would continue to have a positive it is time for a long-overdue dialogue between civil society organizations policy-makers just in terms of their education but also their health and decision-making ability investing and the private sector on what can be done to improve the lives of adolescent girls and enable social and economic potential them to fulfill their potential there is an urgent need to place adolescent girls at the center to design interventions that ensure safer healthier cities where girls can fully develop their of development by understanding their environments and the challenges they face in order 3[close]
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in india adolescent girls account for nearly 11 of the population but remain an invisible fested in five key aspects of their lives sexual health early marriage and early pregnancy domestic violence education productivity and income group.2 society usually fails to respect their human rights leaving them powerless to act in a way that improves their lives at home school or work this lack of empowerment is mani an invisible and often powerless group doeseadol eas c le nc tn t g ir lls sinvis ibn e aina gi r in ilddoftenpowerlessa significant challenge and opportunity i amounting to as much as 20 of the world s adolescent girl population adolescent girls in india live in extremely harsh conditions especially in some states and in slums according in 2010 by copal partners gender inequality is particularly skewed in bihar rajasthan and to a report landscaping women s empowerment through learning and education compiled uttar pradesh.3 this is confirmed by the census of india 2011 which measures gender-critical census report showed that uttar pradesh has the highest number of gender critical districts followed by bihar 60 and 28 respectively 4 rajasthan although marginally better is also characterized by engrained cultural practices resulting in widespread gender inequality adolescent page 6 summarizes empowerment indicators for adolescent girls in these states bihar rajasthan and uttar pradesh are among india s least developed but most populous states workforce participation identifying priority districts for gender equality interventions the districts in india on the basis of child sex ratio ratio of girls to boys girls education and female among the 10 worst off states in terms of number of gender critical districts.5 girls are particularly vulnerable in these states with over half of all adolescent girls married before the age of 18 up to 95 dropping out of schools and over 50 facing domestic violence chart 1 on infrastructure breakdown of traditional family structures increased risk of violence and girls by making it increasingly difficult to track and count them low access to sexual and reproductive health services increased migration to urban areas adolescent girls are also particularly vulnerable in india s urban slums with their poor from these states has added another dimension of vulnerability to the lives of adolescent while urban settings might represent greater income generating potential these are not synonymous with greater freedom and opportunities for girls dominant behaviors exacerbated in slums by greater physical risks of violence rape trafficking and exploitative especially girls to meet costs of food rent and transport.6 working conditions urban slums provide inadequate access to safe spaces such as schools where girls can benefit from initiatives geared towards their empowerment even when schooling is available parents are often forced to sacrifice the education of their children and mindsets about adolescent girls development are fairly universal across india and are 5[close]
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a dolescentgirls invisibleandoftenpowerless chart 1 empowerment indicators for adolescent girls in bihar rajasthan and uttar pradesh bihar rajasthan of adolescent girls do not attend school uttar pradesh of adolescent girls do not attend school educational attainment of women do not have 12 years or more of education 95 77 57 child marriage prevalence prevalence of pregnancy in adolescence 64 30 53.6 58 36 56 52 14.3 52.3 decision making of women do not participate in any decision making on their own health mobility and well-being violence source dasra analysis of women age 15-49 in uttar pradesh have experienced physical or sexual violence 45.3 38.2 38 understanding adolescent girls environments bihar rajasthan and uttar pradesh have the highest rate of child marriages in india with 64 58 and 52 respectively of adolescent girls married before the age of 18 source district level household survey 2007-2008 bihar factsheet district level household survey 2007-2008 rajasthan factsheet district level household survey 2007-2008 uttar pradesh factsheet international institute for population sciences population council 2010 youth in india situation and needs 2006-2007 adolescent girls lives are strongly influenced by the behaviors and attitudes of the groups facing page summarizes the challenges faced by adolescent girls in these environments l and individuals within their three main environments of home school and work chart 2 on girls use of time social status mobility and access to education and healthcare within the family gender discrimination towards adolescent girls stems from deep-rooted patriarchy while a male child is seen as the future of the household as he will continue to support his health education and overall growth is often outweighed by the future potential returns associated with a son.7 burden of household chores such as cooking and caring for relatives and younger siblings parents as a result the opportunity cost of investing in a daughter s wellbeing in terms of and manifests itself in the widespread son preference a female child is seen as a burden adolescent girls at home in india homes are the center of familial forces that influence confinement as desirable as it keeps girls out of the public arena and reduces the chances of developing relationships with boys and hence high-risk sexual behavior which consume most of their time and restrict their mobility 8 often parents view this adolescent girls are often seen as women in training and face a disproportionate 6[close]
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a dolescentgirls invisibleandoftenpowerless chart 2 challenges faced by adolescent girls in their three main environments influencers challenges lllllll residential base and loci of familial forces home lllll parents in-laws spouses community institutional support and cultural systems son preference household chores caring for elderly sick and young lack of mobility early marriage domestic violence compromised sexual and reproductive health l early pregnancy lack of non-formal education systems poor infrastructure l l formal educational system school lllll parents teachers community peers institutional support and cultural systems l l lack of female toilets predominantly male teachers l compromised sexual and reproductive health l menstruation l poor sexual education informal sector low-skill labor intensive jobs risk of exploitation and trafficking double burden of labor structures where girls engage in economic activity work llll parents peers employers institutional support and cultural systems llll on topics related to menstruation sexual intercourse and pregnancy with their daughters into marriage before they reach the legal age of 18 however girls lives do not improve after and mobility is very low with only 38.6 involved in decisions about their own health.9 the taboo surrounding sexuality also keeps parents from having much needed discussions marriage rather they are forced into a culture of silence as they move from their parents home to their husband s home among married women aged 15-19 autonomous decision making discrimination and violence which are interwoven with expectations of gender and dictated indicates the extent to which violence against women is engrained in the social and cultural fabric of communities 10 societal pressures to protect the adolescent girl result in parents forcing their daughters in bihar more than half of adults age 15 to 49 57 believe it is justifiable for a husband to beat his wife under specific circumstances source national family health survey 3 2005-2006 a profile of youth in india by dominant attitudes women themselves are likely to say that wife beating is justified if a woman argues with her husband or if a woman shows disrespect for her in-laws this unfortunately the situation can be worse for adolescent girls who are subjected to 7[close]
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a dolescentgirls by about 15 years of age 57.7 of girls have dropped out 40 of times an adolescent girl misses school it is due to household work source national family health survey 3 2005-2006 a profile of youth in india women in slums reporting being a victim of spousal violence physical or sexual compared with one-quarter of women in non-slums.11 with marriage there is evidence that women s bodies under the age of 21 are not sufficiently health.12 a first child born to a young mother 12 to 20 years old is at greater risk of dying developed for healthy childbirth adolescent girls in urban slums are often malnourished the prevalence of spousal violence is much higher in slums than non-slums with half of invisibleandoftenpowerless with 50 suffering from anemia which can place a significant burden on their reproductive the ages of 24 and 26 years this represents a great danger to the lives of girls as well as not only are adolescent brides psychologically unprepared for the challenges associated before the age of 5 being stunted underweight and anemic compared to mothers between estimates that adolescent pregnancy accounts for nearly $100 billion of lost potential income in india this is equivalent to almost two decades of global humanitarian assistance.15 l those of their children.13 youth fertility accounts for more than half of india`s total fertility with 44 of married women in the 15-19 age group having one or more children.14 research adolescent girls in school the burden of household chores early marriage and poverty limits adolescent girls mobility and access to formal education in india disparities in worsened by the lack of avenues for non-formal education which can effectively overcome the barrier to sending girls to school as well as provide a strong bridge to mainstream education providing an added impetus to completing schooling further a number of barriers to girls education in schools contribute to the low educational attainment are the most prevalent form of gender inequality parents with limited resources typically prefer to invest in their sons education the situation is also significant barrier to adolescent girls schooling parents and families typically fear that india has the highest number of working adolescents with almost 50 of young people engaged in the workforce source national family health survey 3 2005-2006 a profile of youth in india with the onset of puberty girls who are allowed to attend school will engage in romantic if schools are located at a distance from their homes enrollment rates poor infrastructure such as inadequate toilets for girls and predominately and sexual relationships and as such dishonor their families this resistance is even greater male teachers dissuades parents from sending girls to school.16 menstruation is also a skewed perception of girls which leads to destructive behaviors such as verbal and sexual harassment often dismissed under the relatively innocuous label of `eve-teasing these acts can have a severe negative psychosocial impact on girls and increase their risk of dropping out of school the public education system offers little in terms of support to help adolescents who often do not provide scientifically valid information understand these behaviors which stem from the rapid physical and psychological changes they are going through sex education in schools is banned in a number of indian states as a result of lack of interaction with adolescents of the opposite sex boys have a including bihar rajasthan and uttar pradesh leading to a reliance on friends and peers 8[close]
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of gaining economic opportunities that would provide a better future for themselves and their families l these factors hinder the education of adolescent girls and so reduce their chances adolescentgirls invisibleandoftenpowerless in india due to economic pressures faced by families living in poverty.17 it is commonly assumed that while adolescent boys go into paid economic work adolescent girls engage expectations for adolescent girls in urban areas around 30 of adolescent girls participate in economic activity.18 opportunities for formal remunerated work for adolescent girls are sparse in comparison in domestic activities however economic pressures force parents to reshape traditional to those for boys without an adequate education adolescent girls typically work in the are lacking adolescent girls employment is often in homes as domestic help where they beatings and food deprivation adolescent girls are also closely associated with industries being forced into the commercial sex industry.20 slavery.19 adolescent girls in urban slums are prey to traffickers which can sometimes mean adolescent girls at work economic activity is on average initiated at the age of 15 informal sector where wages are low and social safety measures such as health insurance are essentially hidden this makes them vulnerable to physical and sexual abuse including such as garment making while these jobs offer opportunities and potential for rising out of poverty they tend to be unregulated and present the risk of exploitation and sometimes irrespective of the number of hours they spend in economic activity adolescent girls are expected to conform to traditional roles within the household they are forced to part with their earnings due to their low financial literacy levels as well as lack of decision making ability this is exacerbated by the lack of opportunities for unmarried adolescent girls to amount of time available for schoolwork.22 participate in savings and credit programs.21 further adolescent girls often continue to burden of having to combine household chores with economic activity and reduces the autonomy mobility opportunity and power for many girls it contracts as they are 23 be responsible for domestic duties within their own household this results in a double clearly while the world often expands for boys at adolescence giving them greater maternal mortality among adolescents was 645 per 100,000 live births compared to 342 per 100,000 among adult women aged 2034 years source national family health survey 3 2005-2006 a profile of youth in india systematically deprived of these advantages while policies in india ban child marriage family and community often compelling her to adopt a position that keeps her submissive attitudes and behaviors that damage her potential to live a healthy and productive life establish the legal age of marriage at 18 and provide free education up to secondary school they are often ignored due to lack of commitment at the micro-level to empower adolescent to these controls not challenging the familial and community norms and or confronting girls the adolescent girl is constantly faced with pressures to conform from her peers 9[close]
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agencies have also provided support being instrumental in distinguishing adolescence as a distinct stage of life requiring age-specific support to ensure holistic development and through non profits which are critical to developing programs targeting adolescent girls facilitating the necessary engagement of multiple stakeholders in that decade however big improvements were made with the introduction of the equality among adolescents also international non profits have focused on disseminating empowerment in view of their proximity to and profound understanding of communities national youth policy and more recently the sabla scheme multilateral and bilateral aid until the 1990s india lacked policies to address the particular needs of adolescent girls adolescent policy and interventions adolescentpolicyandinterventions country-specific data verifying best practices adolescent needs are also being addressed ii the evolution of adolescent policy in india since the early 1980s several central government policies had themes relating to adolescent girls lives in sectors such as education health and women s empowerment however policies health care and nutrition health and nutrition interventions formulated in this policy are without taking into account the specific support needs of adolescent mothers for example the national health policy of the 1980s focused mainly on maternal and child specifically safeguarding the needs of adolescents were largely absent adolescent girls have systematically been considered a subset of larger groups such as women or children targeted at adolescent girls as a subsidiary group of women who are mothers or pregnant education and domestic violence policies providing reproductive health services to empower consider developmental needs such as health education and life skills education as equally a shortage of funds and lack of coordination between different government bodies adolescent girls has received some government attention albeit severely limited this has been similarly adolescent girls have been considered sub-groups in the formulation of nutrition mainly focused on providing services when in fact girls empowerment programs should important efforts to enact legislation safeguarding adolescent girls have also been set back by where gender disparities ranging from childhood to adulthood have become the focus of years as a distinct age from the `age of maturity which is defined as 20-35 years this policy young people policymakers as a result the government of india formulated the national youth policy includes provisions for encouraging youth empowerment in terms of increased educational attainment development of youth leadership access to recreational and leisure facilities eliminating gender-based violence and an overall inter-sectoral approach to working with the last decade has witnessed a more focused approach to empowering adolescent girls in 2001 which covers young people aged 13-35 and identifies adolescence between 13-19 11[close]
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a dolescentpolicyandinterventions chart 3 key milestones in empowering adolescent girls policy level l non profit interventions adolescents a part of women focused programming l the resurgence of women s movement in the late 70 s where feminists drew attention to issues of gender inequality women s oppression and exploitation the facts and consequences of violence against women especially dowry rape and crime adolescents a part of child protection and sexual and reproductive health programming l the strengthening of educational efforts to educate the girl child and keep girls in school including adolescents l non profits made considerable efforts in the area of sexual and reproductive health with a focus of maternal health for women of all ages including married adolescents as well as nutrition first national health policy 1983 national education policy 1986 1980s l 9th five year plan nutrition l national nutrition policy 1993 apni beti apni daulat 1993 kishori shakti yojana 1997 1990s l l 10th 5 year plan vocational education 11th 5 year plan reproductive and sexual health l national population policy 2000 reproductive and sexual health nutrition multi-sectoral adolescent focused programming l there is an increasing trend amongst non profits to offer holistic programs incorporating different cornerstones that are specifically targeted towards the needs of adolescents l in addition creating community driven change and engaging with the gamut of stakeholders is seen as essential to ensuring adolescent girls wellbeing 2000s national policy for the empowerment of women 2001 child marriage l l l national youth policy 2001 protection of women from domestic violence act 2005 l sabla 2011 multi-sectoral approach under this policy the rajiv gandhi national institute for youth development will serve a number of ministries of the central government of india have implemented programs different programs for adolescents as part of their wider goals as can be seen in chart 4 adolescent girls as an apex institution for youth-related information research and program development a key outcome of this policy is the recent launch of the sabla scheme targeted at empowering that impact adolescent girls in varying degrees most ministries and departments implement 12[close]
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a dolescentpolicyandinterventions chart 4 key government programs for empowering adolescent girls ministry of education human resource development l mahila ministry of health family welfare l reproductive ministry of labour employment l provides ministry of youth affairs sports l runs ministry of women and child development l runs and child health program provides maternal care including safe motherhood prevention of unwanted pregnancies and safe abortion facilities get included under the target population of women without any specific programs or provision of services code denying services to unmarried adolescents number of hiv aids related programs including school education and radio and tv education l adolescents samakhya program which aims at ensuring equal access to education for young women but is not implemented uniformly over the country shiksha abyaan provides quality education to all children upto the age of 14 l sarva l unwritten the facility of registration in employment exchanges for job placements career counseling and vocational guidance for adolescents industrial training institutes provide vocational training post grade 8 and 10 l these la opportunities are quite limited due to inadequate provision nehru yuva kendras which undertake the following activities aimed at youth health awareness units educate and adopt health and family welfare programs youth awareness drives to address issues such as hiv/aids self employment projects to equip youth with income generating vocational skills is significant variation in the implementation of this program amongst states three flagship programs that are aimed at adolescent girls apni beti apni daulat kishori shakti yojana and sabla l sabla l there is the first multi-sectoral approach targeted specifically at adolescent girls with an outlay of `750 crores and poised to roll out across all states focused specifically on adolescent girls and their empowerment these are l transfer cct through which the government invests inr 500 in the form of a bond on the birth of a girl child this bond matures on her 18th birthday to around inr 22,000 and can only be encashed by the girl/family if the girl is unmarried the first cohort benefiting from this scheme reached the age of 18 in 2011 therefore the impact is yet to be documented kishori shakti yojana adolescent girls empowerment program launched in 1997 increasing the age of marriage this government of india scheme is a unique cast conditional apni beti apni daulat our daughter our wealth launched in 1994 to incentivize currently only the ministry of women and child development implements programs and implemented as part of the integrated child development services this government l program is aimed at improving the health nutrition and self-development of girls 11-18 years old through linkages with education life skills encouraging delayed marriage and through anganwadis community-based day care centers for children aged 0-6 years this enabling a better understanding of their environmentrelated social issues delivered scheme had limited success due to funding constraints low capability of anganwadi staff to 13[close]
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