Adolescent Girls: Safety and
Protection
DR. UNB RAO, PH.D(IIT D)
INDIAN POLICE SERVICE (RETD.)
AND
FOUNDER CHAIRMAN,
URIVI VIKRAM CHARITABLE TRUST
CRMN.UVCT@GMAIL.COM
“Beti Bacho Beti Padhao”
Panipat : 21st January 2015
Demographic Dividend !
 All problems in India are due to our
multiplying population?
 UVCT tried to find ways and means to
transform our
“ Burden of Population”
into
“ Asset of Human Resources”
Questions for
Urivi Vikram Charitable Trust
 Founded in 1991..
why
Population is a Burden?
Problem of drop outs and push-outs ..70
to 90% of total young adults?
Why female child is not welcome in a
family?
Can not we reduce number of drop outs
and push outs?
Answers!
Utility
of Counseling and Career
Guidance- Project Prerana ?
Harnessing the enormous energies of
drop-outs and push-outs – Project
Shakti?(adopted by UN IAWG in 2002 as basis
for Life Skills for out-of-school adolescents)
Skill
building – Project Sahara..
A policy frame work for Young
Adults/Adolescents ?
A 3-day National Consultation in July,1999
• Towards a Policy for Young Adults .. Emphasising
•
•
•
•
on the need to accord distinct status to ‘adolescents’
Along with 14 organisations incl. Bharat Scouts and
Guides, NCC, NYKS, NSS, TISS, NIMHAS, NIPPCD,
Delhi Police, HAQ, and the like;
About 300 young adults from different parts of
India; Reps. from relevant ministries and Planning
Commission of India; 35 experts; and UN Agencies
participated;
Sh TN Seshan , Dr Karan Singh and Sh Bhaskar
Barua took the lead;
Supported by Min. of Youth Affairs and Sports
Adolescent Girls ?
 Stage of Adolescence is a recent phenomena in
India.. Planning Commission’s First Report on
Adolescents, June 2001 !
 Earlier , a girl hardly remained an adolescent ..
Early marriages led them from Childhood to
Adulthood..
 Today, adolescent girls are experiencing the
implications of adolescence
 Necessity to understand characteristics of
adolescence and orientation to the functionaries
dealing with them ?
ADOLESCENCE
Period of Rapid Development
•
•
•
•
Physical Growth : 4 feet to 5 feet+
Identity Crisis!
Why wait attitude!
Tensions of Schooling & early
college ... Coaching Centers?
• Speed in thought and action
• Exploring and experimenting
13
No longer a child, Not yet an adult
Full of paradox
• Abstract thinking
• Strive for individuality and autonomy
• Curious and questioning mind
• Seek independence
• Easily influenced
WHO’S 53 - COUNTRY STUDY, 2002
Health Risks for Adolescents
i. Early sexual initiation :unprotected – STDs-HIV
ii. Substance abuse: alcohol, tobacco, psychoactive drugs
iii. Depression: loss of productivity.. Suicides!
Protective Factors
i. Family Environment
ii. School / Institution Environment
iii. Spirituality
High Risk Factor : Peer Pressure and bad friends
Adolescent Girls
Mature
faster than boys..
Wishes to be secure and self-reliant
Amenable for discipline
But worry too much about looks and
self image..
More secretive about their emotions..
Consider Boys are better friends than
girls
SEXUAL ACTIVITY AND EXPERIMENTATION
 Due to lot of media, the youth of today are
over-exposed to sex(unfaithful couples,
explicit messages, safe sex, etc).
 Curiosity + impulsiveness = sexual
experimentation(effects of Social Media?)
 The rapid hormonal changes + Attraction
to the opposite sex = Risk taking behaviors
(unprotected sex, sexual violence)
 Sex education ? Parents, teachers, school,
counselors should be available for information…
Safety and Protection
 External Factors contribute to 10 to 15 % of the
problem .. Law enforcement ought to be
meticulous.. All missing reports should be taken to
logical ends(only 8 % are rescued); Zero tolerance
is called for..
 Internal Factors .. Known persons are the culprits
Not only in India but also abroad
 Family Environment .. Assurance of parental support
and confidence; not mere control, but enabling;
 Being aware of the peers .. Families of peers to meet and
mingle to know the peers better

Imp. Schemes for Adolescent Girls
 Sabla .. A comprehensive program..
 Saksham .. A complimentary program for Boys is equally
important
 ARSH
 Adolescent Education
 ICPS .. Should be able to focus on Preventive aspects also..
Mission Convergence Model of Delhi and
about 120 Gender Resource Centers
All These Schemes call for better monitoring
and Evaluation;