2. Sex Ratio of India
It is defined as the number of females per 1000 males.
It is an important social indicator to measure the extent of prevailing
equity between males and females at a given point of time.
Sex Ratio (2009)
At Birth 893
Under 15 909
15 – 64 years 943
65 - over 1,111
Sex Ratio is declining over period of time
3. India & the Girl Child
Traditions and rituals outline the existence of the Indian girl child.
Female infants are still found dumped in trash, by the dozens, while
unborn fetuses continue to be aborted.
Wrought with discrimination and prejudiced by rituals, our society has
dealt the girl child a rough hand.
The root cause of malnutrition amongst girls is not just poverty and lack
of nutritious food, but also like lack of value attached to girls.
The media continues to present images of men using strength or violence
to establish their authority & images of women in traditional domestic or
submissive roles.
4. Important Facts about India
Termination of 10mn female fetuses over the past 20 years.
More than 27 lacs child deaths a year, with the figures for
female children being much higher than male children.
53% of girls in the age group 5 to 9 years are illiterate.
75% of married women were underage when they got
married.
1 in every 2 girls is malnourished.
Out of the 12 mn girls born, 1 mn die before the 1st year of
life.
1 out of sixth girl child dies due to gender discrimination.
1 out of every 10 women report instances of child sexual
abuse (CSA) .
Female mortality is higher in 224 out of 402 districts in
India.
5. Human Rights of a Girl Child
Right to freedom from discrimination based on
gender, age, race, colour, language, religion,
ethnicity, or any other status.
Right to a standard of living adequate for a child's
intellectual, physical, moral, and spiritual
development.
Right to a healthy and safe environment.
Right to the highest possible standard of health
and to equal access to health care.
Right to equal access to food and nutrition.
Right to life and to freedom from prenatal sex
selection.
Right to education.
6. Human Rights of a Girl Child
Right to freedom from cultural practices, customs
and traditions harmful to the child, including
female genital mutilation.
Right to information about health, sexuality and
reproduction.
Right to protection from all physical or mental
abuse.
Right to protection from economic and sexual
exploitation, prostitution, and trafficking.
Right to freedom from forced or early marriage.
Right to equal rights to inheritance.
Right to express opinion about plans or decisions
affecting the child's life.
7. Key Problems
Before Birth to 1 year
o Foeticide and Infanticide.
o Infant mortality.
o Discrimination in breast feeding and infant food.
o Neglect of health (immunization).
1 to 11 years
o Discrimination in access to food and health care.
o Malnutrition, Aneamia and micro-nutrient deficiency.
o Health problems like Polio and diarrhea.
o Low school enrolment and School drop outs.
o Vulnerable to trafficking, child labour, child marriage.
o Abuse, exploitation and violence.
o Domestic chores and looking after siblings.
o Restriction on mobility and play.
o Discrimination in overall treatment and parental care.
8. Key Problems
11 to 18 years (Adolescents)
o Poor health.
o Low literacy level.
o Restriction on mobility and play.
o Poor access/ Denial to information and services.
o Marital and domestic violence.
o Child Marriage and early and frequent pregnancy coupled with abortions.
o Dowry Harassment, desertion, polygamy, divorce.
o Frequent illness due to Malnutrition, Aneamia and micro-nutrient deficiency
o Child labour, trafficking..
o STDs and HIV/AIDs.
o Heavy domestic work including commuting long distances to collect firewood/
drinking water.
o Unpaid and unrecognized work, and drudgery.
o No voice either in Home or society.
10. Project Nanhi Kali
Initiated in 1996 by K C Mahindra Education Trust (KCMET) with an
objective of providing primary education to the underprivileged girl child
in India..
Supports the education of girl children by providing not only academic
support but also direct material support in the form of uniforms, clothes,
note books etc..
Individuals, groups and corporates are encouraged to sponsor the
education of a girl child for a minimum period of one year.
The project currently supports the education of over 50,800
underprivileged girl children.
11. Cinema & Girl Child’s Education
CSR partnership between Adlabs Cinema and Nanhi Kali, an NGO.
Support and spread awareness on education of the disadvantaged girl
child in India..
Adlabs introduced a special food combo called the “Classroom Combo” –
a certain percentage of the sales of which was contributed to the cause
of nurturing a girl child’s education.
12. Mulgi Shikli, Pragati Jhali
The RTO doesn't "pass" any new auto rickshaw
that doesn't have this social message emblazoned
on it's back.
Every commuter on the roads in bumper to
bumper Bombay traffic reads this message & is
aware of it's importance.
The best part is that each poor, semi-literate auto
rickshaw driver now knows that this is an
important message!
14. National Girl Child Day
Govt. of India declared January 24 as National Girl Child Day.
This date marks the day in 1966 that Indira Gandhi took over as the first
woman prime minister of India.
To spread the awareness of the same, a group of students from BITS
Pilani did a cycle rally from Pilani to nearby town Chirawa.
The Ministry of Women and Child Development launched a campaign to
highlight the evils of:
o female foeticide.
o female infanticide.
o discrimination in health, nutrition and education.
o Gender bias.
15. International Girl Child Day
September 24th
looks to bring light to the
issues & awareness to the plight of girls
across the globe.
CRY launched an interactive micro-site to
involve people in the campaign against
gender discrimination.
The online platform explores reasons that
give rise to the practice of female foeticide,
and provides information on skewed sex
ratio.
PFMI World 2009 came
together with Nanhi Kali on
International Girl Child's
Day.
16. `Golden Future' for girl child
CLINIC Plus, the shampoo brand from Hindustan
Lever Ltd, has announced an initiative for girl
children in Tamil Nadu called Ponnana Edhirkalam
(Golden Future).
It aimed at recognising and celebrating the efforts
of the mother who invests and sacrifices for her
children's success.
It held an essay-writing contest on `Why My
Mother is the Best Mother in the World' involving
160 girls' schools across 40 towns.
It organised an entertainment night for 60 finalists
and their families in Chennai where the mothers
will be felicitated.
TV Commercial
18. Opportunites
Educating the girl child and increasing
awareness in the family.
Social upliftment and lifestyle improvement.
Discouraging beliefs in superstitions and.
having a practical approach.
Increase in health and living standards.
Understanding one’s ‘Rights’.
Encouraging self – reliance and ability to
take decisions concerning self and family.
Contribute towards betterment of self,
family and society at large.
19. Threats
Tradition, culture and mindset of the people.
Poverty
Lack of awareness.
Illiteracy
Sustainability of programmes related to
upliftment of girl child.
Acceptability in different environments.
spanning across socio-economic conditions.
Prolonged timelines in implementation of
programmes.
21. Objective
To holistically empower the girl child in all aspects so that she can
become an equal partner with boys on the road to development and
progress.
To give priority and attention on the survival, protection and wellbeing of
a girl child.
To address the various constraints / persisting problems facing the girl
child.
22. Segmentation & Targeting
Segmentation based on:
o Age
o Gender
o Geography
o Income Group
o Literacy levels
Target Segment will be:
o Parents
o Adolescent Girls from 11 years to 18 years
o Rural Areas
o Low Income Groups across the country (including slums in urban areas)
23. Positioning & Promotions
Positioning will be:
o Ghar ki Lakshmi, Samaaj ki Saraswati
Promotions will be done through:
o Advertising
o Public Relations
o Sponsorships
o BTL activities like road shows, puppet shows, wall paintings, folk theatre in
rural areas
24. Media Mix & Budget
Media Budget Vehicle
Television 30% TVC on major channels & TV shows
Print 20% Magazines, newspapers, fliers
Radio 10% Ad on major radio channels
Outdoor 12% Hoardings, Auto rickshaw & Bus backs,
Posters, BTL activities
Cinema 8% Movie tie-ups, Theatres
Internet 5% Website, banners, e-mailers
Mobile 3% SMS pushes
Direct Mail 2% Mail to the educated class
Events /
Sponsorships
10% NGO based events, Charity Shows
25. Promotional Campaign 1
Ghar ki Laxmi - Betiyan
Objective:
Focus primarily on the positive aspects of girl child
and remove misconceptions and myths that affect
her worth and self esteem
Role Celebrity – Sushmita Sen
Spread the message using her Blog and Tweet pages
Organize Press Releases in association with CRY
Host a special auction on websites like ebay and
dedicate all the proceeds to educating girls in rural
areas
26. Promotional Campaign 2
Baal Vivaah Roko
Objective:
Focus on the negative impact of child
marriage (early pregnancies, mortality
and morbidity of the girl etc) and
emphasize the positive
developments of not allowing child
marriages (health and well being of
the girl etc.)
Partner with NGOs to combat child marriage.
Use all channels of communication and social dialogue to reach out to all
sections of the society especially targeting both parents and youth.
Anandi & Jagya
28. Action Plan
Focus on girl education and develop more girl-friendly schools.
Place a responsibility on the womenfolk to be part of decision making in
their various communities and step out of the cultural inhibitions.
Corporate should tie up with NGO’s to spread awareness of various girl
child issues.
To reduce fertility and infant mortality rates:
o promote better health, nutrition and quality of life among families.
o encourage greater economic productivity and labour force participation.
o improve overall social and economic development.
The inclusion of Women organizations, Women Development Centers
and Study Centers, people’s representatives at all levels from Gram
Panchayat, block levels etc..
29. Action Plan
Female feticide should be treated as a crime and not just a social evil and
therefore the state must take primarily corrective, preventive and
punitive action to address the crime.
As foeticide is murder of the unborn child, it should be examined
whether it can be treated as a crime under IPC and brought under the
jurisdiction of Sessions Court.
A special provision called ‘Cradle Baby’ or ‘Palna Scheme’ should be put
in place whereby those who do not want to raise their daughters can
place them in these specially appointed cradle centers supported by the
State. This will prevent female feticide and rescue the missing daughters .
Financial and other non-cash incentives for retaining and educating the
girl child.
30. Action Plan
Rehabilitation packages need to be designed for specific types of abuse/
violence so that the victim receives the correct and appropriate
rehabilitation required to be successfully reintegrated back into society.
Health and hygiene education should be conducted for children of sex
workers as due to their high risk environment , the possibilities of
contracting STD/ HIV/AIDs etc are quite high.
Strengthen regional and overseas initiatives to prevent cross border
trafficking and also enable rescue and repatriation of children to their
countries of origin.
Ensure that the employers of domestic child labour especially of girls are
punished.
32. Monitoring & Surveillance
At the village level, community based organizations, NGOs, local self help
groups can become the monitoring authorities, while at the State level
different line Ministries/Departments would be involved.
Compulsory registration of pregnancies and births will help in ensuring
that unwarranted abortions do not take place. PRIs should be given the
responsibility of taking note of female births and tracking the progress of
girl children.
A website could be developed to disseminate to wider audiences and flag
the names of black-listed organizations/clinics/doctors.
A system of incentives can be formulated for tip offs on clinics which are
indulging in sex determination.
33. Government Support
Provisions of human right law guaranteeing the Human Rights of the Girl-
Child.
Effective implementation of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic
Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994 (PC and PNDT Act).
The Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929 (CMRA) provides for punishment
to those who have allowed, contracted, performed or have been involved
in a child marriage
35. Ensuring Equitable Development
The Role of the Family
o Parents play a critical role in their children’s development and are primarily
responsible for the environment in which children are socialized.
The Role of Education
o The education sector plays a role in the perpetuation of gender stereotypes,
but It can also be a crucial locus for changing them.
The Role of the Media
o The media could have an enormous impact in the re-definition of gender roles
by presenting different images of both women and men.
o The media must assume some responsibility for its own role in perpetuating
gender stereotypes and devise an alternative reality.
36. Ensuring Equitable Development
The Role of Government
o Recognition of girl’s labour force participation.
o Facilitation of girl’s access to education through flexible hours, scholarships
and labour-saving technologies like wells (which cut down on girls' burden of
domestic labour).
o Redistribution of resources to address issues of girl’s access to food and
medical care (including contraception).
