The Adolescent
Girls Program (AGP) is one of the latest of
the community groups to have been organized.
This program owes its existence to the
presence and strength of the Mahila Mandals
and VHWs. These women have been empowered to
realize the need to educate, build up the
self-esteem and confidence in their daughters.
In effect the entire community benefits as
health and development are promoted by a new
generation of knowledgeable, competent, and
socially-minded women. The AGP has helped
organize adolescent girls groups in 54
villages with an average of 25 girls/village
participating.
The need for an
adolescent girls program is to address the
extreme gender inequity and the low status of
women in Indian society, particularly in the
rural areas. Girl children are given far less
opportunities than boys and are considered a
burden on the family due to the eventual need
for dowry and their marriage out of the
family. They are consequently disadvantaged in
such areas as education, nutrition, health
care, employment and social mobility. The
practice of sex-selective abortions and female
infanticide is another manifestation of
women’s poor social standing and has resulted
in highly skewed gender ratios throughout
India, particularly in the North. Early
marriage, sometimes prior to puberty, often
results in early sexual initiation and teenage
pregnancy thereby compromising education and
livelihood choices. Such are the factors that
are being addressed and even reversed through
the participation of girls in the AGP.
In the project
areas of CRHP female adolescence is culturally
understood as the time between menarche and
marriage (regardless of age) known as
Kishorvain muli. This criterion is used by
CRHP to identify participants for the AGP.
Related activities take place in either of two
locations – individual villages and the CRHP
compound.
In the villages
VHWs and women’s group members organize groups
of girls, which meet weekly or biweekly.
During these meetings the girls participate in
health education classes as well as being
given the rare opportunity to socialize.
Organized groups are given some books for a
library and provided with high-protein and
nutritious food for their meal as a nutrition
demonstration. The health of these girls is
consistently monitored by the respective VHWs
and mobile health team, addressing problems as
needed.
Groups from several villages
occasionally come to the CRHP compound where
they stay overnight. The groups are
accompanied by the VHW from their villages.
The following is a description of
activities organized for the AGP at CRHP:
Health Education
Nutrition
Sex
education including menstruation and family
planning
Hygiene
Common
diseases including remedies
Environment and sanitation
Social and Cultural Issues
Social and
legal rights
Importance
of education, employment, independence
Gender-based discrimination/violence
Sex-selective abortion and sex ratios
Early
marriage
Dowry
Presentations
(for Visitors, Guests and trainees)
Sharing
experiences and life stories
Demonstrations of health knowledge,
awareness of social issues
Cross-cultural discussion
Karate,
singing, dancing demonstrations
Arts and
crafts presentation
Self-Defense
Appropriate and practical techniques to
prevent harassment and attacks
The Adolescent
Girls Program (AGP) is one of the latest of
the community groups to have been organized.
This program owes its existence to the
presence and strength of the Mahila Mandals
and VHWs. These women have been empowered to
realize the need to educate, build up the
self-esteem and confidence in their daughters.
In effect the entire community benefits as
health and development are promoted by a new
generation of knowledgeable, competent, and
socially-minded women. The AGP has helped
organize adolescent girls groups in 54
villages with an average of 25 girls/village
participating.
The need for an
adolescent girls program is to address the
extreme gender inequity and the low status of
women in Indian society, particularly in the
rural areas. Girl children are given far less
opportunities than boys and are considered a
burden on the family due to the eventual need
for dowry and their marriage out of the
family. They are consequently disadvantaged in
such areas as education, nutrition, health
care, employment and social mobility. The
practice of sex-selective abortions and female
infanticide is another manifestation of
women’s poor social standing and has resulted
in highly skewed gender ratios throughout
India, particularly in the North. Early
marriage, sometimes prior to puberty, often
results in early sexual initiation and teenage
pregnancy thereby compromising education and
livelihood choices. Such are the factors that
are being addressed and even reversed through
the participation of girls in the AGP.
In the project
areas of CRHP female adolescence is culturally
understood as the time between menarche and
marriage (regardless of age) known as
Kishorvain muli. This criterion is used by
CRHP to identify participants for the AGP.
Related activities take place in either of two
locations – individual villages and the CRHP
compound.