21, Oct 2015

New Delhi, Oct 20, 2015 (PTI)
Nearly 80 per cent of 23,801 adolescent girls from 13 states, including Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, claim that they suffer from lack of privacy and dignity at home as well as relief camps after a disaster, according to a sample survey .
According to ‘State of the Girl Child in India Report 2015 – The state of the girls: what next?’, compiled by NGO ‘Plan India’, 45-58 per cent of 32,311 adolescents — 23,801 girls and 8510 boys — feared of being married off early.
The report highlights that gender bias in terms of access to food was reported by about one-third adolescent girls while 60 per cent of the respondents complained of being unable to attend schools post a disaster. Twenty-five per cent girls also feared being sold or trafficked after a disaster.
They also claimed lack of sanitation facilities with only 17 per cent boys or girls having access to functional toilets.
As far as education and gaining skills were concerned, poverty, household chores, seasonal disturbances, child labour and preference to educate a son were found to be the factors which were keeping girls out of school.