Home
Our work
Save the Girl Child

Save the Girl Child

“Save the Girl Child” project was launched in 2012 to combat this trend in the city of Hissar,Haryana, the state with the country’s lowest sex ratio, 834 in the 2011 census, with the strategic objectives of empowering the declining half and creating a conducive social environment respecting an individual’s right to birth. The main expected outcome is increasing the value placed upon girls and women in the communities.

Project Detail Tabs

Background

In India, women and girls face extreme levels of violence and discrimination every day. One of the gravest implications of such discriminatory attitudes to this low value placed on women, is the country’s high rate of prenatal sex selection and abortions, solely based on gender, with a child sex ratio of 918 girls to 1000 boys in 2011 (census, 2011).

In Haryana, where this project is based, there is a strong preference for sons. The State has one of the worst sex ratios in the country, with only 830 women per 1,000 men due to decades of sex-selective abortions.

Project overview and approach

The mission of our project is Reduce Female feticide, Maternal Mortality and improve Mother and Child Health; Social awareness through participation; Empowering and skilling the declining half. The project educates currently married women and their families in poor communities on importance of girl child, gender equality and hazards of Sex selective and unsafe abortion.

Mother and Child health

We have been doing this consistently from last five years. We have a model where social activators (two in one group) reach out to each household every month. We map CMWs (Currently married women) and pregnant ladies and keep a track of their pregnancy; bring them or associate them to RCH (Reproductive and Child) centers for regular check-ups of mother & child and safe and secure delivery. We do focus on group meetings (i.e. mother’s meeting, male meetings, CMW meetings etc) and awareness on reproductive and child health and sensitize community towards importance on girl child. We also approach doctors and private medical practitioners in the community to seek their support to cater the issue and sensitization on refraining from conducting sex determination tests.

Celebrate all important days with in the community with key massages of Save the girl child with social and cultural amalgam

Social empowerment and skilling

Girls Action Group (GAG): Form groups of adolescent girls (age group between thirteen to nineteen), we at Childreach motivate them to pursue their education, provide awareness on all aspect of personal hygiene and provide them a platform to discuss their issues and find solution with discussion. Also prepare them as awareness agents for sustainable change in the society.

Childreach India also emphasize on girl empowerment through computer classes, self defense training and building and broadening the knowledge of an adolescent girl.

Financial empowerment & Change

Self Help Group (SHG): Aware and motivate community women to save money via forming themselves as self help groups and provide a platform to increase knowledge on SHG’s and its benefits. Also connect with the bank and organize regular meetings.

We have a model where social activators (two in one group) reach out to each household every month. We map CMWs (Currently married women) and pregnant ladies and keep a track of their pregnancy; bring them or associate them to RCH (Reproductive and Child) centers for regular check-ups of mother & child and safe and secure delivery. We do awareness programs through regular meetings with mothers, elderly women and adolescent girls (school-going) have helped – women gaining confidence, opening up, speaking their mind and getting increasingly involved in program activities –as reflected by

Openness among community mothers and also elderly women in discussing about the issue
Awareness about Pre-Natal determination test (PNDT) Act
Understanding and appreciation for issues concerning gender including age-at-marriage, girl child education
Awareness about menstrual hygiene and practice
Demand for easy availability of quality reproductive health services in community and basic medicines
School-going adolescent girls forming Girls Action group(GAG) and involving themselves in project activities- providing tutorial teaching to younger girls (also boys) promoting girl child education and maintaining a watch on gender violations in community.

Hisar is one of the more important district towns of Haryana politically-having made rapid progress in field of education and industrial growth during the past two decades. Hisar is famous for the Steel and cotton industries. The city is catering to the needs of not only of the population of the district but also the population of adjoining areas of Rajasthan and Punjab.

The decadal growth (1981-91) of the district has been 22.67 %. Due to shifting of population from rural area to urban area the decadal growth is more in urban area which is 38.86%.

Growth of the district during the last decade (1991-2001) witnessed further upward trend. According to census report of 2001 among the four Tehsils in the district, Hisar tehsil has highest decadal growth of 28.69% and Hisar city recorded highest decadal growth rate which is 48.72%

As per 2001 census, total population of Hissar district was 15.37 lakhs (M- 8.305, F 7.065).The population of Hissar town was 256689 and and including its agglomerations, the population was 263,186. Literacy rate of Hissar district has been 52.09 and 25.53 for male and female respectively; compared to 56.31 and 22.94 for State. (Source: Series 7 of 2001 (Paper-1) of Census of Haryana)