44 % girls abused at schools: CRY survey

Nearly 44 per cent of girl children were abused in schools in the city, according to a survey conducted by Child Rights and You (CRY).

The survey, conducted in about 100 households in a slum in Madiwala, has reveled that 46 per cent girls were abused on their way to schools.

New Delhi has an abuse rate of over 83 per cent.

The survey was carried out in Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi from August to September with total respondents of 480 across these five cities.

Nearly 74 per cent of the low income group population in Bangalore are not aware of the Right to Education Act (RTE) which is a fundamental right of every child, said Regina Thomas, Director (South), CRY, after releasing the report here on Wednesday.

The report shows that 80 per cent of the respondents were unaware about schemes exclusively meant for girl children. “This indicates the gap between the policy and implementation,” she said.

Also, 31 per cent respondents opined that education is not free. More than half of the respondents have said that more girls were out of school than boys in their locality.

Throwing light on the drop out rates at schools, 40 per cent respondents are aware of the fact that many girl children in their locality were not attending school.

Thirty one per cent of respondents gave their first priority to education while making expenditures.

While half of the respondents accepted that married girls were not allowed to continue education, 67 per cent respondents reported that school going girls should be married earlier than boys. .

Also, 23 per cent respondents said that if there was a younger sibling at home a girl should take care of the sibling instead of going to school. 

Thirty one per cent respondents felt children faced problems of transportation on their way to school whereas 59 per cent respondents felt that present system of transportation was not safe for girls.

All the respondents wanted schools to have separate toilets for girl child.