Lifeskill,Sexuality Education for 1000 girls-India

Centre for Women’s Development and Research

Life skill, Sexuality Education for 1000 girls-India ( 14480)

Update February 2021

The covid 19 lock down continuing and schools are not opened.  So, its become difficult for us to organize girls to provide life skill and sexuality education.  Since it was also festival season like Pongal festival in Tamilnadu we could organize some programmes for adolescent girls, like games, kolam competition.  Our staff members continued their  house visits and individually educated the adolescent girls about sexual reproductive health, also taking care of themselves from abuse and violence. They have also promoted our App on Sexual reproductive health for adolescent girls.  One positive thing happened during this period is on 16^th December 2020, Tamilnadu government had allotted Rs.44 crores for the menstrual hygiene and free sanitary pads schemes for adolescent girls from urban area.  We have been organizing a campaign ‘Periods don’t stop for Pandemic’ demanding the government to continue the free sanitary pads schemes because it was stopped because of the lockdown of schools as part of the Covid 19 lock down.  

Since the situation is not clear, what would happen when the schools reopen. Adolescent girls have already lost interest in online reason, of course most of them do not have smartphones.  They also don’t want to spend more time on phone screens, that is online classes. Since the violence and abuse against girls and women’s are increasing we  have organized mothers meeting and Snehidhi adolescent girls leaders meeting to function as watch dog committees and inform to our office or concerned government departments.  Since the parents do not have any regular work from March 2020, many of them are not able to pay schools fees for girls studying in private schools.  So there is a possibility of girls drop out of schools. So we discussed this with mothers requesting them not to stop girl children from schools.

We have collected local donations to decided to give Rs.1000 to 100 adolescent girls, the local level Snehidhi groups have selected these girls.  In the coming month that is after the schools are opened we are planning to distribute this money to the girls. We have also opened our Kannagi Nagar Centre and started education mostly reading and writing and sexuality education to girls.  50 girls are attending this centre.   Since lock down is continuing and there is also resource crunch we could not continue the usual activities, but our staff team and the local level adolescent girls are doing a good job through house visits meeting girls and their mothers.  We have also tried to use Zoom video conferencing for our staff meeting and adolescent girls education. We have to strengthen it further.