The document discusses issues facing girl children in India, including female infanticide, nutritional deficiencies, higher morbidity and mortality rates, lack of education, abuse and neglect, and child labor. It notes that discrimination against girls begins before birth and continues throughout their lives. Girls often receive less healthcare, education and opportunities than boys due to gender discrimination. The document proposes several measures to improve conditions for girls, such as economic incentives for families with daughters, ensuring equal opportunities in education, employment and health, spreading social awareness, and strengthening legal protections.

1. By – SURESH KUMAR ( Nursing Tutor )
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2. THE GIRL CHILD
• The issue of girl child rights and protection in India is a
very serious concern. Not only girls but the woman as such
continues to be discriminated. The sex bias is more among
uneducated and socially backward class. Right from her
arrival, she faces discrimination, humiliation, and oppression
at every stage of life. When it comes to healthcare, education
and growth opportunities, she is neglected because of her
gender.

3. THE GIRL CHILD
• The girl child if manages to survive all the
discrimination and crime against her, grows up
and show discrimination against her own female
children because of molding in her attitude
during the survival process. This cycle goes on
and hard to break.

4. ISSUES RELATED TO
THE GIRL CHILD
The main issues/problems are:
-Female infanticide/foeticide -Nutritional deficiency
-Morbidity and mortality -Educational status
-Abuse and neglect -Girl child labour

5. Female
Infanticide/Foeticide
• Female infanticide is a heinous crime. In simple terms, it is a
deliberate attempt to kill newborn female children within one year of
their birth. It is a century old phenomena caused by social evils likes
poverty, illiteracy, child marriage, dowry system. Discrimination
against the girl child begins even before her birth which results in
female foeticide. female foeticide: a gender-selective abortion where
a female fetus is illegally terminated solely based on the reason that
the fetus is a girl.

6. Female
Infanticide/Foeticide
• Female feticide is driven by many factors, but primarily by the
prospect of having to pay a dowry to the future bridegroom of a
daughter. While sons offer security to their families in old age and can
perform the rites for the souls of deceased parents and ancestors,
daughters are perceived as a social and economic burden. Prenatal sex
detection technologies have been misused. While abortion is legal in
India, it is a crime to abort a pregnancy solely because the fetus is
female. Strict laws and penalties are in place for violators.

7. Nutritional Deficiency
• on an average nutritional status of the girl child is poorer
than of the boys. A girl child passes through various
developmental periods during her womanhood such as
adolescence period, pregnancy, motherhood, lactation period
etc. Widespread nutrition deprivation perpetuates in inter-
generational cycle of nutrition deprivation in children. under
nourished girl child grows up to become an under nourished
woman.

8. Nutritional Deficiency
• The girl child with great under nutritional problems
suffer from lesser immunity syndromes such as diarrhea
, jaundice , pneumonia, malaria, measles and other
communicable diseases as well. Approximately 50 %
girls in India suffer from anemia and other nutritional
deficiency diseases. Poor nutritional status leads to poor
growth and development.

9. Morbidity and mortality
• The medical needs of the girl child normally are
ignored this leads to serious complications later. Poor
nutritional status add up to poor immunity in the girls.
The girls suffer from nutritional deficiency diseases,
communicable diseases etc. Even infant mortality rate
and underfive mortality rates are higher in girls than in
boys.

10. Educational status
• Educating the girls is the best investment a nation can make
for its bright future yet education of girls in India presents
bad picture. A large proportion of girls specially in rural
areas never get enrolled in the school, thoses who do so
show high dropout rate. Recent national data reveals that the
dropout rate for girls at the elementary level are 4.10% which
rises to 16.88% at the secondary level

11. Educational status
• Due to existing attitudes regarding girls’ education, safety
concerns, distance between home and school, social apathy
related to co-education, lack of affordable sanitary napkins,
absence of separate and functional toilets, and poor school
infrastructure, several teenage girls tend to become irregular
in attending schools or drop out before completing their
schooling.

12. Abuse and neglect
• Mostly neglect occurs in one or more area such as: health,
education, emotional development, nutrition and shelter.
‘Girl child maltreatment’ sometimes referred to as girl child
abuse and neglect, includes all forms of physical and
emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect, and
exploitation that results in actual or potential harm to the
child’s health, development or dignity.

13. Abuse and neglect
• Within this broad definition, five subtypes can be
distinguished—physical abuse; sexual abuse; neglect and
negligent treatment; emotional abuse; and exploitation. As
adults, it is our responsibility to observe child behaviour and
encourage them to speak up. Always put child first (give
priority over all other important work), do not ignore the
situation.

14. Girl Child Labour
• There is little documentation on girl child labour, which can
also be seen as an evidence of the invisibility of her labour
though it contributes so widely to the family, community and
the society at large. Worldwide domestic and household
work is very often not seen as work as such. Also, if a girl
helps her mother in the household, it is in most parts
unrecognized because home-based work is seen as an
unskilled nature with low status.

15. Girl Child Labour
• Possible reasons why employers prefer female child labourer
to male child labourers includes that they are seen as more
domesticable, timid, compliant, loyal, responsible and stable.
They do not waste time chatting, nor do they take frequent
breaks, as they usually have no addictions or vices. They are
able to sit quietly in one place and are more hardworking and
obedient than boys.

16. Girl Child Labour
• Their lack of educational or vocational training, due to the
preference given to boys, blocks their ability to move upward.
Because she lacks education, she has less possibility on the
labour market and is only given low-paid and unskilled
jobs. The situation of the girl child labourer is particularly
alarming due to the gender discrimination in large parts of
Indian societies. They are exploited more than the boys.

17. Measures to improve
condition of
the Girl Child.
• Improving the condition of girl child requires long
term coordinated action which involves many
stakeholders such as the government, educational
institutions, mass media, NGOs and community-
based organizations. Government of India has
initiated several welfare programs aimed at happy and
healthy girl child.

18. Economic measures-
• It is important that proper measures are taken to incentivize people
who have daughters. For example, they can be given more priority
while determining work opportunities as part of various rural
employment schemes. Families that have daughters can have joint
accounts opened in the name of the parents at nearby government
banks and the central or state governments or both can be asked to
contribute definite amounts at fixed intervals so that the basic needs
of these families are taken care of.

19. Providing
Equal opportunities
• There should be no discrimination on the basis of gender.
Girls should be given equal opportunities as boys. More
stress should be on welfare of girl children so as to enable
them to avail these equal opportunities. Girls should get
equal opportunity to compete for each job and should be
offered equal pay for equal work. Handicapped and socially
deprived girls should be given job opportunity on
preferential basis.

20. Educational measures-
• The Indian government has already ensured that it provides
basic primary education for all till the age of 14. The
government should ensure that girls get to study more or as
far as they wish to. For this, their education till the graduation
level should be provided for free especially in the backward
areas. More women only heigher education institutions
should be made operational.

21. Social awareness-
• Awareness should be spread about various aspects of the girl child in following
ways-
• Posters may be fixed at prominent parts of localities.
• Circulation of printouts in various local languages.
• TV/radio talks and street palys focusing on various issues related to girl child with
stress on solutions
• Disscussions,seminars by local bodies at all levels to ensure participation at
grassroot level.

22. Nutritional measures-
• Midday meal program is a key in preventing nutrition deficiency diseases as well
as to encourage schooling of girls as well as boys.
• A special supplementation program should be started for malnourished girls.
• Vitamin D supplementation should be given as per need in the community to
prevent rickets specially in girls.
• National deworming day is also a very good initiative where tab albendazole is
given to children to get rid of worms. In some states iron tablets are also given to
prevent anaemia.

23. Special attention to girls
during home visits-
• During home visits by the community health workers, stress
should be given on health status of the girls who may otherwise
be neglected by their families. During every visit nutritional status
should be checked. Health education regarding personal hygiene
and menstrual hygiene should be provided. Family should be
encouraged to visit the health center with the girl child if any
disease is found for further checkup.

24. Adoption of girls-
• The general public should be motivated for adoption
of girls and specially handicapped ones. Mass
adoption of girls either grom a school or a community
by NGO or an industrial house should also be
promoted. By this we can provide better life to orphan
girls.

25. Legal protection-
• There are various laws which protect girls children from exploitation. Such as-
• The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006
• Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961
• The child labour prohibition Act 1986
• Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act,1971
• Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and
Redressal) Act, 2013

26. By – SURESH KUMAR ( Nursing Tutor )