In many parts of India, the birth of a girl child is not welcomed. 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. Some manage to survive and foster new paths to follow. Most, however, surrender hopelessly to the sad fate assigned to them.
In India, many children experience various forms of violence, exploitation and abuse. They are forced to work in intolerable conditions or trafficked into sexual trade. Children are also subjected to corporal punishment at school and forced into child marriage.
The issues surrounding a girl child have been discusses in national child policies and laws and addressed in a few programmes.
- The National Policy for Children, 1974
- The National Plan of Action for Children, 2005
- The Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994
- The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act 1986
- The Juvenile Justice Act of 2000
- Indian Penal code
- Balika Samriddhi Yojana
- Kishori Shakti Yojana.
Campaigns promoting the rights of the girl child are found both nationally and internationally. The Government of India has started a “save the girl child” campaign with the slogan “A happy girl is the future of our country”.
The UN has many initiatives that aim at the welfare of the girl child. The most significant one is the UN Girls’ Education Initiative launched in April 2000, at the World Education Forum in Dakar, by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Plan U.K (n.d.) has launched a campaign called “Because I am a Girl”.
The two major objectives of their campaign is to create a forum in the UN for complaints against governments of countries and to ensure that the British governments aids for education to developing countries and given equally to boys and girls.
