This project will enable 100,000 young marginalized girls in Southern India (Vellore District to be precise in the state of Tamilnadu) to learn about puberty, menstrual hygiene, adolescence and reproductive health through peer education using print and audo-visual aides.
As per the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), in 2014, Vellore district of India, has the highest number of cases of child sexual abuse in the entire state. Many school science books have chapters on menstrual hygiene and reproductive health but even lady teachers feel uncomfortable to talk to girl students on this subject. They skip the chapter and advice the students to learn from their parents. Many marginalized children are growing up with no information pertaining to puberty.
As a partner organization of Government of India to implement Childline services in Vellore district, we intend to distribute 10000 'Menstrupedia' books to adolescent girls in Vellore district in India who in turn will help 10 more girls to read to create a net impact of 100000 girls. This will empower them to protect themselves from the sexual crimes so that the incidence of this crime can be reduced and their dignity may be preserved.
Educating adolescents about menstrual hygiene and reproductive health has immense potential to protect their health and to instill dignity. By empowering them to follow hygienic practices, many illnesses can be prevented where by they could attend school regularly. This will decrease gender inequality in education. Empowering them on reproductive health, they understand their rights to be able to make informed choices. This is in line with sustainable goals 3, 4 and 5 of United Nations.
