50% Of Indian Girls Are Groped, Pinched And Harassed On Their Way To School

Half of girls are subject to various forms of sexual harassment like leering, pinching and groping while travelling to and from school while 32% are followed on their way to school or college, reports Himanshi Dhawan.

Reuters

A 2014 study by NGO 'Breakthrough' on 900 young girls and boys in six states revealed that 52% of students experienced leering and staring followed by touching, pinching and groping. Girls and boys in Karnataka, UP, Jharkhand, Bihar, Haryana and Delhi said 47% of such incidents happen during morning hours when they go to school and 48% during their return. While 52% incidents of harassment faced by schoolgirls happened at bus stops, 23% said the incidents took place within schools or college buildings. To advocate safe journey, Breakthrough has launched an online campaign.

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In order to advocate safe and harassment-free journey of young girls between their schools and homes, Breakthrough has launched an online campaign called #MakeitSafer. The campaign solicits public participation to support its focused drive of creating a safer ecosystem for school-going girls in 16 districts of 6 highly affected states.

Referring to the findings Breakthrough country director Sonali Khan said, "Sexual harassment has severe ramifications on a girl's life that reflect in communities in the forms of school dropouts, early marriage and also early motherhood. Our 'MakeitSafer' campaign intends to address this problem at large to advocate the safety of girls with the support of local, regional and national stakeholders."

The #MakeitSafer campaign is a part of Breakthrough's larger programme against sexual harassment.