Plight of young girls – a survey analysis.

Presenting before you, findings from a recently conducted youth survey across Indian states between the age group of 18-29, which reveals the sorry state of affairs – and the findings speak for itself. It is distressing to find out that close to 47 percent of young women are either scared or unhappy on the day of their wedding.  It is not difficult to identify the reasons.  The survey reveals that:
–    35 percent of young men got married to girls who were below the legal age of 18.
–    40 percent of parents agreed that girls should not be allowed to decide about their own marriage.
–    54 percent of parents did not even ask for their son’s opinion about when to get married.
–    64 percent of young men were meeting their spouse for the first time on the day of the wedding.
–    81 percent of young men did not get the chance to meet or speak to their fiancee alone before the marriage.

The practice of dowry also makes the situation very uncomfortable for young women.  The youth survey revealed that almost 72 percent of young men and 78 percent of young women reported that they received or gave dowry – a practice that is banned under the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961.

If you think is this is bad, let’s look at what the survey reveals about the attitude of young men towards girls, which is equally unnerving.
–    25 percent of young men admitted to having slapped their wives.
–    49 percent of young men agree that girls who dress provocatively deserve to be teased.
–    54 percent of young men believe that wife beating is justified at least in one of the four reasons – husband suspects that wife has been unfaithful, wife goes out without informing husband, and wife disagrees with husband’s opinion and with wife refusing to have sexual relations with husband.

This is the attitude of almost half of the men we have in our country. Unless there is a marked change in this attitude, we’ll only continue to see more cases of women abuse, in the forms of eve teasing, rape etc.

Can’t disagree that the signs of change for the betterment of lives of young women and girls are very much visible, but the sense of urgency is not.