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Angami girls replete in a fusion of ethnic attires and modern apparel walk to an event somewhere in Nagaland. National Girl Child Day 2019 is on Thursday, January 24, and will be observed with a theme of empowerment of girls ‘for a brighter tomorrow.’ (EM Images)[/caption]
Our Correspondent
Kohima, Jan. 23 (EMN): India celebrates National Girl Child Day on Jan. 24 every year with an aim to uplift, support and offer new opportunities to the girl child in the country, and to create awareness on gender equality but the plight of women remains. If you think girls in Naga society enjoy equal rights as their male counterparts, think again as gender-based discrimination is apparent.
Director and founder of Pathfinders Vitono Haralu pointed out some harsh realities of gender issue in the Naga society during an interaction with Eastern Mirror. She said that Naga parents still think males are more equal than females.
“We girls don’t know our basic rights, starting right from education to living to life, or any kind of rights,” said Haralu. ‘\”We (girls) feel secondary because of the way girls are been treated at home. It all starts from how a boy and a girl are treated by the parents at home.”
Haralu said in no uncertain terms that girls can do anything if families and society don not discriminated them.
“If a parent treats both the girls and boys equally at home, dividing the chores equally without any sort of gender bias, the child will grow up thinking that both (boy and girl) are equally responsible for the task that is being given to them, and can do anything,” Haralu observed.
She went on to explain how discrimination against women still exists in Naga society by citing an example: “If parents are given a chance to send one child to school over the many children, obviously it’s the boy.” She said it’s not that parents do not want their daughters to go to school but think boys should carry the family lineage.
‘Boys being the future bread-earner should get more privileges and benefits. Whereas “girls can manage” and “it’s okay” for them to be at home; be a mother and taking care of the family, she said sarcastically.
Asserting that equality “has to be a lifestyle,” Haralu said that such lifestyle has to start from home. Parents need to understand the role of both men and women and not differentiate it. In fact, they need to be educated on the importance of both boys and girls, she said.
The government’s initiative to uplift women’s status in the society, including Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) “cannot be an occasional or target-oriented campaign,” she said, adding that both boys and girls ought to know their legal rights and understand why it is important. “It all starts with the parents and the way they think. We need to start from the grass-root level - family,” she urged.
“What has empowered me, as a young girl and as a woman now, is when my father believes in me,” she said, adding that it is “very important for men to empower their daughters to believe that she can be anybody that she likes to be.”
“Do not let the words of others stop you from achieving your dreams, but rather be a jack of all trades, master of all,” Haralu advised.
It may be mentioned the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), India has reported that 39.4% of adolescent girls in the age group of 15-18 years do not attend any sort of educational institution and that 65% of them are either engaged in household activities, dependents or engaged in begging.
“Adolescent Girls in India are especially disadvantaged given their low enrolment rate and educational attainment levels. They are among the most economically vulnerable groups who typically lack access to financial capital and have more limited opportunities to gain the education, knowledge, and skills that can lead to economic advancement. Adolescent girls often lack social support, and community social norms can create barriers to their economic advancement,” stated NCPCR.
According to the Teen Age Girls (TAG) report 2018, Nagaland is six best state in India for teenage girls to live. Kerala is on top of the list, followed by Mizoram, Sikkim, Manipur, and Himachal Pradesh.