BACKGROUND
India has 253 million adolescents in the age group of ten to nineteen and 119.8 million (47.3%) of these are female adolescents. Research conducted by UNICEF indicates that an overwhelming 71% of these 119.8 million adolescent girls are not aware of menstruation at the time of their first menstrual cycle. According to a report by Dasra, an estimated 23 million girls drop out of school each year immediately after they start menstruating. Failure to adequately meet these needs will have long-term repercussions upon health, access to education, social interaction and other important areas of the lives of 119.8 million girls across India.
Related to this stigma around discussing menstruation is the taboo on discussing unwanted sexual activity such as harassment, molestation and rape. The latest National Crime Records Bureau data (2019) records 148,185 crimes against children in the year 2019 alone. 31.2% of these, i.e. 46,233 children are POCSO cases, as reported by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
OUR GENDER EQUALITY PROGRAM
Youngistaan Foundation’s gender awareness program aims to build safe spaces of dialogue and engage and empower adolescent girls at government schools, slums and orphanages. To prevent more girls from dropping out of school, Youngistaan Foundation visits various government and private schools, slums, orphanages, colleges and work palaces to conduct sessions every weekend and spark crucial conversations on:
- child sex abuse
- safe touch / unsafe touch
- menstrual hygiene awareness
- breaking myths and taboos around menstruation
- sexual harassment in public places
- working with the LGBTQ community
- working with young boys on gender sensitization
OUR IMPACT
- We have reached 14,000+ adolescent girls with gender empowerment education
- Distributed 10,000+ sanitary napkins and other menstrual products
- empowered 50+ women with livelihood skills
- sponsored the education of 50+ children
GET INVOLVED
If you would like to volunteer with us, you can:
- join our team to work with adolescent girls in classrooms
- donate sanitary products for us to distribute to adolescent girls
KEY FACTS
- Every year, nearly 23 million girls in India drop out of school due to a lack of menstrual hygiene management facilities
- There are 119.8 million adolescent girls in India
- 85+ million girls in India are not aware of menstruation at the time of their first period
- In 2019 alone 46,233 POCSO cases were registered in India
- Household activities are cited as one of the main reasons girls are out of school – NCPCR
- Sanitary products produce 25 thousand tonnes of plastic waste every day
FURTHER READING
Menstrual Hygiene Management in India | UNICEF
Youngistaan Foundation Program Brochure
