girls insecure at home?????????????????

The shocking revelation by the teen-age girls of the district that 15 per cent of them do not feel security at their own homes throws up a question mark against the high morals, values and fast pacing developments in the state. The survey was conducted by Kozhikode District Institute for Education and Training (DIET) in the back drop of increasing number of abuses against girl children.
According to the survey, while 98 per cent girls feel security at home in the company of their mother, their security feeling in the presence of father and brother are only 41 and 20 per cent respectively. None have the sense of security when left alone with relatives.
To shatter the perceived image of schools and teachers, the girls belonging in the 13 to 16 age group have also revealed the feeling of insecurity at schools. While 37 per cent admits insecurity at schools, 18 per cent admits to have experienced either physical or mental abuse at schools.
Among the girls, when 16 per cent had to face bitter experiences at laboratories, 9.5 per cent were abused in the libraries. Where as 15.5 per cent were abused during study tours.
The girls also disclosed that 56 per cent of class mates, 13 per cent of teachers and 5.5 per cent of relatives used obscene comments to insult them. Moreover 2.5 per cent class mates and 9.5 per cent relatives had tried to entice the girls for sexual relationships.
The teen-age girls also expressed their insecurity at tuition centres and public places including buses, auto rickshaws and cinemas. While 34 per cent admitted physical abuse during bus journeys, 25 per cent were abused at cinema theatres, 11 per cent in auto rickshaws and 9 per cent at tuition centres.
As the disclosure of the incident at home leads to the bombardment of moral lessons by her elders who expect her to `avoid' such situations in future, most of the girls keep these bitter experiences to themselves.
Besides, the girls also fall prey to gender discrimination. As per the statistics available, 73 per cent girls do not have the freedom to express their views at home and 12.5 per cent are forced to do heavy works at home than other members of the family.
The parents, who are eager to provide economical and educational security to their children, fail to provide emotional support and feeling of security to their girls.