Methodology: Questionnaires and Focus groups
Language: English
Catalysts: Sayli Udas Mankikar
Youth Fellows:
Ruhie Kumar
Susanna Chacko
Pooja Lapasia
Apeksha Sawant
Priyanka Shenwai
Mahima Prasad
Swati Bhat
Priya Iyer
Coordinator: Pallavi Shinde
About the Subject:
Teenage pregnancy is a big taboo in society and a girl who gets pregnant from premarital sex is looked upon as immoral. Many a times such a pregnancy ends up in abortion, leaving deep mental and physical scars on the girl. Sayli and her friends were keen to hear the realities of the girls who had gone through such a traumatic experience. But they realized that when they started their research, they were unable to find or talk to a single girl or a boy or even parents whose children had gone through it. They were discouraged by this but then decided to change their subject and decided to find out opinions about the general public regarding the teenage pregnancy issue.
Challenges & Learnings:
Due to the sensitivity of the subject matter it was difficult to make people speak. They also realized that those who spoke were opaque about their true opinions. The major learning which happened for the researchers was that many debates and discourses within the group and many interactions with people from various strata of the society helped to broaden their own perspective regarding the topic. But the most enlightening point for them was to know how the girl’s firm determination and decisiveness was crucial in the whole episode.
Conclusion:
There exists deepseated resentment towards this discussion due to the traditional societal norms of morality and ethics. The younger generation does not take this as a moral issue mainly because they have the know-how of safe sex and prevention of pregnancy. Availability of options for abortion also makes it easy for them to rescue themselves out of this situation which can have long term impact upon their future. Many feel that young girls succumb to unprotected sex due to their emotional weakness where their determination to avoid counts the most! Parents are most unwilling to talk about sexual information and education with their children, a major flaw found through research.
End Product:
This group created an innovative game which will provoke parents to talk about informative discussion regarding sexuality with their ward.
