Bhubaneswar: The state government has undertaken a campaign at hostels to make girls aware about ways to tackle possible sexual assault by relatives during summer vacation, a senior official said. The drive, which started last week and ended Monday, was undertaken in around 5,800 hostels, targeting over 2.5 lakh girls, most of whom left for home Tuesday for summer vacation.
“The drive was aimed at educating girls to remain alert and be cautious while visiting their homes after it was noticed that many girls faced sexual assault by close family and relatives during summer vacations, resulting in teenage pregnancies,” the official said. “Such incidents happen when parents remain outside for livelihood and the girls are left alone at home in a vulnerable state,” the official added.
The awareness drive was conducted by ST and SC Development, Minorities and Backward Classes Welfare Department in the hostels run by it. Besides creating awareness among girls on how to protect themselves and understand the difference between ‘good touch’ and ‘bad touch’, the department has also launched ‘Mo Parikalpana’ initiative, under which parents are informed what they should do to safeguard their daughters when they are alone at home, and also their issues are heard, the department’s secretary Roopa Roshan Sahoo said.
Another official said that ‘Mo Parikalpana’ is like a listening window to capture the voices from the ground so that the observations could lead to policy action. The department has also asked the sexual harassment committees in the hostels to remain alert regarding such complaints and cross-verify those, the official said.
The department had earlier trained hostel matrons and assistant superintendents to conduct counseling sessions on issues such as sexual harassment, child marriage and teenage pregnancies, Sahoo said. The department has also trained matrons to take stock of the wellness and mental health of girls over the phone and impart counseling and imbibe positive behaviour. Summer vacation in the schools officially started April 25 but most of the hostel boarders left for their homes Tuesday after an improvement in weather, another official said, adding the schools are likely to reopen in the second week of June.