Building Equal Futures (A study by adolescent leaders on youth, gender and violence)

Participants were introduced with participatory research methodology. Once conducting a participatory research project were learned, boys and girls went on to design and conduct a rapid assessment among their friends and families.  Keeping the participatory model in mind, the questions and corresponding options (for answers) suggested by each fellow were shared in the WhatsApp group and taken into account while preparing the final questionnaire, which was then collated into a Google Form. This survey was conducted with other adolescents of similar age group who were either their friends, classmates, cousins or some acquaintance from the family. Within one week, the fellows were able to get responses from 127 adolescent respondents.

To begin with, adolescents asked their peers of the different forms of violence that they are aware of. They led with the question: What forms of violence against women and girls have adolescents witnessed or heard of? The array of options included forms of emotional, verbal, visual, online and physical abuse against women and girls. In the survey it came out that:

• Most instances of sexual abuse and harassment have been noticed in public places or on social media. 77 out of 127 adolescents have witnessed or heard of abuse in the streets and public transport while 49 are privy to predatory behaviour and harassment across digital platforms.
• Sexist rhetoric (comments on clothes and body type) is one of the most visible form of sexual harassment that adolescents are continually exposed to, with 102 out of 127 adolescents saying that they are aware of such instances in their immediate communities. They also noted that victims of sexual harassment are often blamed for their choice of clothes and provocative behavior
• Bad company or peer pressure is another factor, with 49 adolescents claiming that drug and alcohol abuse among youth is responsible for the rising rate of crimes against women.