Health And Education Alternative Development Studies

The Child Protection Committees (CPC) can be the community level hub of a child protection system that weaves together a protective network of family, community, and services, which fortify children with a system that anticipates and prevents child abuse and violations, and which seamlessly works together in response to children who are at risk or in unsafe situations, where their rights are violated. The CPC must emerge as the first point of contact in the community for child protection. It needs to be scaled up to cover all villages in the district

 Formation and strengthening of community-based child Marriage protection committees will be a critical first steps towards realizing the commitment made towards creating a protective environment for all children in the National Policy for Children.  HEALDS create rapport with government wings must move forward in unison to establish child protection committees in a timely, systematic and phased manner, over a one year  period of time, with active involvement and participation from the community, families, and children towards Ending Community acceptance of early and forced child marriages in Tamilnadu State in India.

 HEALDS's vision is to ensure a safe environment for girl children to live with their basic rights and dignity in their own community. Our mission is to strengthen the child protection system in Namakkal District; providing unprecedented networking, information sharing, solutions, continuous resource support, and capacity-building opportunities to young girls and boys.

HEALDS had identified a high-risk area where a large number of HIV positive people reside in all parts of Namakkal district, however, one of the major problems that were realized later, that the selected area, the illiterate percentage were too large and some areas are hard to reach, due to poor transport facilities. Some particular communities like “Thottiya Naiker, Malayalee tribals, Boyar and Arunthathiyar Telugu speaking communities” having misconceptions on sexual activities, multiple sexual behaviors are very common in several families. Young girls are forced to get married in the teen ages and 58.4 % of early and girl child marriages prevalent in the Kolli Hills area, this will lead to early unprotected sexual relationships with their spouses and also sexually abused by community elders like fathers-in-law. HEALDS will intervene with target communities for change of behavior and attitude towards child protection.

The Government of Tamilnadu to have compiled reports of 4982 child marriages reported between March to November 2020 across the state of Tamilnadu. 

The poor were hit the hardest by the lockdown, getting minor daughters married was one way of reducing household expenses.

It was not just poverty though. In Namakkal, a school dropout Selvi (name changed) told the police that she agreed to get married for reasons of safety. The fatherless girl looked after household work as her mother and brother went out to work as daily wage earners. 

In Namakkal district the recorded number of child marriages between November 2019 and March 2020 was 12 but it jumped to 283 in just eight months of the lockdown from April to November 2020. Similarly, in Namakkal district only 16 cases were reported in five months prior to the spread of COVID-19 but during the first three months of lockdown the number shot up to 43.

Nearly 4982  child marriages reported to government in between April 2020 to December 2020 in the state of Tamilnadu. Child marriages don't stop because of a pandemic. Neither should our efforts to protect girls. End Child Marriage Leave No Girl Behind.

Proposed Activites

Education

Child marriage usually marks the end of a girl’s education & now COVID19 could too. Taking girls out of school puts them at greater risk of child marriage. Hence we will  provide support for school enrollment and retention of girls in school after reopening in february 2021.

Gender-based violence

Adolescent and married girls are not only at risk of COVID-19, but domestic violence during the lockdown. Hence we strengthen our existing “Legal Care and Support Center” towards extending direct services for the protection and care of the girls in our target area.

Health

COVID19 could mean a lack of access to care services and unplanned adolescent pregnancies– a key driver of child marriage. If we act now, we can support girls to have a choice. Hence we will establish the “Adolescent Girls Association (Forum)” in each target village as discussion forum on health services.

This project aims to build the value of girl child through a large scale mass campaign across the state of Tamilnadu, creating awareness and advocacy about the issue across the India. The project  focuses on change in mindset and provide girls with the opportunity to grow to their full potential.

HEALDS’s crucial role in convening critical stakeholders around a platform that addresses multiple deprivations and support adolescent girls and boys to build core skills for life and livelihood.  HEALDS’s NGOs Network, namely Campaign for Ending girl Child Marriages In Tamilnadu (CECM-TN) in India is prioritising accelerating the end of Child Marriage as it is an entry point to address broader multi-dimensional issues of health, nutrition, education and protection and ensure adolescent girls and boys are in forefront to take action with the support of communities and other critical stakeholders. This is a key strategy to increase the value of girls in Tamilnadu, India by ensuring the well-being and providing platforms, skills, opportunities, voice and agency for girls and boys.