Problem of adolescent pregnancies growing at alarming rate in Bhopal

For around six months, thirteen-year-old girl from Ashoka Garden area in the state capital was not aware of the fact that she was pregnant.

As the girl’s family learnt about the pregnancy due to physical changes in the girl, they filed a police complaint against the man who had sexually exploited her and consulted the anti woman harassment centre in the city for help.

This is not am isolated case, with apparent lack of awareness and dearth of sex education among youngsters, the problem of teen pregnancies has been growing at an alarming rate in the state capital, according to the child rights’ activists.

The state coordinator of anti woman harassment centre Gauravi Bhopal Shivani Sen claims that around 10% cases received at the centre pertain to adolescent pregnancies. Lack of awareness, parental guidance and lack of sex education are among prominent reasons for adolescent pregnancies, she said.

Describing the case of the 13 year-old girl, she said that the girl was allured into physical relation by her neighbour and with stark lack of awareness the girl did not know that she was pregnant for almost six months. She added that the centre is planning to get the girl admitted to a hospital for proper medical care.

Besides other reasons, the peer pressure is also driving young girls towards such things, she claimed. “The problem is equally serious in low income groups, middle class and high income groups as well,” the state coordinator said.

Regional Manager ActionAid Sarika Sinha says teenage pregnancies is a serious issue which needs to be addressed at the earliest. She claims that in several such cases, apart from adult males, several minor boys are also involved.

The child rights activists have been demanding sex education among youngsters for a long time. In fact in 2007, Madhya Pradesh government had banned sex education in schools because “illustrations in an instruction manual for teachers were ‘Obscene’.

The sex education classes were part of the adolescence education programme for Class IX and above, and were aimed at creating AIDS awareness among students. Ever since then, the sex education has remained a taboo for the Department of School Education in the state.