{"id":117256,"date":"2021-07-08T19:55:05","date_gmt":"2021-07-08T14:25:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=117256"},"modified":"2021-07-09T10:06:58","modified_gmt":"2021-07-09T04:36:58","slug":"challenging-negative-social-norms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/challenging-negative-social-norms\/","title":{"rendered":"Challenging negative social norms"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Source<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: <a href=\"https:\/\/epaper.thehindu.com\/Home\/ShareArticle?OrgId=GQB8OC5NM.1&amp;imageview=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Hindu<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Synopsis<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India touches a demographic milestone this World Population Day, wherein half of its population is below 29 years of age. However, a prudent realisation of this demographic dividend is possible only when every citizen (especially women) enjoys a robust degree of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). This enjoyment in turn demands challenging negative social norms in Indian Society.<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><b>Background<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">World Population Day (July 11) brings some positive news to India. The country has entered <\/span><b>a demographic sweet spot that will continue for another two to three decades<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Half of India\u2019s population is under 29 years of age. This means a greater proportion of young people will drive India\u2019s economic growth and social progress.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><b>How should the population be developed<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">?<\/span><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They must not only be healthy, knowledgeable, and skilled but must also be provided <\/span><b>with the rights and choices to develop to their fullest potential.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>This includes imparting a sufficient degree of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A comprehensive definition of SRHR by the Guttmacher\u2013Lancet Commission encompasses a broader range of issues.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These include SRHR and issues such as violence, stigma and respect for bodily autonomy. It greatly impacts the psychological, emotional and social well-being of individuals.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><b>Trends in India\u2019s population growth<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India\u2019s<\/span><b> population growth is now stabilising. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Total Fertility Rate (TFR), presently at 2.2 children, will soon reach replacement level (2.1).<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TFR refers to the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the TFR remains higher than the national average of 2.2 children among women who live in rural areas.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><b>Challenges in giving SRHR and controlling TFR<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>First, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">rural women have<\/span><b> little formal education<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and are<\/span><b> in the lowest income quintile<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 a majority of them live in the poorer States.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Second<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><b>the prevailing social norms<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> doesn\u2019t allow women to have a say in choosing their family size.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Third<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed <\/span><b>weaknesses in healthcare systems<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This has led to serious gaps and challenges in the provision of information and services on sexual and reproductive health (SRH).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>India\u2019s performance with SRH indicators<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Positive<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sample Registration System\u2019s (SRS) data shows progressive policies for maternal health have resulted in improved rates of institutional delivery and a decline in maternal mortality ratio (MMR).\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It declined from 327 in 1999-2001 to 113 per 100,000 live births in 2016-18.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>National Health Family Survey 5 <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">for the year 2019-20 (NFHS-5) shows contraceptive prevalence has improved in most States.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Programs such as <\/span><b>Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">have made some efforts to challenge existing social norms. It has underlined that investments in social causes must go alongside economic progress.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Negative<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In girls aged 15-19 years, 22.2% had an unmet need for contraception, according to NFHS-4. This points to inadequate information and access to SRH services for this age group.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Girls are still marrying too young <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014 <\/span><b>26.8% of women aged 20-24 years are married before they turn 18<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Further they often have their first child within the first year of marriage.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India has slipped 28 places to rank 140th among 156 countries<\/span><b> in the World Economic Forum\u2019s (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report (2021). <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is now the third-worst performer in South Asia.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Way Ahead<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India\u2019s population stabilisation strategy must be adjusted, keeping in mind the rights of women and girls. Placing youth, women and girls at the centre of policymaking and services could trigger a <\/span><b>positive ripple effect.\u00a0<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Young people, and adolescent girls, in particular, should have access to education, relevant <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">skills, information and services to make healthy choices.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They should be empowered to exercise their rights, and have access to opportunities for employment.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Research and practical experience shows that <\/span><b>societies are healthier and more productive when women are empowered to make informed choices<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A woman who has control over her body gains not only in terms of autonomy but also through advances in health, education, income and safety. She is more likely to thrive, and so is her family.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">calls upon stakeholders to help build a new set of social norms to drive this mission.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: The Hindu Synopsis: India touches a demographic milestone this World Population Day, wherein half of its population is below 29 years of age. However, a prudent realisation of this demographic dividend is possible only when every citizen (especially women) enjoys a robust degree of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). This enjoyment in&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/challenging-negative-social-norms\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Challenging negative social norms<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10322,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704938387},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10322"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117256\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}