50% of girls face sexual harassment on way to school, 32% stalked: Study

In yet another study raising serious concerns over safety of school going teenage girls in India, it has now emerged that half of them are sexually harassed on way to school, while 32% of them are stalked.

New Delhi: In yet another study raising concerns over safety of school going teenage girls, it has now emerged that half of them are sexually harassed on way to school, while 32% of them are stalked.

According to a report in 'The Times Of India', the study conducted by an NGO 'Breakthrough' claimed that half of the girls are subject to various forms of sexual harassment like leering, pinching and groping while travelling to and from school while 32% are staked.

The study was conducted in 2014 in six sates on nearly 900 young girls and boys.

The study revealed that 52% of students experienced leering and staring followed by touching, pinching and groping.

Girls and boys interviewed in Karnataka, UP, Jharkhand, Bihar, Haryana and Delhi claimed that 47% of such incidents happen during morning hours when they go to school and 48% during their return.

While most of the incidents (nearly 52%) of eve-teasing and sexual harassment of girls were reported at bus stops, 23% respondents experienced such incidents within schools or college buildings.

Significantly, the NGO has launched an online campaign to advocate safe and harassment-free journey of young girls from their homes to schools. The campaign called #MakeitSafe solicits public participation to support its focused drive of creating a safer ecosystem for school-going girls in 16 districts of 6 highly affected states.

Importantly, #MakeitSafer campaign is also part of Breakthrough's larger programme against sexual harassment.