A Cross Sectional Study on Proportion of Gender Based Violence among Female College Students in Kottayam District

Abstract

Gender Based Violence refers to violent acts that are primarily or exclusively committed against women. The frequency and intensity with which gender based violence is perpetuated in India is no less than the terrorist attacks India is experiencing. It is necessary to assess the prevalence rate in our community, the factors contributing, their awareness and attitude to this major issue. We have chosen the female college students as our study population since we believe that they are under maximum threat to this in today's society and would be the ones most appropriate to receive the benefits of the study. The rising number of cases and lack of awareness about the government policies and programs led us into doing this study. This study not only aims at assessing the prevalence of GBV against females of age group 17- 23 but also on creating awareness about the help lines and laws available for their protection. This was a cross sectional study done on female college students of three colleges in Kottayam district. The present study showed that the proportion of females experiencing gender based violence is high (79.6%). But their awareness regarding its exact nature, protecting laws available etc was low. More awareness programs about gender based violence should be implemented. 10.1% of respondents have experienced abuse through social networking.17.4% of respondents experienced abuse through mobile phones .61.46% of respondents were moderately aware and 6.3% are well aware of the policies, organizations and programs concerning gender based violence while rest of them has poor awareness.