Divorce rate high among juvenile home girls

KOZHIKODE: Doctors, engineers and other highly qualified grooms now seek the hands of girls lodged in the juvenile homes in the state, probably because of sympathy and earnestness to save them from their peculiar situation. Juvenile home authorities also say that they are not able to c really meet the increased demand for girls.

However, things are not that rosy as it sounds and most of these girls end up a being divorcee soon after they get married.

Advocates who are working in the field told Deccan Chronicle that these marriages often fail, as the girls are unable to cope with the demands of a marital life as they hardly ever lived in a family atmosphere.

“There is no scientific counselling, no efforts to mould the character of these girls when they are lodged in the juvenile homes and no efforts to expose them to the changes in life.

They are often treated as prisoners and have very little exposure to the outside world,” Rajani Edamanna, an advocate working closely with juvenile home inmates, told DC.
What the juvenile home authorities provide is a one-day pre-marital counselling to the girls when they are getting married and that too is not done professionally.

“The juvenile homes in the state are functioning without any professionalism. They have no subject experts to handle these children and clerical staff members on probation are appointed superintendents. They do not have any idea how to mould these children to be a better human being,” Rajani added.

District Probationary Officer with the Social Justice Department Asharaf Kavil said the juvenile homes do need professional counsellors. “The issue is there. Some girls are not able to adjust to the married life and there are divorces. But I think, it is lesser compared to the open society marriages. However, juvenile homes need to have better pre-marital counselling and trained staff to mould the children from a younger age itself,” he added.