Teach girls to 'behave' to ensure safety of women in Kerala

Kerala Education Department has successfully identified the issue that poses a threat to the safety of women in the state - teenage romance - and is planning to launch an awareness drive among girl students about pitfalls in love. Palakkad district administration of the Department has issued a one-page directive on measures to be adopted to warn girls of dangers of exploitation. 
 

The circular issued by Deputy Director of Education lists three simple steps to save girls from falling prey to boys who feign love to take advantage of them. However, it lacks concrete details on the three-step awareness campaign to 'save' students from dangers of exploitation. 
 

It instructs school principals to hold sessions for girls followed by awareness classes for their parents. School management shall also conduct screening of short films to highlight
the risks associated with friendship with boys to equip girls with the knowledge to resist such advances. 
 

However, circular does not propose any measures to educate boys on how they should behave in a relationship or during interaction with girls. 
 

The measures were reportedly drafted by the department in consultation with district collector Marykutty. 
 

"Girls often fall prey to love traps during school days which end up destroying their lives. There are guys who trap girls persistently, but the girls must be alert and must not consider such advances as serious," district collector told Asianet News. 
 

There were allegations that the circular was issued with the aim to put an end to love jihad. "We aim to spread awareness among girls about such traps, and it does not have any other objective. The only concern is the welfare of girls," she said.
 

However, the move of district administration is drawing criticisms for giving directions solely to girls. 

• women safety
• awareness class
• government circular
• teenage love