| The proposed study aims to understand the ways in which children (girls and boys), growing up in contexts in which elimination of female offspring enjoys social sanction, become aware of, comprehend and deal with valuation and unwantedness. It is a logical sequence to the PhD research carried out on female infanticide (FI) practices in Tamil Nadu, South India. The approach will be to treat children as actors in their own right while at same time acknowledging the limited agency constrained by their vulnerability and dependency and non-recognition of their rights. It aims to document and analyse children's standpoint; how they view adult lives and experiences and how they participate in constructing their own lives and social worlds in FI contexts. To pursue these objectives, a comparative study will be carried out with children in FI and non-FI contexts in both rural and urban settings in each of the districts of Salem and Thanjavur of Tamil Nadu for a period of 12 months. Data collected will be mainly qualitative with girls and boys in the age group of 5 to 18 years as the main focus. They will be grouped further so as to allow the study of differences between younger and older children, besides parents, teachers and other adult women and men across different age groups, caste and classes. The proposed study is the first of its kind to document and analyse children's experiences of gendered violence especially in contexts in which female foeticide (sex selective abortion), female infanticide (killing of female infants) and neglect are widely practiced. Children and young people remain relatively neglected categories in research and policy in India. It is intended that the study will not only draw attention to children but also contribute to a shift from an adult-centred to a child-centred approach to development. At a broader level, the study aims to contribute to the growing body of literature. |
