The COVID-19 pandemic, which led to lockdowns and wide scale socio-economic disruption in 2020-22, affected all segments of the population. However, its impact on the mental health of adolescent girls in a lower-middle-income country like India remains relatively unexplored.
This report presents the findings of research conducted on adolescent girls, specifically the children of women garment workers in Bengaluru, India. The report is based on Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) (one of these is shown in pic) involving 44 adolescent girls and in-depth Interviews with 13 girls. It delves into the direct and indirect consequences of Covid-19 on various aspects of their lives. Adolescents already faced pre-existing socio-economic and gender-based vulnerabilities, which were exacerbated by Covid-19. The pandemic intensified their anxieties and fears, deepened financial insecurity, disrupted their education and future aspirations, and amplified gender-based inequalities and violence. Consequently, it resulted in an overall decline in their mental health and well-being. The report concludes by offering suggestions to prevent and support adolescents from shouldering gendered burdens prematurely.
Read the full report here.
About the Project: This report was published under the umbrella of the project ‘Mitigating Covid-19 Impact on the health of Women Garment Workers in Bangalore’, supported by FEMNET. The project aimed to equip women garment workers in Bangalore with the requisite knowledge to access the government health schemes and to take adequate steps for Covid-19 prevention for themselves and their families. Given the challenging circumstances within garment worker households, where adolescent girls and women often bear the brunt of domestic responsibilities and family pressures, the team helped develop a mental health support system for adolescent girls from such households to cope with pandemic-induced complexities.