Peer-reviewed article
School Dropouts among Adolescent Girls and Violence against Women: Strategies for Their Containment
Swapnil Inkane, Prithvi Brahmanand Petkar ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This review examines school dropouts among adolescent girls and their connection to violence against women. The authors searched multiple databases and identified 20 research articles and 14 reports on these topics. The review concludes that comprehensive, coordinated strategies are needed to address both school dropout and violence simultaneously, including healthcare services, psychological support, and community-based rehabilitation for survivors of sexual violence.
Key points
- School attendance for adolescent girls is essential for societal progress and human development
- There is a need for comprehensive health care delivery systems that reach all adolescents without exception
- Medical and psychological care systems for survivors of sexual violence require strengthening, including community-based rehabilitation
- Health professionals need empowerment and training to address violence against women
- Humanitarian conflicts create ongoing needs for extended health care and support services for women and girls
Limitations
This is a narrative review without a systematic methodology or meta-analysis, so it does not provide quantitative synthesis of evidence or identify the magnitude of the problem precisely. No specific interventions are evaluated with controlled designs, so the effectiveness of proposed strategies cannot be determined.
Abstract
Introduction: Adolescent girls are the future of human society and for a better future of mankind and the progress of the society, they must attend schools regardless of their origin.The objective of the present review is to explore the magnitude and reasons for school dropouts and violence against women, and then propose strategies for improving the existing scenario.Methods: We performed a detailed search on the PubMed and Google Scholar search engines.In addition, we also screened the World Health Organization website and United Nations Population Fund website.Keywords used in the search include adolescent girls, school dropouts, child marriage, and violence against women in the title alone only.A total of 20 research articles and 14 weblinks and reports were selected as they were in alignment with the current review.Results: It is the need of the hour to implement measures to simultaneously deal with both the challenges and ensure the holistic development of girls.As adolescents are the future of any nation, it is the need of the hour to deliver health care services in such a way that no adolescent is left behind and all of them can avail of timely health care.Living in a world in which women are free from violence is within reachable distance.It can easily be attained, once people start listening and health professionals can easily fulfill this role, provided they are empowered to act.There is an immense need to establish a comprehensive system to provide medical and psychological care to the survivors of sexual violence, and even extend rehabilitation and supportive care in communities through trained healthcare staff.Conclusion: To conclude, the extension of the right support to an adolescent girl is the ultimate approach to having a better future, not only for adolescent girls but also for their families and communities.As the humanitarian conflicts are not expected to be resolved in the near future, there is a great need to extend health care, support, and rehabilitation services to women and girls to enable them to lead a normal life.