One in four Indian children in the age group of 13-15 years (adolescents) is depressed. This disquieting statistic was released by the World Health Organization in 2016 in a report about the mental health status of adolescents in the country. Even as we observe World Mental Health Day this year, a silent mental health crisis is brewing among children across…
Protsahan Team
“Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” ~ Martin…
In times of increasing need for varied therapeutic approaches for varied populations, team Protsahan had the honour to visit, experience and understand the multimodal services and integration of holistic and innovative practices in existing treatment provided by VIMHANS hospital in the area of mental health through Expressive Arts Therapy. The two day visit was informative and helpful for us to…
Though there are many communities in which menarche, i.e. the first time a girl menstruates, is marked as an occasion of celebration, the hypocrisy is that at the same time the girls are not allowed to enter the temples, or kitchens as they are considered ‘dirty’. I am 15-years-old and I already find it outrageous how several people are invited…
World Menstrual Hygiene Day – 28 May, 2019 28th May is celebrated as the World Menstrual Hygiene Day and the theme for 2019 being- ‘It’s Time for Action’. Network for Enterprise Enhancement and Development Support (NEEDS) introduced one of its kind innovation to take discussions around menstrual hygiene to the last miles and that is through visual art. This year…
A UNICEF study shows 1 in 3 girls in south Asia have no knowledge of menstruation before their first period, and 48% of girls in Iran think that menstruation is a disease! At Protsahan, we work closely with at-risk adolescent girls living in slum areas of Uttam Nagar in Delhi. Almost a decade back, when we began working within urban…
In the age of smart phones, internet, same sex marriages and globalization, menstruation is still a taboo is many parts of India and the world. Be it a village, city, town or an upscale posh community, this natural phenomenon is often discussed in hushed tones. ‘Don’t wear white!’ ‘Menstruation is a disease!’ ‘Are you crazy? You’re not supposed to tell…
In Part-1 of the series, we spoke about some of the salient features of the POCSO Act, 2012, and tried to simplify it enough for everyone. In Part-2, lets take a look at why we need a special Act like POCSO to address the issue of Child Abuse in India. A lot of times, the argument has been made that…
It’s been more than a decade since the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Govt. of India released a survey report on child abuse in India. During this period, there have been quite a few developments, and many positive steps have been taken to ensure that childhoods are not destroyed by the monster of child abuse. One such positive steps…
Menstruation is one of the oldest and most far-reaching taboos. Especially in India and across South Asia, the reluctance to speak about periods is widespread, resulting in worryingly low education and awareness – particularly among the demographic of adolescent girls, of whom India has some 120 million. A recent study for Menstrual Hygiene Day reported that 1 out of 3 school girls across South Asia was not aware of periods before experiencing one for the first time, and only 2.5% of the same group knew that menstrual blood came from the uterus. If menstrual hygiene is not given importance, it will raise the risk of reproductive infections and affect the health of millions of girls who are unaware of the stark consequences.