The Hindu : Front Page : Misuse of scholarship for differently abled: study

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 18, 2010
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Front Page

Front Page

Misuse of scholarship for differently abled: study

Karthik Madhavan

COIMBATORE: The majority of differently abled persons who receive scholarships do not get to enjoy the same, a study has found.

“Fifty-three per cent of the 600 girls and women interviewed have complained that scholarship in money and kind was taken away by family members and care takers,” says the Avinashilingam University of Women, Coimbatore, study on ‘Prevalence of Violence Among Disabled Girls/Women.'

Fifty per cent visually impaired, 76.7 per cent hearing impaired, 38.7 physically challenged and 66 per cent mentally challenged have complained of the scholarship money being used by others.

The UGC-sponsored study interviewed 150 persons each belonging to the aforementioned four disabilities from Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai. And each of the cities accounted for equal number of subjects in all the special categories. The period of study: 2007-09.

It has also found that girls with disabilities from residential schools suffered more compared to their counterparts at integrated and special schools. Likewise, differently abled girls in Coimbatore and Madurai underwent more physical violence compared to those in Chennai.

The same is true of psychological violence and financial exploitation as well.

On the question of sexual violence, the study, carried out by the Department of Special Education, has reveals that only five per cent were abused and the abusers were mostly strangers.

The study's Principal Investigator Premavathy Vijayan, Co-Principal Investigator G. Victoria Naomi and Project Fellow S. Suganya say the purpose was to “Identify the dynamics of abuse, which includes comprehensive assessment of emotional, physical and sexual in the lives of women with disabilities; develop training packages for defence; and, identify abusers/perpetrators and their relationship to the victim.”

There is a list of recommendations as well. It suggests the need for legal protection against abuse, providing information to the victim about intervention centres and services available in the community and level of accessibility, providing enough shelter homes for badly treated women and sensitisation to police personnel to register complaints from persons with disabilities.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page