TEGA DISCOVERY PHASE
RESEARCH
July 1, 2020
A GIRL EFFECT REPORT FOR THE GAME OF CHOICE, NOT CHANCE™ PROJECT
TEGA DISCOVERY PHASE
RESEARCH
FIELD RESEARCH DATES: MAY 11 – MAY 26, 2019 USAID Cooperative Agreement 7200AA18CA00046
Report prepared by Girl Effect for Howard Delafield International, under the Game of Choice, Not Chance ™ Project Draft submitted August 9, 2019 | Final version July 1, 2020
This report and the Game of Choice, Not Chance™ Project are made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the terms of the Cooperative Agreement No. 7200AA18CA00046. The contents are the responsibility of Girl Effect and Howard Delafield International, and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
Girl Effect Enterprises India Pvt. Ltd. Howard Delafield International, LLP Nehru Rd, Madhuvan Society, Sen Nagar, 1101 30th Street NW, Suite 500 Santacruz East, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400055 Washington, DC 20007 www.girleffect.org www.howard-delafield.com
Contents Executive Summary 5 Objectives 5 Methods 6 Data Collection 7 Sample 10 Fieldwork 11 Locations 11 Quality Assurance 13 During Data Collection 13 Spot Checks 13 Video Audit 13 Post Data Collection 13 TEGA Talks 13 Translation 13 Analysis 14 Ethical Considerations 14 Key Findings 15 Girls Lives and Lifestyles 15 Boyfriends and Relationships 15 Mobile and Gaming 16 Psychographic Profiles 16 Chapter 1: Girls Lives and Lifestyles 17 The Good Girl 17 Peers: Trusted confidantes 20 The Neighborhood: Eve teasing and the safety to roam 21 Families: Gatekeepers and Decision-makers 23 Education: Achieving aspirations and making friends 25 Dreams: Career goals and independence 26 Fears: Failure to achieve or maintain agency 28 Inspirational Figures: Often family or a friend 29 Chapter 2: Boyfriends 31
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Boyfriends: Secret and taboo, but many girls have them 31 Girls approve of their friends having boyfriends 32 The prospect of marriage is not welcomed 34 Chapter 3: Family Planning, Reproductive Health 35 Physical issues: Girls do have trusted confidantes 36 Menstruation: Girls are preoccupied by their cycle 37 Menstrual Taboos are pervasive and restrictive 37 Contraceptive Knowledge is poor 38 Consent and Personal Rights: Girls are conflicted 39 STIs and Reproductive Health: Girls are naive 41 Seeking RH/FP care is seen as risky 42 Perceptions of Pregnancy 42 Chapter 4: Mobile and Gaming 44 Owners vs Borrowers: Most girls borrow 44 Mobile habits: Phones are used in leisure time 45 Social media: Not common among borrowers 45 Games: A very popular use of mobiles 46 Game Genres: Adventure comes out on top 46 Chapter 5: Avatar Stimuli 47 The Romantic 47 The Pushover 48 The Gemini 49 The Freedom Fighter 51 Chapter 6: Psychographic Profiles 52 Type-1 - Pranita 53 Type-2 - Laxmi 53 Type-3 - Rani 54 Type-4 - Kalpana 54 Profile Case Studies 54 Annex 1: Avatar Stimuli 63 Annex 2: Data from Wave 3 (RH/FP) 65 Annex 3: Data from Wave 2 (Mobile and Gaming) 67 Wave 1 Interview Guide 71
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Wave 2 Interview Guide 72 Wave 3a Interview Guide 75 Wave 3b Interview Guide 78 Wave 4 Interview Guide 84 Screener 87
*Eve-teasing is a euphemism for the sexual harassment or assault of a woman by a man, and is used throughout South Asia, which includes, but is not limited to, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.
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Executive Summary
In response to the Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) Approaches to Fertility Awareness and Adolescent Reproductive Health Addendum to the USAID Development Innovation Accelerator Board Agency Announcement (BAA), USAID has funded Girl Effect as part of a consortium with Howard Delafield International LLP (HDI), the Virginia Serious Games Institute, and Cycle Technologies1 to pilot a program in India entitled A Game of Choice, Not Chance™ (GOC). The game combines: 1) an interactive story-based video game; 2) a reproductive health education e-learning tool; 3) a data analytics tool; and 4) a web portal that links to family planning/reproductive health (FP/RH) products and care. The GOC game will challenge players to make realistic FP/RH decisions and choices within a safe and private virtual space, enabling them to experience the simulated outcomes of their choices.
The research is designed to provide the foundation for the creative inputs for the development of the game as mentioned in the Sub IR 1 of the Game of Choice, Not Chance Results Framework: ‘Design, Development and Testing of FP/RH Adolescent Game.’
The research is aimed to ‘mine’ insights from the audience to help in the creative development of realistic, believable, and relatable elements for the game. The research will be used as a foundation for understanding the life choices of the adolescent girls, their decision points, and the hurdles and motivators for making the healthy choices. Objectives
The overall aims of the exploratory phase of the study were:
● Evoke insights on the life and lifestyles of adolescent girls ages 15 to 19, including unmarried and married girls. Develop a holistic understanding of their lives and interactions with peers, gatekeepers, and the media. ● Use interview data to develop psychographic profiles based on the data collected and the girls accounts of their lived experiences, including their aspirations, attitudes, dreams, motivations and influences, and also their fears, anxieties, and insecurities. ● Analyze the developed psychographic concepts (personas) to understand perceptions of the various ‘labels’ that are used to describe profiles. For example: What does ‘conservative’ or ‘ambitious’ mean to the target audience? The psychographic profiles/personas will be developed
1 The work featured in this report was completed and reported in 2019 prior to the GOC Project’s expansion on partnerships. Since October, 2019, two additional partners were incorporated, Indusgeeks and Vihara Innovation Network.
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by NAM ER@VSGI in the form of two-dimensional animated sketches, or stimuli, and will be shared with Girl Effect before the fieldwork is conducted. ● Determine the level of their reproductive health and family planning knowledge, their attitude, behaviors, and self-efficacy, with a particular focus on their understanding of the benefits of delaying sex, and an exploration of what options are aspirational if they were to refuse or negotiate relationships, marriage, and childbirth. Explore and understand anxieties and insecurities, especially while navigating relationships. ● Understand girls’ technological awareness and their mobile use, including phone preferences and usage, social media engagement, screen time, and internet use. ● Determine target audience engagement with mobile games, including but not limited to the name and type of games, collaboration/competition during games, and reasons for playing/deleting the games. ● Develop a data set on girls’ preferences when it comes to game characters/avatars, including character types, personalities, personas and appearance. Methods This piece of research used Technology Enabled Girl Ambassadors (TEGAs), a girl-led, peer to peer, qualitative interviewing methodology, powered by Girl Effect, to administer research to help inform the design of the game.
TEGAs are trained female researchers ages 18-21, who use a customized app to interview respondents in a peer-orientated, youth focused way. TEGAs confidentially conduct interviews with girls of their own age which then reveals candid information that assists in understanding audiences and beneficiaries, and the themes and issues needed to inform program and product design.
TEGAs are girls from targeted communities who undergo a rigorous training process to become qualified digital researchers. The curriculum is devised in partnership with the Market Research Society (MRS). Through a specially developed app, the girl researchers conduct the research themselves and data is then transferred, organized and made visible on the TEGA data hub within minutes.
TEGAs are trained to be non-judgmental, practice active listening to allow the respondents to open up freely, and to ask open-ended questions. TEGAs are able to discuss sensitive topics like adolescent reproductive health, mobile phone use, and relationships. TEGA interviews produce data that is subjective, and the TEGAs also provide feedback on questions and the content of interviews, making the process participatory for respondents and the TEGAs themselves.
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TEGA is a research methodology that adheres to LEAN research principles2. LEAN research is developed along the lines of human-centered approaches to design research projects for development or humanitarian settings. TEGA has been developed with the guidance of researchers at MIT’s D-Lab and Tufts University.
The principles guiding the TEGA approach focus on research that is rigorous, relevant, respectful, and right-sized. The application of these principles has implications on design and execution of the TEGA interviews.
1. TEGA’s smaller samples of respondents guarantee quality engagement without risking research fatigue in communities and saturation in findings. 2. TEGAs themselves feed into research design and analysis. 3. TEGA respondents are never interviewed for more than 30 minutes.
Data Collection
A 30-minute TEGA semi-structured survey was used to collect participant responses. There were four separate surveys referred to as Wave 1, Wave 2, Wave 3, and Wave 4. The interviews were primarily qualitative in nature, including audio and video questions. In order to supplement this data, some closed quantitative questions were asked across different audiences. However, since this report is a qualitative study, any quantitative data presented is indicative only.
The online interview guides were designed in line with LEAN research principles, with a focus on keeping them short, engaged and focused. The semi-structured interview guides, which were downloaded by the TEGAs onto their phones, were tailored for the different respondent groups.
TEGAs are trained MRS (Market Research Society) certified researchers who have extensive experience conducting interviews and gaining authentic, honest insight into a wide range of topics. TEGAs receive regular refresher training and are sent tests and tasks to complete via the app on their phones.
Research Wave 1 Aim: To learn about the lives and lifestyles of the respondents; to explore their environment, gatekeepers and confidantes; to discover the hurdles and barriers toward various behaviors, and how they seek self- efficacy towards making life decisions.
2 https://d-lab.mit.edu/research/lean-research
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Girls’ lived experience: What is lifelike for peri-urban and urban girls ages 15-19? ● Details of girls’ day-to-day lives: their family and environment. ● Accounts of girls’ daily routines, activities and social interactions. ● Who are girls’ key inspirational figures, and why? ● What are girls’ life aspirations in terms of life partners, mobility, education, etc., and why? ● Who are girls’ key confidantes in terms of health, marriage, mobility, and why? ● Who do girls see as their gatekeepers in terms of education, marriage, health & mobility, and why? ● Who directs, enables, and prohibits girl decision-making related to education, marriage and mobility? ● How do girls feel about marriage and education? Do they want to get married? If so, when? What are their aspirations of an ideal husband and in-laws? ● How do the girls feel about education? Do they want to continue education? ● Who makes decisions on marriage on a girl’s behalf? ● What are girls worried about for their future? What are their fears?
Research Wave 2 Aim: To understand girls’ mobile phone usage and whether they own, share, or borrow their phones. The game prototype would be designed for a smartphone, and therefore respondents will be recruited based on access (by ownership or by sharing/borrowing) of a smartphone. In addition, it will include questions related to mobile phone gaming and health information access through mobile phones.
Girls on gaming, mobile, and social media: ● Do the girls have access, ownership or sharing/borrowing to a smartphone? ● If the girls borrow the phones, who do they borrow from? Family, mother, friends? What is the difference in the way a phone is used when borrowed by family vs. when borrowed by a friend? ● What type of activities do they do on the phones? Listen to music, calls, WhatsApp chats, Facebook, google information, games? ● When do they use mobile phones? ● What kind of phone do they have, and what kind would they like? ● How do girls use their phones, which games do they play, and what is their relationship with social media and the internet? ● What are girls' experiences with smartphone gaming? ● What games do they like and dislike and why? ● How long can they play a game at a time? What are the reasons for the time limits?
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● Have they played avatar-based games? ● Do they download online games? Why do they choose to download games? What are the reasons for them to keep games on their phones, and what are the reasons to delete them? ● Do they use character games? What do they like/dislike? ● Have they ever used the phone to access health information? ● What are girls’ motivations for downloading and playing games? Are the reasons personal or peer- led?
Research Wave 3 Aim: To determine girls’ knowledge of reproductive health issues, their sources for information, and the accuracy of what they know. In addition, Wave 3 discussed girls’ perceptions of their ability to negotiate relationships and contraception. This research used existing scales and quality-assured measurements for questions on fertility awareness. This was also complemented by qualitative questions to undo any misconceptions or information gaps the girls may have.
● What are girls’ levels of reproductive health and family planning (RH/FP) education, including knowledge of contraceptive methods? ● What are girls’ current levels of reproductive health knowledge? ● What reproductive health information do girls need? ● What reproductive health information would they like to have? ● What are the myths and misconceptions around fertility and contraception? ● Where do girls currently go for reproductive health information? ● How aware are girls of their own fertility, including menstruation and pregnancy? ● What are girls’ understanding of consent and personal rights? Can they negotiate these with their partner? ● What are the hurdles in negotiating contraception and refusing sex? ● What are the hurdles and enablers to accessing healthcare? Do they seek health advice from a health practitioner? Who do they confide in? Who/what do they rely on with different types of health concerns? What are the hurdles to seeking advice from a health practitioner? ● Is there anyone else who seeks health advice on their behalf?
Research Wave 4 Aim: To explore the archetypes and psychographic profiles that most interest the respondents. Girls were presented with four pictures of adolescent female characters (“avatars”) in different scenarios, and were then asked about their perceptions of each character. Girls also reported which character they found most
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relatable. Discussing these avatars stimulated conversations on relationships, career aspirations, and decision-making power. These responses were analyzed to develop four different personality profiles that may form the basis of relatable avatars in the forthcoming GOC game.
● What kinds of stories would girls like to explore in a game? ● What kinds of characters are girls interested in? ● Do characters need to be relatable or can they be typologies or caricatures? ● How can characters emulate or respond to existing typologies? ● What kinds of characters in a game might be aspirational? ● What kind of characters would be interesting/controversial/challenging for girls? ● Would girls like positive ‘Good Girl’ characters, or are they more attracted to subversive personas? ● Testing character sketches with target audience.
Sample
TEGAs conducted 384 interviews with 288 different girls ages 15-19. Potential participants were approached by the field officers, who described the nature of the study and obtained written consent to proceed with the interview. Following consent, respondents were asked for their age, mobile phone access, and socio-economic indicators to determine if they were eligible to participate in the study. If the girl was eligible, TEGAs proceeded with the interview. Consent forms and interview questions are included in Annex 4. The topics addressed in Wave 4 were built on those from Wave 1, so the same participants were interviewed for these two Waves. All the girls belonged to lower socio-economic strata were regular smartphone users and were experienced in playing mobile based games. The tool used to determine SEC is attached in Annex 4. Wave 3 was split into 3a and 3b as suggested by the ethics board. Wave 3a had slightly less sensitive questions as it was administered on younger girls ages 15-17, and Wave 3b was administered to girls ages 18-19. In Wave 3b, sensitive topics like contraceptives and physical intimacy were explored.
Patna Munger Jaipur Delhi Total actual/goal actual/goal actual/goal actual/goal actual
Wave 1 26/20 girls 27/20 girls 25/20 girls 25/20 girls 103 (15-19) (15-19) (15-19) (15-19)
Wave 2 21/20 girls 22/20 girls 22/20 girls 22/20 girls 87 (15-19) (15-19) (15-19) (15-19)
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Wave 3a 12/10 girls 12/10 girls 11/10 girls 15/10 girls (15-17) (15-17) (15-17) (15-17) 98 Wave 3b 13/10 girls 12/10 girls 11/10 girls 12/10 girls (18-19) (18-19) (18-19) (18-19)
Wave 4(sample 25/20 girls 23/20 girls 24/20 girls 24/20 girls 96 repeated Wave 1) (15-19) (15-19) (15-19) (15-19)
Total 97 96 93 98 384
Fieldwork
Data was collected over three weekends in the month of May 2019. The first round was conducted in Jaipur and Munger on May 11th and 12th, followed by Delhi on May 18th and 19th, and Patna on May 25th and 26th.
Locations
The Hindi-speaking belt, a region that includes northern India where Hindi is widely spoken, was selected as the focus area of this study. Communities in the states of Rajasthan and Bihar, along with Delhi, were selected as study sites. These areas are characterized by high populations and low performance on health indicators, suggesting a need for greater reach of health interventions.
Location 1: Munger, Bihar The blocks identified by the field team in Munger were Singhia English and Singhia Punsara. Singhia village is located in Jamalpur Tehsil of Munger district in Bihar, India. It is situated 10 km away from sub-district headquarters Jamalpur, and 16 km away from district headquarters Munger. Singhia is the Gram Panchayat of Singhia village. The total geographical area of the village is 333 hectares. Singhia has a total population of 6,845 people. There are about 1,318 houses in Singhia village. Jamalpur is the nearest town to Singhia, which is approximately 10 km away. Most residents have agriculture, petty business or government jobs. Mostly, the people are dependent on farming as a means to earn a livelihood. In Singhia, people do not have proper access to health systems. To obtain access to the nearest hospital/clinic, they need to travel more than 15 km.
Location 2: Patna, Bihar Mithapur ward #17 and Jakkanpur were identified as research locations in the Patna district of Bihar. The area is semi-urban in nature, and mostly has pukka houses (cement built). The Mithapur village has a
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population of around 596, of which 301 are males, and with 295 are females as per Population Census 2011. Mithapur and Jakkanpur are in the heart of Patna, adjoining the Patna-Gaya Railway line (East). The main city bus stand is nearest from Mithapur, however, the area is still less developed in terms of employment opportunity and infrastructure.
The people in the area are majorly involved in making mosquito nets as a family business, or they have their own small shops offering daily needs items. Residents also work as rickshaw pullers, daily wage laborers, vegetable sellers, etc. The area is in the heart of the city, but it lacks basic health facilities.
Location 3: Delhi The research locations in New Delhi were Kalkaji- Bhoomiheen, Camp & Block #10, and Molarband - Gyanmandir and Ismailpur.
Kalkaji (Bhoomiheen Camp & Block #10) is part of northeast Delhi and belongs to the main part of the New Delhi city. The area is adjoining Govindpuri, Okhla and Tughlakabad Extension localities. Most men in the area work as daily wage earners in chemical, engineering, and metal work factories, or as fish sellers. It is an urban slum and has a population of about 500-800. The houses that are built are mostly of illegal construction. Residents are mostly migrants from nearby states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The area has good access to health clinics (government and private); however, the issue of open sewage is a big concern for people in the locality.
Molarband (Gyanmandir & Ismailpur) is part of Delhi district, and belongs to the main part of the New Delhi city. The area is adjoining Tajpur Pahadi, Okhla Industrial Area, Madanpur Khadar and Tughlakabad. Most residents work as daily wage earners in nearby chemical, engineering, and metal work factories. The Molarband area has an overall population of about 39,267 and is an urban slum area mostly inhabited by migrants from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Location 4: Jaipur, Rajasthan Jhotwara, the research location, is a suburban area of Jaipur in the northwest of Jaipur, the capital of Indian State of Rajasthan. The area lies in the industrial area of Jaipur and is well connected with the main city. Jhotwara is mainly inhabited by migrants from the Shekhawati and Marwar areas of Rajasthan. The majority of the population are Jats and Rajputs.
Sanganer and Pratap Nagar, other research locations in Jaipur, are also blocks of the Jaipur District. All these areas are mostly Hindu dominated, except the Amer block, and are semi-urban slum areas. Most of the population earns through running small businesses. The basic health facilities are available in the area; however, the literacy rate is quite low. All the localities have active Anganwadi working centers.
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Quality Assurance
During Data Collection
Spot Checks Girl Effect (GE) involved district officers, Restless Development (RD), and GE staff to conduct spot checks. Senior RD staff, district officers, and research specialists from GE were trained on all the interview tools and objectives. Staff were instructed to select the TEGAs who might need extra support and to be present with them as a buddy during the course of the interview, taking notes on points where the TEGAs might need improvement. They did not interrupt at any time during the interviews and provided all the feedback once the interview was over. Spot checks followed a clear format and called out specific points for observation and recorded feedback for future reference.
Video Audit Once data collection was over in Munger and Jaipur, GE staff reviewed the responses before the next round started in Delhi and Patna. This allowed us to make course corrections wherever required and gave us one more opportunity for feedback to TEGAs on their interviewing skills.
Post Data Collection Following the completion of fieldwork in each location, field staff provided feedback to the GE team on the fieldwork process and on any arising safeguarding issues concerning TEGAs or respondents. GE staff also monitored the progress of data coming into the secure data hub from the TEGAs devices, to make sure all the data had been uploaded successfully. Any issues at this stage were addressed by the GE tech team, who were always on hand during fieldwork to troubleshoot any issues the TEGAs faced in uploading their data following each interview.
TEGA Talks Following fieldwork, all TEGAs provided detailed audio feedback on their experience of the interviews. They responded to a set of questions that prompted them to discuss their experiences of using the interview guides, how the interview felt in terms of length, and the nature of the questions. They were also asked how respondents seemed during the discussions and what key insights they gathered during the course of the talks.
Translation During translation, the lead translator spot checked the work of the translation team. GE’s India staff also back checked the transcripts to ensure that they were of high quality.
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Analysis We conducted analysis through a combination of data immersion: 1) Reviewing all audio content by respondent to understand their individual stories, and 2) Exporting to CSV for deeper analysis via Excel and cross-reference of qualitative findings with closed question/quantitative answers.
Following translation, each interview was systematically analyzed using an analysis framework. The analysis framework is a thematic excel matrix that is filled in separately for each respondent group. Transcribed responses were coded against objectives and questions. Data analysis was conducted on a thematic basis, yet still allowed for each response to be treated as a single story. Quotes for key findings were collected and organized to allow for referencing the key findings to specific themes, and also to a specific respondent.
Ethical Considerations
The study was conducted in accordance with the determined guidelines for the Title-45, Code of Federal Regulations, subpart A (Common Rule), National Institute of Health of India (Approval number- 0072/IRB/D/18-19-Game of Choice, Not Chance project-GIRL EFFECT). Privacy and confidentiality were safeguarded consistently with standard guidelines for research involving young people. Ethical approval for the research was granted by Sigma.
Adequate information was provided to adolescents and their parents/caregivers (detailed consent form included in Annex 4). Surveys were designed to keep the identities of the respondents anonymous if they requested. In addition, participants were reminded by the TEGA at key intervals that they could opt out of the survey at any time, and that they could skip any of the questions asked and have their data removed from the study entirely if they wanted to. However, none of the respondents wished to remain anonymous during interviews, and all of the adolescent respondents chose to have their pictures taken and voices recorded (Consent form in Annex). Pictures were taken in order to create media assets in the future, if required. Despite this, all respondent data included in this report has been anonymized.
Girl Effect conducted 'consent collection' briefings at each site before respondent recruitment. This detailed the step-by-step process of how informed consent and assent needed to be collected for both adults and respondents under the age of 18. A contact person was provided for respondents, and the consent and assent forms clearly indicated a named support staff member of GOC project partner, Restless Development, that could easily be contacted at any point to ask questions, or withdraw consent after the interview.
A comprehensive consent form was developed for this study which considered the sensitivities and the safety of the respondents. During field work, before TEGAs began an interview, the field officer checked the consent and assent forms and verified that the forms were duly signed and understood by the
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respondent. A picture of the signed consent page was also photographed using the TEGA device and automatically saved in the Data Hub to ensure that if paper forms were lost, a record of consent would be maintained. After field work, all consent forms were collected by GOC Project partner, Restless Development.
The interviews of adolescents were conducted in places that offered privacy and convenience. To ensure TEGA and respondent anonymity, all data immediately disappeared from TEGA phones after each interview, and were uploaded to the secure Data Hub, which is encrypted to 128bits, or the government level standard.
On the Data Hub, the Girl Effect team can see basic analytics of the closed question survey responses, as well as all audio and photo content. As interviews were conducted in Hindi, we used our existing network of translators to transcribe video and audio content (though they can never see the videos), allowing our research team to conduct thematic analysis of findings. It is also not possible to link respondent names with their transcripts.
Key Findings
Girls Lives and Lifestyles
● The ideal persona of the ‘Good Girl’ remains an influence (description on pg. 17). ● Girls desire to remain in education for as long as possible. ● Girls wish to pursue a career in order to be independent and/or support their families. ● Girls fear the effect of marriage on their prospects to study or work. ● Maintaining the respect and support of their parents is seen as key to future success.
Boyfriends and Relationships
● Having a boyfriend remains at odds with “Good Girl” standards. ● Many girls do have boyfriends, but they are kept secret. ● Many approve of platonic friendships with boys. ● Girls are preoccupied with the menstrual cycle, but do not understand their own fertility. ● Girls' levels of knowledge about how contraceptive methods work are poor. ● Consent and rights are understood in principle, but complex in practice (description on pg. 39). ● STIs are not well understood, and there are significant barriers to seeking treatment.
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Mobile and Gaming
● Most girls share or borrow the mobile phone they use, and most borrow from an older brother. ● Borrowers mainly watch videos or TV, listen to music, use WhatsApp, and play games. ● Owners use their phone to access social media, like Facebook, as well as watching videos or TV, listening to music, using WhatsApp, and playing games. ● Facebook is the most popular social media platform. ● Games are popular and girls play games such as Ludo, Temple Run or Subway Surfer. ● Using a phone for educational uses is less popular. ● Girls like the idea of an adventure game and designing a character.
Psychographic Profiles
Research was conducted in four stages (“Waves”), where TEGAs interviewed participants on topics related to lifestyles, mobile phone use, reproductive health knowledge, and responses to exposure to avatar stimuli of four personality profiles. These four stimuli were developed from a literature review that revealed common themes related to beliefs on relationships and confidence among Indian youth. Working with an illustrator, TEGA researchers developed each of these pictures based on the literature review as refined by their own lived experiences. The avatar stimuli included four character typologies: The Romantic, The Gemini, The Pushover, and The Freedom Fighter. Psychographic profiles were developed based on participants’ responses to the stimuli, and the corresponding data on their lives and lifestyles. These profiles will be used to inform game design and development of relatable avatars in the forthcoming GOC game. Based on data from Wave 1 and Wave 4, Girl Effect identified seven characteristics which define a girl’s persona. These were: 1) her clarity on a career goal; 2) information about the pathway required to reach that goal; 3) her efforts towards her goals; 4) level of clarity on her priorities and what dictates negotiation and efforts; 5) level of parental support; 6) her ability and willingness to negotiate; and 7) her mobility. We mapped the correlation between these variables and combined them to produce the following four personality types.
Type-1 - Pranita Pranita is very career focused with good levels of support from her family. She has a strong sense of obligation towards her family, aspiring to support them and contribute to the household. Her lofty dreams are supported by her parents. She doesn’t engage in negotiation around smaller issues like wearing a particular type of dress or going to attend a party because she fears valuable parental support will be taken away.
Type-2 - Laxmi Laxmi is mostly homebound, spending all her time with family. Her mobility is highly restricted. She may be studying if her parents can afford it, or she may be out of school. She has a high level of domestic
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responsibility. She has dreams of independence and holding a job, but has limited bargaining power. She is being held back by financial constraints or regressive norms, which may be keeping her out of school. She does not have a clear sense of her ambitions or what is possible for her.
Type-3 - Rani Rani has a clear sense of what she wants to do in her career, and she is also well-informed about how to achieve her goals. However, she is lacking in resources and/or motivation, and this makes her inactive. She does not have a clearly defined sense of what she wants outside of a career. She does not negotiate with her parents on what she wants, and she assumes they will support her. She is neither very social or studious, and seems apathetic and directionless about her goals.
Type-4-Kalpana Kalpana has childlike career aspirations and doesn’t actually know what she is aiming for. She doesn’t seem to take actions to explore her career goals. She changes her mind often about what she wants. She is a dreamy and romantic girl. She is prepared to negotiate for things that interest her, such as buying something or being allowed to go somewhere. She is social and outgoing and prioritizes having fun with her peers over focused study.
Chapter 1: Girls Lives and Lifestyles
Analysis of data from the girls on their lives and lifestyles produced the following key insights, which underpin their dreams and aspirations, and who they see as their gatekeepers in their social lives. ● The ideal persona of the ‘Good Girl’ remains an influence. ● Girls desire to remain in education for as long as possible. ● Girls wish to pursue a career in order to be independent and/or support their families. ● Girls fear the effect of marriage on their prospects to study or work. ● Maintaining the respect and support of their parents is seen as key to future success.
These imperatives also feed into girls’ romantic lives and who they talk to about sex and relationships, and their reactions to characters and stories. Each of the following narrative sections describe girls’ lived experiences as gathered from TEGA interview data.
The Good Girl
Many of the girls we spoke to referenced the persona of the ‘Good Girl.’ The good girl was referred to as the most socially desirable model of what a girl should be like. Girls seem to identify the good girl as the
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‘gold standard’ in a girl’s behavior. Even so, the good girl is not necessarily to be seen as a purely aspirational figure in the real world. She represents the potentially impossible standards girls are expected to conform to, or the standards that girls impose upon themselves. There is heavy pressure for girls to conform to Good Girl standards, and so behavior that is completely at odds with this ideal, like having a boyfriend, must remain hidden.
Who is The Good Girl? ● The Good Girl is obedient. She defers to her parents and she trusts them to make decisions on her behalf based on their judgement. ● The Good Girl helps out with chores at home and shows the utmost respect toward her parents and elders. ● The Good Girl may be devoted to both her domestic responsibilities and/or schooling. ● The Good Girl may be social, but she defers to her parent’s wishes and will not go out and roam the community if she is not permitted to do so. ● The Good Girl is likely to socialize with girls from school, and possibly boys in a platonic manner. ● The Good Girl may pursue her education and a career, but she is submissive to the wishes of her parents. ● The Good Girl adheres closely to social norms around avoiding having boyfriends or dressing in ‘short clothes.’
How can we understand the ‘Good Girl’? The Good Girl is not a purely aspirational figure, nor is she simply a product of societal demands or norms. She is produced, at a societal level, from injunctive norms, or shared beliefs and expectations about how a girl should act. What we can see in the TEGA interview data is that girls speak a lot in terms of how they, their peers, or the characters we presented them with will conform to or deviate from this ideal.
The Good Girl is created at a societal level, but in our data, we can see that she is also shaped and re- imaged by the girl at an individual level. Not all girls see the Good Girl identically. They shape this ideal/their perception of the Good Girl depending on their own attitudes, and how far they approve or disapprove of certain behaviors. A girl’s experience is still influenced by how she matches up to this model.
The Good Girl can be an aspirational figure Few of our respondents described themselves as meeting the standard of the Good Girl; this ideal appears more as a figure of envy, inspiration or reverie. Those that admire her say that she is someone they admire who lives up to her ideals. These girls were attracted to the Good Girl character in their favorite serials or movies. Others were inspired by a family member who met the criteria.
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“My cousin inspires me in my life. She is good in studies and studies well. She scores well, I also want to be like her... she is a very good girl, helps everyone. She is perfect at everything. She is also good at studies and gets good marks. She also does her household chores.” (Location: Munger, Age: 16)
“She must be a good girl. She must be respectful towards her parents. She would get her parents’ permission and be determined to fulfill her dreams.” (Patna, 15)
The Good Girl can also mirror girls’ desire to succeed and progress Other girls supplemented the Good Girl to fit with their desires to remain in education and progress to work. She also exemplifies commitment and diligence in this regard. The Good Girl may be focused on her future and is not distracted by frivolous pastimes. She is directing her efforts towards study and work.
“She will be a good girl because she is dreaming to be someone in life...She is not wasting her time on unproductive things and she is focused on her studies. She is dreaming of doing something big in life.” (Delhi, 17)
The Good Girl can also be seen as a regressive stereotype Some girls were more conflicted or critical in their attitudes of the classic Good Girl. These girls deemed that the standards of the Good Girl were outdated and regressive. Girls felt that society was judging girls too harshly if they had a boyfriend or were not totally devoted to their schoolwork or domestic duties.
“I go to school and my friend has a boyfriend. When I am in school I tell her, ‘Your boyfriend is calling you,’ and I take her to him. I keep an eye if someone is coming and they talk to each other. They roam around, talk to each other. People around look at them. Her parents say she is not a good girl.” (Munger, 16)
The Gemini The Gemini character in the Wave 4 research phase piqued the interest of many girls because this character shows a girl who is ‘performing’ a Good Girl role, but is also acting in a subversive manner that contradicts all the standards. Girls were visibly intrigued when interacting with this image, and some expressed approval of this dual life.
Some respondents liked the character and enjoyed the fact that she was playing the role of the Good Girl in order to socialize with her boyfriend.
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“It looks like she is pretending to be good at home while she is having fun outside. I am feeling good that she is happy with her boyfriend, but she is working at home. She seems nice but she is a bit bad too. She might have told her parents that she is going to study, but she is hanging out with her boyfriend and having fun. By serving tea in front of her parents she is pretending that she is a very good girl.” (Munger, 17)
Others were critical and perceived a duplicity or ‘dishonesty’ in the character, as a disruption of the Good Girl character.
“According to me, she is not a good girl. She pretends to be innocent in front of parents, but goes out to party with friends. She pretends to be a good girl in front of parents, but she hangs out with her friends and she may not be studying.” (Patna, 16)
In summary, the Good Girl is an important figure for girls and remains the gold standard for behavior, in accordance with widely held norms and in the eyes of parents or broader society. Girls are highly motivated to win the support of their parents in order to remain in education, and emulating the Good Girl and her standards is a way to win this approval. Girls recognize the regressive or unobtainable nature of these standards, but they see her represented in movies and serials and she remains exemplary in terms of good behavior, morals, and beauty. The Good Girl includes a commitment to study and career goals that girls find highly aspirational, but she is very much at odds with the part of their lives that girls are most secretive about: relationships.
Peers: Trusted confidantes
All girls have trusted female confidantes, either a sister or close female friends. These friendships are the only space in their lives where they can share their most sensitive secrets and discuss any topic they like. Eve teasing* is exclusively shared with girlfriends. *Eve teasing is a euphemism for the sexual harassment or assault of a woman by a man, and is used throughout South Asia, which includes, but is not limited to, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.
Girls meet and spend time with their friends at school. They forge intimate and highly trusted relationships with their peers. They also have some criteria for choosing a friend. She should be trustworthy, helpful, and always available for them. Girls describe that they can talk to their girlfriends about anything. Girls talk to their friends about the most sensitive issues in their lives, like experiences of eve teasing, boyfriends, and sex. Very few girls admitted to having no friends at all.
A girl’s social activity outside of school depended on their levels of mobility, but many girls enjoyed roaming with their friends on the weekends, going to the park, to restaurants, and sometimes meeting boys. Girls mostly spent their time together chatting and gossiping, talking about their future plans, and having fun.
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Girls said when asked about concerns regarding pregnancy, STIs (sexually transmitted infections), or contraceptive use, that their peers were the only people they could discuss such issues with. Other girls may be one of the only sources of advice girls have for concerns around sex and sexual activity.
“I share every secret with my friends like I share everything related to my boyfriend, about my friends and about periods and about me, I share everything with them.” (Jaipur, 15)
“I can talk about anything with my friends and can share anything with them. And they keep the secret. It stays between us three.” (Jaipur, 19)
Peers are also a source of inspiration for girls. They look up to their friends for their personality attributes, talents, beauty, or commitment to future prospects. Quite a few girls described a friend as their inspirational figure.
The girls we spoke to who were out of school or who had experienced early marriage said that they no longer had a social life with their friends. These girls had lower levels of mobility and more domestic responsibilities. They said that when they were in school they used to have friends and a social life, but this was no longer the case.
Most of the girls in the sample were quite open about mixed gender friendships. There was a sense that this was normal and ‘fun’ behavior. Many girls did not express anxiety about forging mixed gender friendships or relationships, but these questions were projective. A common theme among responses was that boys were the ones to initiate these connections. None of the girls described making the first move.
“They go out after college, watching a movie for the whole day, having fun all day long. Mostly movies, or then McDonald's only.” (Delhi, 17)
“They will visit monuments, share thoughts. They would take selfies, which is in trend these days. They go to the park, where people come for jogging, walking, playing so they must have met there.” (Jaipur, 18)
The Neighborhood: Eve teasing and the safety to roam
Whether they lived in “good” or “bad” environments, girls enjoyed some degree of mobility. Girls who said their areas were affected by bars, groups of men, or high instances of eve teasing were more restricted. Most girls were allowed to roam with their friends on the weekends.
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Seventy-five percent of our respondents described their local environments as pleasant, friendly communities and that their neighborhoods were good environments. Only 25% of the sample described that they lived in a ‘bad’ neighborhood that was unsafe for young people to roam in - particularly girls.
“My neighborhood environment is good, and my family doesn't stop me from going anywhere.” (Jaipur,16)
“Dakshinpuri because that place is not safe because rape and murder happen there. Boys go there easily but the girl isn’t allowed to go at night. We can't go there anyhow. That place is not safe. I can stay out only until 21:00.” (Delhi, 17)
Perceptions of safety in their neighborhood had a clear effect on the level of freedom girls were allowed. None of the girls we spoke to had confined zero mobility, but they were not allowed to go anywhere they wanted within their communities. The majority of our sample across districts were allowed to go out, but most had some limitations or rules imposed on their mobility.
A number of other factors contributed to girls’ levels of mobility:
Time of day: Girls reported that their parents or other gatekeepers, like older brothers, perceived that they should not be out beyond a certain time in the evening due to safety concerns. Areas close to night spots or places where drinking takes place were referenced as unsafe zones. Certain areas which were known to be frequented by couples also seemed to be off-limits.
“It is not safe on the outer part which is at the main road of the neighborhood. It is especially not safe at night there. It is dangerous in the wintertime because drunk people are lying there in between 10 to 11 at night. This is why it is not safe.” (Munger, 18)
Age: Younger girls were allowed to go out and play within the colony or the nearby area. Older girls were less likely to go out alone and tended to roam with a friend.
Girls were allowed to go to safe places like school and the homes of friends who lived in the neighborhood. Some girls described going to parks, markets, and restaurants on the weekends.
The girls that were more mobile commented that some parents and community members were critical of girls seen roaming in the community, but that these views were outdated and old fashioned.
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Eve teasing was an issue for many girls and a reason for them to stay away from some parts of their local communities. Eve teasing made girls feel unsafe and was seen as the primary reason that some girls did not go out. It was strongly agreed that it was a problem that girls were uncomfortable discussing at home and were unable to deal with. Ignoring it appeared to be the most common reaction to eve teasing.
”I don't feel safe here. There is a lot of eve-teasing. Boys and girls also do the same things. Boys standing on the corner. That's why very few girls go outside, normally there are very few girls in the lane, only 2 or 5, and adult girls don't go outside, and if they want to, they go with their mother mostly. I can go everywhere but I don't go too far...I usually go near a place like a market.” (Delhi, 15).
Families: Gatekeepers and Decision-makers
Families are a girl’s gatekeepers, and fathers are the key decision-makers for girls around the issues that matter to them. This includes how long they can remain in education, whether they can work, and crucially, when they will marry.
Our respondents mostly belonged to nuclear families with at least one sibling. The primary breadwinner for the family was predominantly the father. Contribution of women to family income was found to be very limited. These girls’ lives revolved around their family life as the epicenter of their experience. Their dreams, aspirations, and fears all were rooted around the freedom, support, and expectations of the family.
In many cases the girls drew inspiration from an elder brother or sister, an extended family member, and most commonly a maternal uncle. They had very close ties with siblings and spent most of their time with them. They also sought advice from them. Mothers and elder sisters were seen as key confidantes for sharing most of their personal and health related issues. However, they refrained from discussing relationships with them. Girls showed reservation in talking about eve teasing at home, fearing judgement and consequent constraints on their mobility.
All the major decision-making was primarily done by fathers, mothers, and in some cases by an elder brother. A fair share of girls claimed that their point of view was also considered for some decisions. For example, the respondents themselves could determine what subjects to major in, or what college to opt for, while it was parents who decided the maximum level of education she could pursue. Financial crisis emerged as the most common reason of discord between parents and respondents on career choices, and the parent’s views were usually upheld. Parents were not found to enforce their opinion on choice of education for their daughters except when the educational costs were prohibitive.
There were some positive outliers in the sample who negotiated and managed to convince their families for the career choices they wanted to make.
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“I wanted to study and become a pilot, but it didn't happen because my mother and father were not able to help me much in that. They do labor work. It was a big dream, but it cannot be fulfilled. Now I think if I'll become something then it will be helpful for my mother and father.” (Munger, 17)
Issues like when they would marry were largely out of girls’ control, although some believed that their choice on prospective in-laws and the boy would be considered. Mobility was not directly controlled in most of the cases, but there were boundaries. Participants expressed the desire to have more freedom to go out and wear western clothes, but most were satisfied with someone else making decisions on their behalf. Possible explanations for this could be the immense desire to fit into the definition of a “Good Girl” along with a self-perceived incapability. A very common theme emerging from the responses was that girls do not fully believe that they know enough to make such decisions, and are not capable of facing the consequences if the decisions do not yield positive results. The girls who had more resources and family support for pursuing a career showed even less desire to negotiate for other things like mobility, clothing, friendship, etc. They had a strong sense of gratitude for what they were getting. Parental support for a girl’s dreams was always seen as a privilege and not a right. This awareness was followed by a strong desire to give back and conform. Making parents proud and providing for the family were consistent components of their expressed dreams. Figure 1 conveys the various factors that contribute to girls’ decision-making and sense of agency.
“My father makes all the decisions for me. He approves whatever I want to do, so there is no need to make a decision on my own. He is more conscious than me about my future. He does whatever is good for me. He is older and has more experience.” (Patna, 17)
In conclusion, going against the family's will was not an option regarding most life choices. Sensitive topics which either lay on the periphery or outside of the accepted norms were rarely disclosed to the family. In the situations which required advice and guidance, the girls resorted to seeking advice from their friends, who are similarly ignorant, and the internet, which often was not found to be helpful or conclusive. All of this suggests the dire need of creating a safe space where relationships and reproductive health can be discussed openly, and girls are able to see beyond the blinkers of normative social behavior.
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Fig. 1: Factors that affect girls’ sense of agency and decision-making (created by Girl Effect)
Education: Achieving aspirations and making friends
Girls want to stay in school because it is seen as a means to getting into work and gaining independence. It is also where they can make friends and socialize, even if their mobility is restricted in the evenings and on the weekends.
Almost all of the respondents were in school or college, and admitted that it was the most fun part of their lives. Remaining in school was seen as enjoyable and positive for their future. Educational institutions, including coaching classes, were considered a safe space by parents. Girls were allowed to access the classes alone, or more commonly with a friend. Girls enjoyed an environment where they had fewer restrictions and responsibilities, and could meet friends and have fun. School, college, and coaching institutes were also considered the primary places where opposite gender friendships began and relationships bloomed.
The majority viewed education as the means to enter the workforce, obtain financial freedom, and gain the ability to provide for the family (a criterion of the “Good Girl”). Obtaining employment was also seen as a pathway to acquiring more control over personal decision-making. Everyone wanted to continue their education for as long as possible, both to socialize and meet up with their peers, but also as a way to delay marriage and have a greater chance of starting a career.
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Teachers were referenced as inspirational figures for girls, and becoming a teacher was a popular career aspiration. Teachers were also referenced as trusted sources of information related to periods and body issues.
A very small proportion of the girls were school dropouts. Among those who dropped out of school, the reasons cited were additional liability of attending to household chores due to death of a parent, financial crisis, early marriage, and/or failing in testing and exams. It appeared that the girls were probably not given a second chance if they didn’t pass the final exam. There was an example of a girl who felt highly obligated to do well when she was given a second chance after failing in the 9th grade. This girl described working very hard to leverage this opportunity, and she scored second rank in the following year. Girls feared failing exams. They explained that it might signal the end of education, or even early marriage.
Dreams: Career goals and independence
A sizable proportion of participants had their career aspirations clearly laid out. The remainder of respondents reported that they would be happy with any kind of employment. Career choices favored by the respondents were teacher, doctor, beautician, police, Indian Administrative Service (IAS)/Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, banker, and chartered accountant. There were a few outliers who dreamed of becoming an actress or a singer. Many of those who did not clearly outline an aspiration simply wanted to continue their studies for as long as possible.
Career choices made by the adolescent girls were shaped by the level of support from parents, the macro- environment, and the degree of their (or their parents’) compliance with existing societal norms. The interplay between conformity and the spectrum of career choices was quite evident from the interviews. Money was an important factor for academic ambitions, but was rarely reported as an inhibitor while deciding on a career goal. The existence of family support and conformity with social norms were associated with more conservative career choices, like beautician or teacher, which do not demand long or fixed working hours. Participants belonging to families with milder compliance to societal norms were often found to have bolder (and more difficult to achieve) career aspirations, such as becoming a doctor or an IAS/IPS officer. Those reporting such clear aspirations were noticeably more focused, and their efforts were comparatively more aligned towards their goals.
Other aspirations, albeit not entirely independent from getting a job, were 1) being able to help the family and the society; 2) earn recognition/respect for oneself; 3) provide a better standard of living for the family; 4) move to a safer, cleaner, and more liberal place; 5) economic upliftment; and 6) being recognized as the girl who did it all (being recognized as a “Good Girl”). Career ambitions clearly exceeded aspirations for a family life.
“My wish is to become an MBBS doctor by studying. Fulfill my parent's dreams. I want to build my own identity. People should recognize me by name. I want to be like my cousin because she is a very good girl
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and helps everyone. She is perfect at everything. She is also good at studies and gets good marks. She also does her household’s work together.” (Jaipur, 15)
“My maternal uncle encourages me for everything because he has made all my decisions from my childhood till now. He takes care of me and my studies. I want to fulfill my uncle's dream by being a good person by educating myself. He will be very happy if I become something because he has worked a lot on me since childhood.” (Patna, 17)
“I want to do a job. I want to do my job well, I don't want to bow in front of anyone, but I want others to bow in front of me. This is my dream. My mother wants me to be a heroine, go to TV programs, sing songs, shake hands with heroes and heroines. Take photos with them. My mother likes these things very much.” (Patna, 15)
Lots of ingredients go into cooking up a clear career goal (Figure 2). It is a combination of agreement and support at a family level, the environment of the neighborhood at a macro level, and also the personality of the girl herself. The foundations of decision-making are unhindered parental support and the support of the head of household. This support is expressed as available resources, encouragement, allowing time with no pressure of early marriage, and allowing adequate time for studying. The second foundational factor is the presence of a relatable and accessible inspirational figure. These figures are mostly elder siblings, cousins, teachers, and/or someone in the neighborhood. Their success comes as assurance to these girls that they can accomplish their dreams too. They may also provide much needed guidance and motivation.
The next step for girls is to navigate barriers at an individual level. Often, the career goals of these girls were borrowed from elder siblings or parents, eliminating the chances of friction within the family. In cases where career choices were self-conceptualized by the girls, they often kept personal/family limitations in mind in terms of financial, academic, and technical capabilities. Career decisions were not based strictly on personal preferences. All these factors together can materialize into an attainable target. This aspiration can then be fueled through self-motivation and the creation of a safety net against the resistance of society or extended family members.
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Fig. 2: Factors influencing the development of career goals (created by Girl Effect)
Fears: Failure to achieve or maintain agency
Girls’ fears were mostly related to a failure to achieve their own dreams or goals. In the short term, this could mean a risk of having to drop out of school or failing an exam. In the longer term, it could be because of marriage or a lack of support from their parents/new in-laws. Another key fear was losing the approval of their parents. This was perceived as an essential ingredient to achieving their future goals and aspirations, and maintaining the status quo related to their current levels of mobility and sociability.
The respondents were very fearful of failing in exams, not being able to fulfill their ambitions, getting married early, or experiencing a financial crisis that would lead to abandoning their dreams. Covertly they were terrified of slipping away from the high normative moral standards including being obedient, homebound, respectful, kind, caring, and distant from boys. One side of the spectrum of fears exhibited by these girls indicates that they have a fondness for financial independence and liberty, while the other side is fixated on an external locus of identity that seeks approval for every action. Responses suggest that the majority of the time, the desire to be accepted outweighs career aspirations. This could be mainly due to the lack of guidance, motivation, or resources, and the scarcity of relatable inspirational figures. It could also be the severe consequences they would have witnessed if someone seriously transgressed the protocol of the “Good Girl.”
The fear of getting married early was associated with losing freedom and identity. It was often seen as a deterrent in pursuing careers or education, along with bearing the burden of household responsibilities. There was a lot of fear around losing the trust of parents which could happen by going out too much, being friends with boys, etc. Although very few girls admitted to being in relationships themselves, in a hypothetical situation of negotiating for the delay of physical intimacy, most of them were afraid of break- ups and more severe consequences like harassment, blackmail and forced sex. Fear also dictates the decision to access clinics in case of STIs.
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“I worry that I will not become an IPS officer, even though I want to become one. I worry whether I will be selected or not.” (Patna, 15)
“My biggest wish is when I will get a job. A job is very important for me and my future. There is no concern, I just have one concern that it will be very good if my marriage gets delayed. I don't want to get married. The biggest concern is that I should get a job as soon as possible.” (Patna,17)
“My biggest concern in life is failing in fulfilling my dreams. I do not want to make any mistakes which embarrass my parents. I fear if I will be able to justify their expectations.” (Patna,16)
“The biggest thing I am worried about is the backward thinking of our society. If a girl is talking to a guy, society thinks it is wrong. They start judging her and that becomes a deterrent in our journey towards our goal. Our parents also get hugely influenced by what society thinks. That affects our everyday functioning.” (Patna, 17)
Inspirational Figures: Often family or a friend
Girls look up to peers, elder siblings, and women in their local vicinity as figures of inspiration. Girls mentioned a teacher they particularly admired at school for their academic attainment, experience, or character. In very few interviews was a known public figure or celebrity chosen as an inspirational figure. There seemed to be a dearth of inspirational figures for quite a few girls which can lead to poor navigation around their career goals.
Although girls were clear about the need to be seen as obedient and submissive, there was also a strong affinity towards rebellious and independent female characters in the context of a game about relationships (Table 1). This could signal a gap between how they perceive their actual character versus their aspirational self. While the familial and social environment demands them to be abiding and submissive, they desire rather covertly to be independent and subversive. When these girls were asked to react to the avatars during research Wave 4, they instantly commented on the looks. However, when they were asked about what quality they would like in a female character, mental traits like intelligence, maturity, humor, and common sense surpassed physical appearance, like beauty and style, with a fairly wide margin (Table 2).
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Table 1: Favored profile of female character in a game of relationships (N= 96)
Frequency Percent
Obedient 35 36.5
Rebellious 32 33.3
Independent 28 29.2
Clever 17 17.7
Shy 7 7.3
Homebody 9 9.4
Clueless 2 2.1
Table 2: Favored traits in a female character (N= 96)
Frequency Percent
Intelligence 39 40.6
Maturity 21 21.9
Humor 12 12.5
Common Sense 12 12.5
Beauty 9 9.4
Style 2 2.1
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Girls showed admiration for male and female characters who struggled and succeeded in the face of adversity. They were also attracted towards the macho male characters usually depicted in Bollywood cinema, or females that are “Good Girls” and/or pretty. Girls were interested in characters that have a strong morality and a level of obedience, but also have a sense of independence and tenacity. Beauty and intelligence are valued among female characters, as are skills like singing, dancing, and comedy. This was reflected through their affinity towards the avatar “The Freedom Fighter” (Stimuli 4), as this character was perceived as respectful and dutiful, yet determined and career oriented. In many ways the stimulus presented was the personification of all traits which makes a ‘Good Girl.’ A few girls described a leading man’s attributes (physical, emotional or cerebral) and stated that he reflects what they were seeking in a husband.
One of the favorite characters mentioned included Gopi Bahu from “Sath Nibhana Sathiya” - a very innocent and domestic daughter-in-law who struggles to win the love of her husband. Her level of naivety can be understood through a scene in which she washes her husband’s laptop with soap and water. Another favorite character is Sandhya from “Diya Aur Baati Hum” who had to go through a very arduous journey to convince her husband and mother-in-law to allow her to pursue her career goal of becoming an IPS officer. After returning from the office, Sandhya would come back to her sari-clad avatar depicting a high level of reverence towards her familial values. These character preferences suggest that girls are inclined toward characters that fulfill everyone’s expectations. Chapter 2: Boyfriends
The issue of boyfriends is disruptive to the norms that underpin the “Good Girl” persona. The data on girls' attitudes and experiences about relationships was elicited through the use of projective techniques.
● Having a boyfriend remains at odds with “Good Girl” standards. ● Many girls do have boyfriends, but they are kept secret. ● Many approve of platonic friendships with boys.
Boyfriends: Secret and taboo, but many girls have them
Boyfriends are not seen as befitting the “Good Girl” persona, and few girls admitted to having a boyfriend during their interview, although TEGAs did not ask them directly. Of the 97 girls interviewed in Wave 4, 87 said that their friends had boyfriends, leading us to hypothesize that in reality many of these girls may also have had boyfriends.
When asked about their opinions on boyfriends, girls were at pains to say that they wished to focus on their studies, and that having a boyfriend could be an undesirable distraction and attract disapproval from their parents. When asked if they had male friends, most girls said no, on the basis that their parents
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would not approve, or that having male friends is undesirable. However, a majority of the respondents were comfortable with chaste friendships with the opposite gender, but such things were kept secret. They were very conscious of the negative light in which premarital involvement was seen, so all the relationship related answers were peppered with quotes like “What if the family finds out?”; “this can bring such a bad name to the family;” “parents will never accept such a thing.” This fear explains the apparent contradiction in few admitting to having a boyfriend, whilst almost all describing friends that did, and normalizing this fact.
Girls approve of their friends having boyfriends When girls talked about their peers’ interactions with boys, their responses were quite different. Girls normalized their friends’ friendships with boys and boyfriends. They were casual about discussing these relationships within their peer groups and facilitating their friends’ meetings with boyfriends in secret.
Having a boyfriend is highly sensitive. These relationships are only discussed with peers, and sometimes older sisters, but never parents. Girls are clear that maintaining the trust and respect of parents is a key concern, and jeopardizing this trust could endanger their personal freedom and ability to remain in education. Some girls were open about their attitudes to their peers having boyfriends, yet they were clear that society as a whole did not approve of such relationships, and that girls felt that these views were outdated. Admitting to having a boyfriend themselves may be too great a jump for girls whose romantic lives are juxtaposed with a desire to remain in education, work, and delay marriage.
Only eight girls discussed having a boyfriend openly, although many girls described their friends’ relationships or their platonic friendships with boys. Girls described meeting boys at school, through friends, and during social activities on the weekend. Those that talked about their boyfriends described meeting them at family events like weddings or at school. In spite of being well exposed to social media and messengers, none said that boyfriends could be found online.
If girls were open about their friends and even themselves having boyfriends, they were far less open about admitting to knowing anyone having sex. Any reference to this was vague.
“My friend shared about her boyfriend ... that they used to go to the park, and the restaurant also goes near a pond. Her boyfriend even used to kiss her sometime. They even had sex.” (Munger, 19)
The following case study details one participant’s experience with her boyfriend, which was elicited as the TEGA inquired about her perceptions of boyfriends. This example highlights commonly held attitudes and challenges of having boyfriends, including the secrecy surrounding the topic. This example reflects common themes that were uncovered in many interviews; this participant struggles to find balance while navigating family expectations, future aspirations, and her current romantic relationship.
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Boyfriend Case Study, 16, Munger
Education: Secondary School.
Dreams: Wishes to remain in school
This girl helps at home, attends college, and assists her mother with cooking after school. She borrows a phone from a family member and studies in the evenings. She spends most of her leisure time with her family. She does not go out if not to visit family.
Her main confidante is her mother whom she is close with on all issues, except her boyfriend.
“There is something special which I can't tell my mother...so I told my boyfriend, I trust him a lot- that's why I share everything with him. That's why I told him everything and have trust in him...he will not share anything with others. He also tells everything to me. I can't tell my mother about all these things.”
In her everyday life she does not make decisions about her own future. Her parents make all her decisions for her and she follows their instructions. She is worried about marriage and having to give up her studies. These worries make her feel angry.
“My parents make the decisions of my life and we follow their decisions only. They make the decision about my studies, my marriage. Only they can think about my life. Sometimes, I feel bad. They should take my opinion also. Like...I don't want to get married too early. I want to continue my studies. I want to become something in my life, but they don't listen to me. I get angry but I can't do anything.”
She is focused on studying and getting a job, but love and her relationship also form part of her aspirational catalog.
“My biggest wish for the future is that I get my job by getting educated and then my love. I wish this...this is my only dream for the future.”
She talks to her boyfriend using a shared mobile. In her day-to-day life she only has female friends. Her boyfriend lives far away. They have conversations and share a lot with one another. Her friend also has a boyfriend, they live close by and so are able to meet. They met at college.
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“We do a lot of secret talks with each other and we trust each other that we never share our secrets with anyone.”
She is aware that if her parents found out they would disapprove, but she does not see what is wrong with having a boyfriend. She is aware that society will not accept that she wants to marry her boyfriend, or a boyfriend of her choosing.
“I only wish that my and my boyfriend's family will accept us. I wish that my parents accept him as my boyfriend and his parents accept me as his girlfriend. I only want to change this thinking of my parents. The people in our society do not like these types of customs. Those people want a girl to marry the boy that they want. This is the rule of society and my parents think that too, but I want to change these rules.”
The prospect of marriage is not welcomed
Despite the presence of boyfriends and the widely accepted view that marriage is an inevitability for all girls, most girls did not relish the prospect and showed concern that it would signal the end of their education. Many girls had a time frame for marriage in their mind either set by themselves or (mostly) given by their parents, but did not perceive any imminent pressure.
Few girls expressed any enthusiasm about the prospect of marriage and hoped to delay it as much as possible by continuing their education. Quotes like “If I don't get a job, I am afraid I might be forced to marry sooner,” suggests that marriage is perceived as punishment by these girls. A possible explanation behind this thinking could be an expectation of an unsupportive and restrictive environment once they might have to start living with their husband and in-laws. This concern is also reflected in their specification of prospective in-laws. When asked, they said they hoped their in-laws would be much like their own mother and father. Most of their responses suggest that they would like to be married to a family which supports their dreams. Qualities sought in a prospective husband were that he be respectful, considerate, educated, non-alcoholic, and good looking.
“He must be cultured and respect his parents because many are always drunk, so I want those who don't drink. He should be good, simple and smart as well.” (Delhi,15)
“I think he should have a good job and should speak politely. He should take care of me and my parents as well as his parents. I am a little afraid of marriage because I have been seeing a lot of cases of divorce and domestic violence.” (Delhi, 18)
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These views of marriage emerged as girls described “The Pushover” stimulus image during research Wave 4. Many girls believed that the girl in the picture was married since she was cooking, and referred to the woman standing behind her as her mother-in-law because she had an angry expression and was supposedly yelling at her. Many suspected that the girl might have restricted mobility and no permission to meet friends. Her life would have drastically changed after marriage. This suggests girl’s expectations of marriage are mostly negative. Also, it was puzzling to see that most of the girls attend to household chores, but still the picture reminded them of a married girl working at her in-laws. In another interview, a girl aspired to have a life like her married sister whose in-laws were very supportive and loving. It appeared to her as a positive deviant, and she longed to have the same experience after getting married.
In their reactions to “The Romantic” stimulus, quite a few girls were disapproving of her marriage dream. They said that since the girl was young and was studying, she should concentrate her energy around that. Few also doubted that she had a boyfriend because she was already thinking about marriage.
Some specifically said that they would like to wait until they reach their mid-20’s before marriage. Some girls expressed specific concern about the impact marriage might have on their ability to fulfill their aspirations. A small number of our respondents were already married and had married young. They said that their marriage had led them to leave education to take on household chores. These girls might be positive about the character of their husband but were despondent about the effect of early marriage on their lives.
Their views on marriage could also be affected by the media they consume. Girls are watching shows like “Kumlum Bhagya”, “Kundali Bhagya”, “Sath Nibhana Sathiya”, “Diya Aur Baati Hum”, “Afsar Bitiya”, which share common themes of struggles after getting married. Girls may also be experiencing a similar environment at home with their mother, which is reflected in their reaction to “The Gemini” stimulus. Many girls admired that both the parents were sitting happily while having tea. It appeared to them as a happy family. This reveals that girls are expected to perform domestic tasks and provide service both before marriage with their families and after marriage with their husbands. Some girls view this as a desirable social norm, while others express anxiety over this expectation.
Chapter 3: Family Planning, Reproductive Health
Foregrounded by the hypothesis that most girls are dating or have boyfriends, the key findings from the Wave 3 interviews show that girls’ knowledge of key reproductive health and family planning (RH/FP) issues are affected by severe ignorance and misinformation. Using vignettes and projective techniques, Girl Effect was able to navigate through girls’ reluctance to discuss their own experiences.
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● Girls are preoccupied with the menstrual cycle but do not understand their own fertility. ● Girls' levels of knowledge about how contraceptive methods work are poor. ● Consent and personal rights are understood in principle, but complex in practice. ● STIs are not well understood and there are significant barriers to seeking treatment.
Girls had a lot of unanswered questions related to RH/FP and relationships. Girls did not typically turn to technology for this information, but some girls said that they used the internet to find some things out. At the same time, they also said that they were unable to find satisfactory answers online.
Physical issues: Girls do have trusted confidantes
Almost all the girls we spoke to had someone they could talk to about their bodily changes, menstruation, and other related concerns. Some topics were discussed with different people.
The majority of the sample felt most comfortable talking to their mother, sister, female friends, and boyfriends about things like breast development, mood swings, or menstrual cramps. If the topic of interest was relationships or pregnancy, sisters, close friends, and sisters-in-law were more popular choices. The primary factors behind choosing a confidante were non-judgement and assurance of non- disclosure. For queries about relationships, pregnancy, and STIs, participants reported consulting a friend or boyfriend, but also stated that these individuals are as ignorant as themselves on these topics. These consultations were in the context of friendships where everything is shared.
Some girls said that they did not have anyone to discuss issues related to relationships with, and that matters relating to boys were seldom discussed with mothers. Quite a few girls used the internet for some of their queries. They were aware that if they asked these questions to someone in the family, they might face judgement and trouble; the family may become suspicious that they have a boyfriend. The girls quoted the internet and YouTube as a source of information on many of the taboo topics, but at the same time pointed out that the results were not always satisfactory. Few girls liked to keep their queries to themselves.
“I feel uncomfortable asking questions about menstruation, pre-marriage pregnancy, and what to do after getting married. I cannot discuss such things with my mother. I will use YouTube for getting information about such things.” (Jaipur, 18)
“I will feel uncomfortable and shy in asking about such physical things which I haven't asked or known before. I will extract the information from the net and will use YouTube. I will use the net because the other person could think of anything about me, what kind of girl am I?” (Jaipur,18)
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Menstruation: Girls are preoccupied by their cycle
Girls find their menstrual cycles to be stressful and embarrassing. They are worried about managing their flow. If they go to school, they are frightened by symptoms like menstrual cramps. Girls also do not understand what their periods are, and are ill- informed about how it relates to their fertility. Girls also described having significant restrictions on their behavior during their periods.
Menstruation is a preoccupation for many girls. They described stress and anxiety around managing their period, the pain or mood swings they experience, and the restrictions on their mobility during their period. The participants, while explaining their experience with their periods, said that they felt shame and guilt. They described it as a bad thing doing damage to their bodies. They also reported becoming conscious about their public presence, and wanted to learn more about modulating their dressing and behavior to cope with these changes.
The most common question that girls asked was Why does a girl menstruate? Even the older girls of the sample did not seem to know much about this. Respondents gave the sense that they have learned to manage their cycle but the why and how questions remained unanswered. Other common queries were around menstrual cramps, taking care of themselves during periods, delayed/early periods, irritation during periods, changing body shape, skin problems, weight gain/loss and weakness during puberty, and pregnancy. Many of the respondents were inquisitive about What happens to boys in their puberty? Is there something analogous to periods for boys?
When the respondents were presented with a situation which clearly hinted towards dysmenorrhea, they rarely identified it as a problem and seemed more concerned about the shame attached with periods. They mostly discussed the immediate management of having to arrange for sanitary pads and the attempts to get back home as early as possible. When asked about getting a period unexpectedly, girls described feeling fear or sadness. It was also thought of as a thing that should not be disclosed to boys, or discussed with male family members.
Sanitary napkins were widely reported as the most common product used during menstruation, followed by cloth pads. Other period management products like tampons and menstrual cups were unknown by the majority. There also seemed to be a shame and stigma associated with acquiring these products. Most of the girls had to seek someone else’s help in procuring pads. Most of the girls we spoke to were getting their sanitary products from a chemist, and far fewer from community projects or other sources.
Menstrual Taboos are pervasive and restrictive All respondents were aware of and affected by the restrictions on their actions and mobility during their period. Girls are commonly not allowed to eat pickles, visit temples and shrines, enter the kitchen, go to
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school, or touch certain things. A few also said that they are not supposed to sit or sleep around their fathers or brothers.
Some accepted these rules, but many girls attributed these ideas to outdated norms around menstruation applied by “older people” or the figures of authority in their lives. Visiting temples was a particularly strong taboo, and many girls described staying at home during their period altogether. Periods were also considered dirty or unpleasant by most of the interviewed girls.
“Girls are tortured in this condition because of the old thinking of the old ladies. They retain this kind of thinking in this era and girls have to face such problems. I think we should stop this tradition and should not do such a thing with the girls.” (Jaipur, 18)
Contraceptive Knowledge is poor When discussing contraceptives and pregnancy, girls exhibited low levels of knowledge and understanding of methods and care. They were surprisingly open about unmarried girls using contraceptives to prevent pregnancy.
When asked about contraceptives, girls were aware of different methods, but their knowledge of contraceptive efficacy was much lower (Table 3). Around 50% were not aware of when oral contraceptive pills and condoms should be used for maximum protection. Many were very suspicious about the side effects of pills, and considered it harmful for their fertility. Multiple reports denoted a confusion between understanding of Oral Contraceptive Pills (OCP) and Emergency Contraceptive Pills (ECP). Fertility knowledge was also lacking. There was prevalent ignorance about the standard days method (Table 3). Many believed that by avoiding sex during their periods, pregnancy can be avoided.
Table 3: Knowledge about methods of contraception
18-19y (N=48) 15-17 (N=48)
Frequency % Frequency %
OCP 34 70.8 33 68.8
Condom 30 62.5 27 56.3
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Copper-T 4 8.3 9 18.8
Injection 12 25.0 5 10.4
ECP 5 10.4 8 16.7
Standard days 5 10.4 8 16.7 method
Withdrawal 0 0.0 2 4.2
Showing an interest in contraceptives is severely at odds with societal norms and the “Good Girl” persona, both of which dictate no pre-marital sex. Girls also told us that they would only be able to discuss such issues with their peers and possibly older sisters. Any discussion of these topics was taboo and a risk to their reputation.
The data around this topic is, like the idea of boyfriends, subject to another contradiction. Despite showing low levels of knowledge and a lack of desire to know more about contraceptives, the majority of the girls were comfortable discussing the use of contraception among unmarried girls and supported this behavior as a personal choice. Condoms, OCP and ECP came up as popular choices. They highlighted that these methods are easily accessible at a chemist and will help prevent pregnancy. There were a couple of girls who were against the use of contraceptives, but did not give any explanation. Probably this disapproval was more about pre-marital sex than contraceptive uptake by an unmarried girl.
“Its advantage is that you are doing it, but you don't get pregnant. With medicine also, you don't get pregnant. Everything comes out through the bathroom.” (Patna, 17)
“These methods are used by married girls. Unmarried girls don't use these because they might create problems, and this is not good as well.” (Patna, 17)
Consent and Personal Rights: Girls are conflicted
Despite the interview sample stating that they are clear about their rights to refuse sexual advances from a boy, or how to manage a refusal to use contraception, girls expressed concern that exercising these rights could jeopardize a relationship. When discussing reproductive health and rights, girls were clear that boys held much of the power. In this context, “rights” refers to the right to refuse physical advances, including sex, and the right to negotiate for contraceptive use.
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Projective techniques were used to understand respondents’ opinion about sex or other forms of physical intimacy and her perception of self-worth in a relationship. TEGAs described a situation involving a fictional girl named Ayesha, in which Ayesha’s boyfriend demanded kissing (participants ages 15-17) or sex (participants ages 18-19), but she was not sure about it. Almost all the girls advocated that it would not be right to indulge in kissing or premarital sex, and she should opt out of it. Some girls suggested that she should end the relationship if he persevered. They felt that it would only bring shame to the girl and her family. Many said that they would prefer ending the relationship, which demanded that they defy the norms. Only a small proportion suggested negotiating with the boyfriend to delay it.
Despite these forthright solutions, many girls said that the implication for the girl would be ‘losing’ the guy. The younger participants were a little more open about discussing and buying time before a final decision. No one talked about fear of unplanned pregnancy or STIs as a reason to avoid sex. They were mostly concerned about following the social convention of abstaining from pre-marital sex. Another reason cited for delaying physical intimacy was a fear of the guy's intentions. Girls were worried that the guy was ‘using them’ and had no intention of marrying in the future. Younger girls gave premature age, career, and studies as a prime reason to avoid kissing. Very few mentioned that they could talk to their mothers about it. Most mentioned confiding in a friend or having no disclosure at all. A few respondents were explicit that this situation could be discussed with almost no one.
The respondents lacked agency when it came to challenging a boyfriend’s wishes. They gave a multitude of reasons as to why they would comply against their will: 1) the fear of breaking-up; 2) the fear of losing the “most suitable” guy; 3) the fear of being blackmailed by the boyfriend; 4) fear of being subject to verbal abuse; 4) the fear of being harassed by him or his friends, and 5) the fear that the guy might inflict self-harm after rejection. The common nature of these fears contrasts with the clear narrative from girls to push back unwanted advances, suggesting that in reality they may not feel able to exert their agency.
“Ayesha gives permission for a physical relationship because she is afraid that he might tell her parents or spread her photo in her family or the internet.” (Delhi, 18)
“She fears that the boy will leave her and tell her parents about their relationship. Her parents will not let her go out of the house then. Fearing all this she will have to agree to what the guy says.” (Delhi, 16)
“If Ayesha has to have physical relations with no interest then she must be doing it for a reason. She is thinking that she has to have relations if he is asking her, and they are in a relationship for so long. She will have to do it.” (Patna, 18)
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“She would be worried what will happen if he tells her family. She would be scared that he will use her audio or video in an inappropriate way. What if society gets to know about her relationship because of him.” (Jaipur, 17)
Expressed resistance for pre-marital sex arose mostly from the fear of repercussions following her failure to conform to societal norms. Even when accidental pregnancy was discussed, girls were concerned that they would face backlash from their family and the broader community. Some girls mentioned that girls should be focusing on their studies. In reaction to the scenario questions, girls expressed concern about the female characters aspiring to become a teacher. Other respondents highlighted that a girl needed to focus on studies and getting a good job over boyfriends. This rationale was eclipsed by the fear that any ‘slip’ from the commonly agreed upon life trajectory for a girl has the potential of revoking her mobility and education privileges.
Negotiating with men around contraception was also rooted in the grounds of the shame an unintended pregnancy would bring. The respondents talked about trying to convince boyfriends to use a condom or obtain a pill. It was interesting to note that pills were synonymous to ECP (and not the regular monthly pills). This indicates that the respondents were more concerned about keeping the relationship a secret by avoiding the risk of pregnancy. Concern about contracting a STI as a repercussion of unsafe sex was almost non-existent. They reported that in case the boyfriend refused to adopt contraception, most girls would consider stepping out of the relationship. A couple of girls said that they should obtain the contraception themselves. Considerations about their own physical well-being was a rarity since contraceptives were often perceived only as a medium to stop pregnancy. No girls showed an awareness of the possible benefits of using contraceptives, like halting periods, nor did they show any awareness of other side effects.
STIs and Reproductive Health: Girls are naive
Girls do not have clear knowledge about STIs. They seemed confused and had inaccurate information about the symptoms and means of prevention. They felt able to discuss issues with few people, and accessing a health center or clinic was seen as risky.
Girls' awareness of STIs is largely limited to an understanding that one can contract harmful “diseases” from sexual activity, but this knowledge was vague and often inflated, with death as a possible consequence. When the girls were prompted, lower abdomen pain, itching in private parts, and burning sensation while urinating were identified as symptoms of STIs (Table 4). In the conversation around reproductive health, the actual familiarity with symptoms of STIs is far less. A few mistook clinical symptoms of STIs as pregnancy, further emphasizing the lack of knowledge/need for education in this area.
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“We should have knowledge about everything, especially pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases so that we don't face any problem.” (Jaipur, 19)
Table 4: Awareness of symptoms of STIs (N=48); Age-group (18-19)
Frequency %
Itching in private parts 39.6 19
Lower abdomen tenderness/pain 20 41.7
Genital Discharge 14 29.2
Burning or pain on urination 19 39.6
Ulcer/sores/warts/growth in private parts 12 25.0
Don’t Know 16 33.3
Seeking RH/FP care is seen as risky Most respondents confided in their boyfriend or closest friends to discuss STIs. They opined that a visit to a clinic was a necessary step if someone has contracted a STI, and that they could make that decision independently. Respondents were confident that any STI symptoms needed to be treated at a clinic, and that girls should go even if they were nervous or embarrassed to do so. However, this assertion was accompanied with a long list of potential impediments. They discussed at length the possible negative implications of their family or neighbors finding out about their visit to the clinic. They feared getting beaten up, losing reputation, being subjected to forced marriage, and compromised mobility. They also expressed apprehensions about being judged and facing awkward questions from the doctor. A few girls were also concerned about the long distance they would need to commute for accessing the clinics. This suggests that the actual turn up at RH/FP clinics would be far less.
Perceptions of Pregnancy
There was almost a 70:30 ratio among the girls who favored the idea of delaying pregnancy for some time after getting married and avoiding immediate pregnancy. Those who were in favor of the delay recommended seeing a doctor to understand how this can be done. The main reasons cited for the desired
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delay in pregnancy were to be able to spend time with the husband and progressing in her career. However, it was observed that the girls did not think that they had the ultimate right to make this decision by themselves. They talked about talking to their husband and other family members, and gaining their approval before adopting any contraceptive.
The smaller proportion of girls believed that it is not desirable to voluntarily postpone pregnancy because it has many negative health implications. They also cited repercussions such as she might be considered barren.
“We should not use things like pills and such things because later on it creates problems in conceiving. There is swelling, thyroid problems, fat accumulates in the uterus. Then it becomes a problem in conceiving.” (Delhi, 18)
“It is not right to delay a baby after marriage. This is because other family members wait, in anticipation, for the good news. They want to have the joy of enjoying the baby.” (Delhi,15)
“Because then her in-laws will say you are not having a child and neighbors tease that we have a child, but you don’t. She should become pregnant and have a baby.” (Delhi, 15)
Pregnancy out of wedlock was perceived as the end of a normal life for girls while only a minor and temporary disruption in the life of their male counterparts. The respondents believed that their mobility would be severely restricted and that they would not be allowed to attend school/college. They were afraid of encountering both severe mental and some degree of physical abuse. For girls who get pregnant before marriage, the most common solution that emerged from the interviews was marrying the person they were in relation with. In case the guy or the family do not agree to such a wedding, the respondents proposed an alternative denouement – that of undergoing an abortion followed by a marriage to someone else. Abortion was raised as a solution for a number of girls. There were a few mentions about some pills which flushed out the fetus when taken in early stages. Suicide and running away from home emerged as two extreme responses.
*Note: Abortion in India is legal before 20 weeks of pregnancy; this limit is increased to 24 weeks of pregnancy for minors (under age 18) and victims of rape or incest.
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Chapter 4: Mobile and Gaming Wave 2 focused entirely on gathering data on how girls use the mobile phones they either own or borrow. The sample was purposely selected based on regular mobile phone use and game playing.
● Most girls share or borrow the mobile phone they use, and most borrow from an older brother. ● Borrowers mainly watch videos or TV, listen to music, use WhatsApp, and play games. ● Owners use their phone to access social media, like Facebook, as well as watch videos or TV, listen to music, use WhatsApp, and play games. ● Facebook is the most popular social media platform. ● Games are popular and girls play games like Ludo, Temple Run, and Subway Surfer. ● Using phones for educational purposes was less popular. ● Girls like the idea of an adventure game and designing a character.
Owners vs Borrowers: Most girls borrow
Most girls borrow the mobile that they use. Borrowing affects how much screen time they get and also how they use the phone. Borrowers are less likely to use social media.
Most girls borrow or share mobile phones. The majority borrow from an older brother or sister, or from parents to a lesser extent. There were no cases where the girl had to share/borrow a mobile phone from outside her family, suggesting that mobile coverage amongst the sampled households is almost universal. Borrowing girls reported having a limited amount of time on phones, and they intended to use this time for watching videos or TV, listening to music, using WhatsApp or playing games. The respondents highlighted that they will be given mobile phones once they are older, and they also expressed the desire to have exclusive access to their mobile phones.
Mobile phone owners made up less than 30% of our sample. Most of the girls who owned a phone said that they had purchased the phone themselves. These girls often allow their friends or younger siblings, and in some cases their parents, to use their phone within certain parameters. Owners tended to spend longer on their phones and use them for more diverse purposes. Owners were more likely to use social media and use the device for chatting on Facebook, etc.
Girls did not often name-check their favored phone model, especially if they were not owners. Mobile brands like Oppo, Vivo, Mi, Samsung, and Apple were mostly named as their preferences. None of the respondents specified the model number of the phone they used or liked the most. The names they called out as their favorite brands were because of their familiarity with them since they have only been using those. Only a few expressed their desire to own the latest models, without providing specifics.
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It is likely that most of the girls do not have total control over the apps on the phone they share or borrow. Most acknowledged that making space on the device was the primary reason to delete an app. Among the owners, a few described having autonomy over their apps, and a few described deleting apps so that the borrowers would not know what they have been using.
Mobile habits: Phones are used in leisure time
Most of the participants used mobile phones during the afternoon when they had leisure time and the owners were at home. Average holding period varied from 10-180 minutes, and was intuitively larger for girls who owned the phones in comparison to borrowers. Play Store almost invariably was known as the point for downloading applications (86%). Overall, girls described spending their time on mobiles listening to music, chatting on the phone, playing games, taking photos, and watching videos.
Gaming was found to be the most popular activity for entertainment in girls’ spare time, followed by watching TV, spending time with friends and using social media and chatting apps. There was a difference in the general pattern of phone usage and phone usage in the past 14 days (prior to interview) for homework or studies. In the general usage pattern, it came up more frequently than in the past fourteen days’ use.
Social media: Not common among borrowers
Table 5 reports the number and percentage of respondents who reported using various social media apps. Facebook was reported as the most popular social media application amongst the participants. WhatsApp was the most widely used messenger. Respondents also reported spending time on TikTok and Instagram. However, social media was not one of the most popular modes of mobile usage. Mobile owners were more likely to report using social media regularly and show an awareness of different platforms. Some respondents that were borrowers said they used social media but could not provide details, suggesting that they do not have their own accounts.
Table 5: Results from Wave 2: Popular social media sites and messenger apps (N=87)
Frequency %
WhatsApp 70 80.5
Facebook 32 36.8
Instagram 15 17.2
Twitter 3 3.4
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Games: A very popular use of mobiles
Most of the respondents reported spending 10-60 minutes per day playing games. For our sample of borrowers, mobile time was at a premium, but many seemed to use a large portion of their access to play games. Girls described prolonged sessions playing Ludo or Temple Run and trying to beat scores or reach new levels.
The most popular games were Temple Run, Temple Run-II, Subway Surfer, Ludo, Candy Crush, Snake, and Talking Tom. Other games also played by these girls were Bingo, Chess, Puzzles, Fear File, Gold Run, Bubble Hunt, PubG, Motu Patlu, Barbie Doll, Mario, Hungry Shark, Slendrina, Volleyball, Bottle Shoot, Ninja Samurai, etc. In addition, respondents mentioned cooking and baking related games, and driving games. Many of these games involve adventure and character design.
When girls explained their gaming choices to the TEGAs, almost every time they said that the game should be fun and easy. Further digging suggested that the games which provided instant gratification through coin/treasure collection, fast level upgrades, and colorful graphics were chosen as their favorite ones. There were a handful of girls who also wanted the game to be educational. Uniquely, a few girls expressed that they would like to be admired for what they had achieved in the game. Almost everyone seemed to like multiplayer games over single player and the ability to play with friends was important to many respondents. Girls also wanted to play these games with their parents.
Brothers, elder or younger, were the most common link between the girl and the games. They were the ones who introduced them to these games and also taught them the hacks to play better. A few girls said that their friends had suggested they play a certain game. Rarely had anyone searched for a game on the internet themselves.
Game Genres: Adventure comes out on top
Similar to the findings of Wave 1, adventure was the preferred genre of games, followed by creative games involving drawing, designing, etc. This is supported by the reported popularity of Temple Run which loosely fits into the adventure genre. Specific features of games like designing the character and interacting with friends in the game was regarded as very appealing. Also, most of the respondents applauded the idea of a game specially curated for girls. However, it is notable that these responses came from respondents who have largely been non-initiated to the concept of avatar-based gaming, hence the responses might differ after game play.
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Chapter 5: Avatar Stimuli
Girls were asked to interact with four separate Avatar stimuli during Wave 4 interviews (see Annex 1). TEGAs encouraged the girls to offer their impressions and reactions to the images and describe the life, lifestyle, and personality of the girl in each image. Girls were also asked to select the avatar that they found most relatable. Responses were varied, but girls had clear preferences around which personas they were attracted to and which they found less inspiring or likeable. Girls were attracted to avatars that seemed driven and purposeful, which reflected many of the girls’ own aspirations towards work and independence. Girls were also attracted to characters that showed a combination of obedience and subversion.
The Romantic
Most girls noticed her dreams first and totally ignored the book kept on the side. Others disliked her dream and said she should be focusing on her studies. Looking across Waves 1 and 4, the personality of most of the girls who liked avatar 1 is similar to how they described the avatar itself. However, while describing her personality, conflicting adjectives were used, like obedient, simple, one who throws a lot of tantrums, friendly, and reserved. ‘Lazy’ was a word used repeatedly with this girl. Some admitted liking her sleeping pose, but at the same time said that she should really be studying and not thinking about her future. The boy in the dream was assigned multiple labels: boyfriend (most common), friend, and brother (surprisingly). Girls are more interested in the fact that she is sleeping and also has a book kept by her side. This indicates their desire to remain in school and also their wish to get a more comfortable life.
A few said that she is studious and may also have a boyfriend, and is dreaming of marriage. In Munger and Jaipur, most were disapproving of the ‘dream’ and said she should be focusing on her studies. The girl was admired for her looks. She appeared innocent, intelligent, homely, shy and belonging to a good family. When asked about changes that will make the picture perfect, the following edits were suggested: 1) deleting her dream; 2) cover her fully with the blanket; 3) use better windowpanes, and 4) change her hairstyle. Based on the responses analyzed from these same girls in Wave 1, many of the participants seem to resemble this avatar. However, the participants did not openly accept or recognize this. The dilemma was the presence of a boy in her dreams which strongly violates the norms of “Good Girl.” Also, a few girls looked at her as someone privileged because she is studying, dreaming, and happy.
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“This girl is asleep and dreaming about her marriage. Dreaming about the boy, how the marriage will happen. She looks lazy as she is keeping the books on the side and dreaming about her marriage. She may have her own dreams, her own desires and friends with whom she wants to share her feelings. She looks lazy also because the way she is sleeping is a little odd.” (Patna, 16)
“I think she does not want to get married. She wants to get away with all this. But the boy is forcing her to get married to him. She must be nice. She does not want to get married. She must be afraid. Her dream is not to get married. She is not able to get rid of this fact from her mind.” (Patna, 15)
“She reads a lot of romantic stories and dreams romantic dreams...And she is very nice. It seems like she reads a lot of romantic stories, and she is dreaming about how her husband would or wouldn't be. In her dream she is thinking her husband is very good, she is dancing. In the picture she is sleeping... She looks cultured.” (Delhi, 17)
The Pushover
The woman standing behind the girl is seen as a mother-in-law or mother who is forcing her to cook. Girls mostly sympathized with the girl but the woman standing behind with an angry expression caught the most attention. Girls said that they wished that the mother-in-law was less strict, because girls need to be able to study and should not be forced to cook. A small number of respondents commented that the girl was being lazy and should not daydream while completing her chores.
Girls perceived this character as “poor”, “village girl”, and “married”. They describe her as being a domestic persona who may be innocent and wearing a sari or suit. Some girls commented that they like her braid, but would change her clothing. Respondents said that she is unlikely to have an active social life as her mother or mother-in-law would not let her go out of the house. Few girls also said that her mother is being strict for her own good so that her in-laws won’t point a finger on her upbringing once she is married. Only 4 out of 96 girls openly related with the girl in the image, but there were quite a few occasions on which they recognized her as someone in their neighborhood. Based on earlier responses to questions regarding their own decision-making power, it appears that several girls’ lives were very similar to The Pushover, but they hated to admit it. There was something in the image, probably the typical village kitchen set-up, that was off-putting for girls. Most of the girls described her as decent and obedient, but the layout around her was either unfamiliar or too unpleasant to admit.
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“She looks like she cooks, goes for study as well, but her mother forces her too much to cook food. That is why she cooks food angrily. She doesn't want to cook. And she looks like she is married. I can't figure out if that is her mother or her mother-in-law. It looks like she wants to study but her mother is making her cook. She wants to study. She is good and has good friends because they support her. All of them study well. She sees them going to school, so she also wants to study.” (Patna,17)
“She is a very simple girl. She has a very positive thinking. What I can see is that she is very nice. She does all the house chores. She obeys her mother-in-law. She does all the housework. She has a very good image in her family. She stays happily with them. What I am liking is that she is cooking. I like it.” (Munger, 16)
“To me this girl seems to be very disciplined, doing household work and listening to her mother. I don't like her mother as she troubles her a lot. She should help the girl cook as the girl is preparing food alone. She resembles a lady in my neighborhood who is arrogant. The girl seems to be cultured and from a village. I don't think she has friends. She is doing her job only and cannot have friends. She must be having some dreams like getting freedom from this life. She looks very tense. I think she has some problem.” (Patna,16)
The Gemini
This image stimulated the most diverse reactions from the sample. Girls seemed genuinely conflicted in their reaction to this persona. Many pointed out the positives in her dutiful behavior with her parents, and also her apparent independence outside of the home. But many also expressed a concern that this girl is wrongfully deceiving her parents and taking risks in wearing “short” clothes, taking selfies, and roaming outdoors. A few other interesting reactions worth noting were - “The girl is probably not close to her parents- that is why she has to hide things.” “The girl is happy, respectful, and open minded as she is good with her parents and also has her own personal life.” “The girl is of bad character and is going to have sex.”
While the majority had a negative opinion about this avatar, it still scored second in terms of popularity. However, the margin between The Freedom Fighter (most commonly selected) and The Gemini is very large. The non-verbal cues like coy smiles, giggles and abstaining from talking more about it suggested that they were very familiar with such a personality. Data from Wave 1 leads us to hypothesize that most of these girls had boyfriends, but it was a well-kept secret. It is possible that many of the girls are leading similar lives but will never admit it because it would severely jeopardize their reputation in family and society. It also invites physical and verbal abuse and might lead to restricted mobility.
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Those who rejected this image still had many positive things to say about her looks, her behavior at home, and her dutifulness. Her family was perceived as a happy and rich family. Girls who associated with The Gemini used terms like fun, open-minded, fashionable, obedient, but a liar and a cheater. They seemed to be okay with her going out and having fun, but pointed out that she kept her parents in the dark. However, few participants also advocated that a girl should be exactly like The Gemini - respectful, obedient, independent, and outgoing. They did not assume that the parents are not aware of her social life. There is a possibility that they picked it as their choice only based on just her inside personality.
“She looks like the daughter of a younger daughter-in-law and at home. She is simple and outside she is a model. She is an educated girl, she is good. In home, she wears a suit, salwar and outside she wears jeans, top. She is stylish. Home and family are fine. She stays in the city and near the college, she has taken a photo. She is beautiful. She is taking tea for her mother, father. In this photo, I don't know whether it's her friend or boyfriend with whom she is clicking the photo.” (Munger, 19)
“She looks like a daughter. She cooks in the house. She takes care of her mother, her father. She also studies, she goes to college. She clicks selfies. She goes out with her friends. This is what I like. She is with her boyfriend. She goes out with him. She clicks selfies with him. Wherever her boyfriend takes her, she goes. When she is out of her house, she does what she wants to. When she is at home, she obeys her parents.” (Munger, 16)
“I really like this picture by seeing it. She seems like an actress from any show. I actually don't remember the show. She is definitely from any show. This girl is very good and does all household work. She makes tea for her parents and does all household chores. She is a very good girl. I feel good for her. In the other picture it seems like she hangs out with her boyfriend and doesn't care about the household work. She is enjoying it a lot and she is very fond of it. She feels like she doesn't want to go home again and wants to stay with the boyfriend. She is feeling that she gets him in the future and lives with him. She wants to enjoy the outside world. This is what I liked in it.” (Jaipur, 17)
“She looks like some TV show character. At home this girl is looking good, but the same girl when she goes outside to meet her boyfriend, she hides this thing from her parents, and over there she is taking a selfie. She is beautiful, decent, and obedient, and listens to her parents also. Her parents think that she has gone
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out for studies, she should study as her parents have given her freedom so she should not take advantage of that. She goes out and enjoys and does wrong things. She has gone for studies so she should study so that she gets a job. She is stylish, she is beautiful. She is looking different at home and outside she is different. The girl who is inside the home looks obedient and one who is outside the home looks smart in other things also. The girl who is inside the home looks simple and decent and the girl who is outside the home looks smart.” (Munger,17)
The Freedom Fighter
The Freedom Fighter was the most popular avatar amongst the participants. For some girls it reflected their own personality, while for others she was an aspirational figure. Girls spoke more about her personality than her looks. She was understood as a girl going to school/college/office. Respondents enjoyed that she seems to be heading somewhere with purpose and appeared to relish that she is heading to school, or work with her bag. Participants picked words like studious, simple, obedient, respectful, beautiful, career oriented, determined, open- minded, helping, and friendly to describe her. More often than not girls did not want to change anything about the picture. They said it was perfect. Some change suggestions were about her outfit, like sandals instead of a slipper, and a modern dress. Few unique call outs were: “She is too much into her head and should be more social.” “She is too innocent for this world.” Some suggested that she should focus on studies and not think much about the future. Most respondents did not focus on the content of her thoughts, and they did not interpret it as a daydream, in comparison to The Romantic, which may be seen as lazy or distracted behavior. In many cases when respondents selected the image as the closest depiction of their lives, it was untrue. Girls who were uncertain about their future also saw her as their reflection, suggesting that she was an aspirational image for many.
“She is dreaming about becoming an air hostess. It looks like she wants to become something. Her dream is to become an air hostess. This girl would be intelligent, she will be having more interest in studies. And it looks like she wants to do modeling also. Height of air hostess is good also they are bold so that's why. She is looking good because she is studying and wants to fulfill her goal also. She would be an open-minded girl, intelligent, mature, and obedient. Obedient because she is studying, she listens to her parents and she
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doesn't talk rudely and is friendly with everyone. There was one movie Badri Ki Dulhania in that also there was the role of Alia Bhatt that she wants to become air hostess.” (Jaipur, 18)
“This picture looks like she will go to school to study. She reminds me of my village friend. She looks the same too. Looking at the picture I feel the same when we all go to school to study and think about our future. She is a student and she is intelligent. She can do anything to achieve her goals. She is beautiful, intelligent, and hardworking. I met [my friend] in my childhood. She is hard working and she will fulfil her dreams. She is respectful of her parents.” (Delhi,15)
“She reminds me of my sister, who always thinks that I will do this work after growing up and I will help my family so nobody has any problem. She is thinking that she will become an Air Hostess in the future. She will fly in the sky by which she will feel good. She stays quiet, but that doesn't mean she doesn't talk to people. If she wants to gain some knowledge from an elder, she will definitely do that whether it is from a teacher or from friends. Her friends are both male and female. She never thinks something wrong or right about anybody. She is just a little bit naughty and quiet. She is an intelligent girl who thinks about her dreams. There was a TV soap called “Krishna Chali London”, where the protagonist wanted to become a doctor that's why she didn’t want to get married, but her parents were forcing her to get married. Her husband was very nice. He takes her to London and wants her to study, by which she becomes a successful doctor.” (Delhi, 18)
“By looking at her I think she wants to study, she wants to become an air hostess, she wants to live somewhere else, and she wants to do her work. It’s looking like she is going to study. By looking at her she looks like she wants to accomplish her dreams. I mean she is efficient and active. She gives her full focus to her work and she thinks of moving ahead in her life as soon as possible and she wants to change her life. She reminds me of my friend because she thinks of becoming a teacher when she studies, and she thinks that if she will study as soon as possible and gain knowledge she will become a history teacher. She is very good at studies and she teaches others also while studying and she also runs tuitions at home and after teaching, she also goes to coaching and if she studies in class then she teaches her four -five friends also.” (Delhi, 18) Chapter 6: Psychographic Profiles
The following four typologies (Figure 3) or profiles were developed using a grounded analysis of interview data from Wave 1 and cross referenced with findings from Wave 4. Each typology pivots on girls’ aspirations: how clearly she knows what she wants from her future and whether she knows how to achieve these aims. These goals were then cross referenced with the levels of support girls enjoyed from their parents, their ability and willingness to negotiate for more, their mobility and their levels of resolve around their priorities. This was coupled with an assessment of how she reacts to the four different character stimuli (See Annex 1).
Each of the typologies is underpinned by common motivators that we found throughout the sample:
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● Girls’ desire to remain in education for as long as possible. ● Girls’ wish to pursue a career in order to be independent and/or support their families. ● Girls’ fear of the effect of marriage on their prospects to study or work.
As well as these underlying factors to each of the typologies, each type is overshadowed by the ideal persona of the “Good Girl”. Fig. 3: Psychographic Profiles developed from participant responses to avatar stimuli and research questions (figure created by Girl Effect)
Type-1 - Pranita
Pranita is very career focused with good levels of support from her family. She has a strong sense of obligation towards her family, aspiring to support them and contribute to the household. Her lofty dreams are supported by her parents and she doesn’t engage in negotiation around smaller issues like wearing a particular type of dress or going to attend a party because she fears valuable parental support will be taken away.
Type-2 - Laxmi
Laxmi is mostly homebound spending all her time with family, and her mobility is highly restricted. She may be studying if her parents can afford it or if she is out of school. She has a high level of domestic responsibility. She has dreams of independence and holding a job, but has limited bargaining power. She is being held back by financial constraints or regressive norms, which may be keeping her out of school. She does not have a clear sense of her ambitions or what is possible.
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Type-3 - Rani
Rani has a clear sense of what she wants to do in her career and is also well informed about how to achieve her goals. However, she is lacking in resources and/or motivation and this makes her inactive. She does not have a clearly defined sense of what she wants outside of careers. She does not negotiate with her parents on what she wants, and assumes they will support her. She is neither very social nor studious and seems apathetic and directionless about her goals.
Type-4 - Kalpana
Kalpana has childlike career aspirations and doesn’t actually know what she is aiming for. There is a lack of effort towards exploring and acting toward her career goals. She changes her mind often about what she wants. She is a dreamy and romantic girl. She is prepared to negotiate for things that interest her, such as buying something or being allowed to go somewhere. She is social and outgoing, and prioritizes having fun with her peers over focused study.
Profile Case Studies
The following case studies describe four participants that fit each of the four personality profiles. For each participant, we have listed their “profile type”, provided a description of their lifestyles and goals, and provide quotes that demonstrate their reaction to each of the four avatar stimuli. Each case study presented here demonstrates how girls of each personality type perceive the avatar stimuli, while providing the context of their family life, aspirations, agency, and confidence. Case studies demonstrate differences in these perceptions and provide examples of these variations among the personality types.
Pranita
Pranita, a 16-year old from Patna, lives with her parents and has two siblings. Her father is a small businessman and her mother is a housewife. All of them are studying, and she is currently an intermediate student. She dreams of becoming a banker and spends most of her time focusing on studies. She is very ambitious and wants to prove that girls can achieve anything they wish for. Her parents initially wanted her to become a police officer, but she negotiated and convinced them to let her follow her dream. She loves to spend free time with family and friends.
“I like holidays as I get a lot of time to spend with the family and chat with my mother and play with my brothers. On holidays we enjoy and go out in the evening, roam around and chat with my father.”
“I can go anywhere I want to. It is very safe for us. I go to coaching, and college. I go to celebrate birthdays in a park or hotel. Our parents hesitate in allowing us to go out of town as we are girls and they don't feel safe. Parents feel that if she is a girl something wrong might happen. “
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“All decisions about me like what I have to do, where to go etc. are made by my father. I always go to him and ask him. Since he is much older than me and loves me a lot, I am sure his decisions will always be right.”
"I am very close to my father as he is very nice, he loves me a lot. He takes care of all my needs. He fulfils all my wishes. I share all my secrets with him. If I have any problems, I share them with him. He understands me. He encourages me a lot. He cares for my studies. He is always worried about my studies. Whichever coaching I ask for, he gets me enrolled. He keeps reminding me of my goals and encourages me.”
"None of my friends have boyfriends. They only focus on studies and so do I. My parents do have a problem when I talk to boys who are strangers. They care for me. They don't want their daughter to get into the wrong company or do something wrong. I also agree with them as I do not have an interest in all this. I am happy with my friends and family.”
Pranita describes The Romantic as:
This girl is sleeping and dreaming about her marriage. Dreaming about the boy, how the marriage will happen. She looks lazy as she is keeping the books on the side and dreaming about her marriage. She looks lazy also because the way she is sleeping is a little odd.
This girl looks open-minded and the way she is dreaming. I think she might be having a lot of friends with whom she goes out and has fun. It is possible that she has a boyfriend also because that's why she is dreaming about her marriage and is not able to focus on her studies. She wants to do a job also, but it might be possible that her focus is more on marriage and boys than on studies. She is dreaming those kinds of dreams and in the dream, she is feeling happy also. She is a good girl. She wants to concentrate on studies, but her thinking is very different, and she is dreaming about her marriage. She goes out with her friends and has fun with them and shares everything with them. She doesn't even know how to sleep properly. She is sleeping in a very strange way. She should take a sheet while sleeping. I like her hair. I don't want her to think about marriage. She should focus on her studies.
Pranita describes The Pushover as:
She seems to be a villager. She doesn't know much about cooking, but her mother is pressuring her to do so. She respects her mother; therefore, she is listening to her. She doesn’t remind me of anyone as I don't have much to do with villages. Her mother is pressuring her to cook food which means that she is concerned about her daughter's future. That is why she is grooming her.
I think she has some dreams. She wants to study and have fun, but she is sad and trying to compromise. I like the way she is thinking that by cooking she can change her mother’s behavior so that she can understand that she doesn't like to make food and she has a dream.
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Pranita describes The Gemini as:
It seems she has two faces. In the house she is very obedient and follows the instructions of her parents and does household work. On the other hand, outside she has friends with whom she wears different types of clothes, roams around and chills with her boyfriend. She may be keeping her other side a secret from family. She hides things from her parents, which she should not do. She should tell her parents and follow their advice.
She does some household work, and listens to her parents in the house, wears salwar suit at homes and her hair is braided as well. She is a cultured girl inside the house. Her parents think well of her. She may not have a job. If she had she would be busy in her work and wouldn't roam around with boys. I think she feels angry because of her burdensome environment at home. She likes to go out because she feels happy outside.
Pranita describes The Freedom Fighter as:
The girl is good and wants to study. She has big dreams of becoming an air hostess. Her desire is showing in her face. She looks very simple wearing a salwar suit. She is doing all possible things to achieve her dream. She looks like me. Even my dream is very big, and I do a lot of hard work to achieve it. Whenever I think of my dream, I feel very happy like this girl. Like this girl, I also work very hard. She doesn't have any friends; it seems she prefers to stay alone and go to coaching class. Like her I also want to study and love to go to college and coaching.
She looks innocent because she is wearing a suit. I don't think she has a boyfriend. She respects all family members. She is simple and hardworking.
She wants to change the mentality of villagers where girls are told to wear salwar suits. Although she is following that now, but she wants to wear clothes of her own choice when she stands on her feet and lives life on her terms.
Laxmi Laxmi is a 15-year-old girl living with her mother, brother, and sister-in-law in Delhi. Her father died a few years back. Her brother runs a small business. He is the head of household and is not very supportive of her. She loves jeans and going out with friends, but she is not allowed. She fears being forced into early marriage. Although her mother supports her, she doesn’t have much say in key matters.
“If we wear jeans, then they say, Aunties look through judgmental eyes.”
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“Yes, we can go out with friends. But they don't allow me to go. In my village, they don't allow us to go out in the evening. I don't know why, they only said...don't go in the evening. They don't allow me to go. My friend's house is in my lane, and they don't allow me to go. I feel bad. I can't go anywhere without permission. I only go out if they agree- otherwise I don't go. I ask for it a few times. If they agree then it's okay. Otherwise, I leave it.”
“My brother makes decisions for me. He decides everything. It upsets me when he restricts me from wearing clothes of my choice and eating food which I like. I trust him with big decisions, but I want to choose my dresses.”
“If a boy says anything to me then I tell my friend. In my coaching, a boy studies with me. When he makes remarks to me, I tell my friend about it because she also tells me such things.”
“I wish that they would permit me to wear jeans and allow me to go out in the evening if I want.”
““I am worried that I will have to leave my studies this year and get married. I don't feel good about getting married. I feel scared because I have seen that a husband slaps his wife. That's why I feel scared.”
Laxmi describes The Romantic as:
She is thinking about dancing. She is looking good. She obeys her parents. She lives according to her parents. I feel good by looking at her because she is thinking about her dream. She looks smart, studious. She is thinking by closing her eyes. She lives with her siblings and parents and goes out with her friends. By looking at the books I think that she is studying. Because she goes to school, she must have friends. She might be having a boyfriend. He would be good, and he would be studying. She must be having a lot of friends because she is not proud. Her thinking is good, she is studying. I like everything about this picture and wouldn’t change anything.
Laxmi describes The Pushover as:
I don’t understand what she is doing. She is dreaming about something and she is cooking. She does all the housework and lives at home most of the time. She looks like [my friend’s] mother. She keeps getting unnecessarily angry at her. [My friend] does whatever her mother tells her to do. The woman standing behind her seems to be very angry. But this girl is good. She lives at home with her parents. She studies too. She might have friends but very few and she certainly doesn’t have a boyfriend because she doesn't go outside much because she is scared of her mother. She doesn’t share her feelings with her friends. Her thoughts are beautiful. I would like to change her mother because she is not good. She is angrily staring at her daughter. I will her with a happy person.
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Laxmi describes The Gemini as:
She is looking good and clicking selfies. I feel good by looking at the picture because she is happy. She properly roams. She is sweet and good. Inside home she looks cultured and good. She must be doing all the household chores. She is good because she brings tea in the morning. She listens to her parents and goes out as well. She must be educated. I feel by looking at her parents. Her parents look educated so she must be educated too. She would have friends and they would be good. I don’t think that she has a boyfriend. I like this picture because she is happy, and she also listens to her parents. I also like it because she is wearing a pair of jeans, she has a bag, a mobile, and her hair is down. It looks good and I like everything about this picture. Like she is living happily with her parents and she clicks selfies with her friends. I liked her dress. At home she is wearing a suit and outside of the house, she is wearing jeans and a top. At home, she lives simply.
She describes The Freedom Fighter as:
She is thinking and walking in the image. She is thinking about what she would like to be and how she will live her life. She attends to household chores and maybe she goes to the office. She looks pretty. I like her bag and her dress. She lives with her parents. And she would be studying too. She has friends. She doesn’t share her feelings with her friends. She must not be having a boyfriend because she is studying. She is thinking that I want to wear short dresses and get a good bag.
Rani
Rani is a 16-year old girl. She lives in Munger with her mother, brothers, and sister-in-law. She has two elder brothers and three sisters who are married. Her brother is head of household. She wants to study and become a police officer or a nurse. Her brothers don’t let her study, but she firmly believes that her mother will help her in every possible way to achieve her goals. She is not allowed to go out much because her brothers fear that she might get involved with boys. They also fear for her safety. She spends her time attending to household chores and talking to her mother. She feels very close to her mother and shares everything with her.
“I want to study but we do not have enough money. I want to study a lot but can't. My mother says how will you study, how will we arrange funds, how will you go to school and do private coaching? I have a lot of plans for next year. I want to study and grow. I want to fill up a few forms. I will try either to become a nurse or a police officer. I think so many things like the person who inspires me etc. but I can't because of so many constraints. I wish to study further and get into a job. Then I will also help my mother. Once my dream is fulfilled, I will help everyone.”
“I don't like to stay alone but my brother wants me to stay alone at home. I should ask Bhabhi if I want
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something. I stay alone. Brother doesn't allow me to go anywhere. He says if I will mingle with other people, I will run away like other girls do. That is why I don't meet anyone. Our neighborhood is not good. A few people in this area kidnapped a girl. My brother always tells me not to go out of the house. He thinks that someone someday might kidnap me as well.”
“Mom has bought jewelry for my wedding. She will give me money for buying forms and studying.”
“Mom makes decisions regarding studies, but brothers don’t allow it. They beat me and my mother. Due to his fear, my mother doesn’t let me study. They think that the more I study the more problematic I will be.”
"I don't have many friends. I don't roam around with anyone. When I meet my friends and ask them if they study and if they say yes, I get tears in my eyes. When they ask me, I say I used to study. This is why I don't go anywhere."
“I don't become friends with boys. My brother doesn't allow it and my mother also. There is no point being friends with boys, my mother will beat me, and my brother will also beat me.”
"My mother worries about me a lot. She is worried about what work I will do. She is very supportive. She thinks if she will not think about me, who else will.”
"I don't know when I will get married. I will get married when my brother and mother would want me to. When they talk to me about marriage, I feel there are so many girls who are older than me and have not yet married. Girls of my age are studying, and they tell me that they will get me married. I don't want to get married right now.”
“Someone who will do good for me, who will think about my future. If I am getting a job as a nurse or something else, he would give money. That person will be called an ideal husband."
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Rani describes The Romantic as:
I feel very good by seeing this image. In this image, she is studying and thinking of marriage. She is sleeping and thinking of doing something. She has a lot of qualities. She is sleeping and when she will wake up she will study. Her thoughts would be very good. She would be cultured and thinking about how her life would be after marriage. Now I think she is completing her studies. She is studying for a government job. She will have friends, but no boyfriend. The one thing I don't like about this picture is that she is sleeping and dreaming. It's better to get up and study. I will wake her up and will ask her to hold the pen and study.
Rani describes The Pushover as:
Mother is standing and daughter is cooking, so she would be thinking that if she went to school she wouldn’t need to cook. It feels very bad to see that the mother is standing, and the daughter is cooking. She is not allowed to study- instead, she is made to work. She would be thinking that all of her friends are going to study, but she can't go. Her mother makes her work. I don't think that she studies. How can someone cook food and go study? She would have friends, but boyfriend- I am not sure. I like that she is cooking. I like everything about the girl. I don’t like her mother’s attitude.
Rani describes The Gemini as:
I like that she lives with her mother, father, brother, and sister at peace. I feel very good by looking at this picture. Outside home she is taking a selfie. They are brother and sister (with a giggle). The picture reminds me of Tanu Bala. Tanu and superstar they both go for clicking photos. I like that she is going out and having fun. She also takes care of her parents. I do not like that she is taking a selfie and would like to change it.
Rani describes The Freedom Fighter as:
It feels good to look at this picture because she is like me. She likes to study like me. She is dreaming about traveling. I wish that I also travel and do something with my life. It feels good that she is studying and lives with her parents, brother, and sister. She is inspiring me to study more. She might be a nurse. She has friends who help her. She also helps them. She cannot have boyfriends. She can only have female friends. I like that she is studying and holding a book while going somewhere. I don't like the bag and I don't like that she wants to wear short dresses. I will change these two things.
Kalpana
Kalpana is an 18-year old girl living in Jaipur. She has a big joint family. She likes to study and meet with friends. She enjoys having fun. She wants to get a job and studies seriously for it. Her parents are very supportive and she has the freedom to make her own decisions. Her parents help her with all the resources.
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“I study and have fun at college. I study so that I can do a job in the future. I want to become a teacher. But if I do some other course then I can also become something else. It is not necessary that I have to become a teacher. I am weak in studies. My math is also weak. I want to improve it so that I can move further and can get a job. My father told me about a course. I don't remember the name, but I will pursue it. The course is for 6 months. I will do it and when I get the certificate then I will go for a job.”
“Our neighborhood is very good. In our neighborhood all festivals are celebrated. Girls together celebrate Gangaur and all the boys celebrate Janmashtami together. We are allowed to go out and play."
“My mother and father help me in decision making. If I want to go somewhere and my parents want me to go to some other place, then I try to influence my mother by pleading. I usually succeed in convincing them.”
"I have 2-4 friends from school and I have lots of friends from my neighborhood. Like Madhu, our nearby girls, we live like friends. We share mostly every secret with friends."
"If I want to do anything, my mother and father don’t stop me from doing it. They ask me about it and help me in doing it.”
“I will get married after three to four years. No one talks about marriage as of now. And my husband should be good looking and well educated. My in-laws should also be good. My mother-in-law should also be good. She should treat me as her daughter. I feel a little stressed about marriage because I will have to go to another home, and I do not know how I will handle everything."
Kalpana describes The Romantic as:
She is watching a dream. This girl studies and she is watching a dream and maybe she is dreaming about marriage. I would like her name to be Priya and stay with her mother, father. I think she would be in the 10th or 12th class. No, she doesn't have a job. Yes, she has friends. She might be having a boyfriend. I liked the books in the image, and she should sleep instead of dreaming. She shouldn't be dreaming now, instead she should be studying.
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Kalpana describes The Pushover as:
This girl is cooking and the lady who is standing behind her is forcing her to cook. She is monitoring her. She must be thinking about something. It feels like she is scolding her and finding faults in her ways. She lives with her parents. Probably is not studying and she might not be working too. She might be having friends but not a boyfriend because of her mother in this picture. I like that the girl is cooking but I don’t like the woman who is standing behind her. She should be doing something else.
Kalpana describes The Gemini as:
She has prepared tea and brought the tea, and this would be her mother, father or relative and she is looking obedient. She stays at home. She is obedient and gives respect to elders which I liked and don't want to remove anything from it. In the second picture it seems she is meeting her boyfriend. I like her mobile and her outfit.
Kalpana describes The Freedom Fighter as:
I think she studies, and she might be going to school and also thinking of traveling somewhere. In her hand, there is a book which she is taking somewhere to study, and she looks like a smart girl. She stays with her mother and father. She might be in 12th class. She has girlfriends and I don’t know why but I feel that she has a boyfriend too. She is going for studies which I like but her mind is disturbed. She should have a positive approach and shouldn't worry about other things.
The above case studies demonstrate variations in the aspirations, confidence, and agency among the target population. The participant who matched the Pranita personality type is characterized by clear career goals and high levels of parental support, but lower willingness to negotiate. Laxmi’s responses demonstrate her low level of mobility, parental support, and clarity on aspirations and future goals. The participant who matched the Rani personality type demonstrates clear goals, but with limited direction, resources, and willingness to negotiate to achieve these goals. The Kalpana participant expresses some aspirations, but has limited direction and willingness to negotiate for future goals.
This study demonstrates the application of psychographic profiling in identifying common themes and characteristics among adolescent girls in urban and peri-urban communities in Rajasthan, Delhi, and Bihar. Results from this preliminary study will be used to develop avatars in the GOC game that girls find relatable. The lived experiences of these participants will also inform the development of realistic and relevant in-game scenarios. By understanding the lifestyles, aspirations, and challenges that these girls experience, GOC can provide targeted interventions that address timely and relevant issues, empowering girls to learn about health and bolster decision-making capabilities.
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Annex 1: Avatar Stimuli
The Romantic
The Pushover
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The Gemini
The Freedom Fighter
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Annex 2: Data from Wave 3 (RH/FP)
Table 6 Person with whom they share everything
18-19y (N=48) 15-17y (N=48)
Frequency % Frequency %
Mother 23 47.9 29 60.4
Sister 11 22.9 5 10.4
Female friends 8 16.7 12 25.0
Others 6 12.5 2 4.2
Table 7 Products used during periods
18-19y (N=48) 15-17 (N=48)
Frequency % Frequency %
Sanitary napkins 42 87.5 46 95.8
Cloth 4 8.3 13 27.1
Menstrual cups 1 2.1 0 0.0
Cotton 0 0.0 2 4.2
Tampon 0 0.0 1 2.1
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Table 8 Who is most likely to acquire girls’ sanitary products?
18-19y (N=48) 15-17y (N=50)
Frequency % Frequency %
Girl herself 17 35.4 14 28.0
Others 30 62.5 37 74.0
Table 9 Taboos around periods (N=49) (age-group 15-17y)
Can go to a place of Can do sports worship Eat pickles
Frequency % Frequency % Frequency %
Yes 33 67.3 10 20.4 20 40.8
No 16 32.7 39 79.6 29 59.2
Table 10 Person with whom an STI can be discussed (N=48) (age-group 18-19y)
Frequency %
Health worker 35.4 17
Boyfriend 17 35.4
Female friend 10 20.8
Mother/Aunty 4 8.3
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Annex 3: Data from Wave 2 (Mobile and Gaming)
Table 11 Ownership of mobile phones(N=87)
Frequency %
Shared phone 61 70.1
Own phone 25 28.7
Table 12 Use of mobile phones in last 2 weeks (N=87)
Frequency %
Listening to music 70 80.5
Playing games 66 75.9
Watching videos 55 63.2
Making phone calls 54 62.1
Taking photos 53 60.9
Watching movies 46 52.9
Researching on the 38 43.7 internet
Using messengers 37 42.5
Sending text messages 30 34.5
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Taking videos 26 29.9
Downloading apps 25 28.7
Using social media 18 20.7
Reading the news 18 20.7
Sending emails 7 8.0
Table 13 Use of smartphones to find out about health-related topics (N=82)
Frequency %
Never used 52 59.8
Used 30 40.2
Table 14 Time spent in playing games in one sitting (N=87)
Frequency %
30-60 30 34.5 minutes
10-30 28 32.2 minutes
>60 minutes 15 17.2
5-10 minutes 10 11.5
<5 minutes 4 4.6
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Table 15 Popularity of Games
Frequency %
Adventure 33 37.9 - completing a mission
Creative 16 18.4 - drawing and designing
Puzzle 12 13.8 - solving puzzles
Educational 10 11.5 - learning new information in a fun way
Quiz - 4 4.6 answering quiz questions
Table 16 Reason for deleting apps (N=87)
Frequency %
Space constraint 42 48.3
Get bored of old apps 29 33.3
To maintain privacy 13 14.9
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Table 17 Game features
Designing the Interacting with other Game specially designed for character(N=82*) players(N=82*) girls(N=80*)
Frequency % Frequency % Frequency %
Appeals a lot 63 76.8 56 68.3 57 71.3
Appeals a little 15 18.3 20 24.4 15 18.8
Does not appeal much 4 4.9 5 6.1 6 7.5
Does not appeal at all 0 0.0 1 1.2 2 2.5
*Those who were not sure have been removed.
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Annex 4: Interview Guides
Wave 1 Interview Guide
1. Firstly, I would like to get to know a little bit about you, I am going to ask you a few quick questions and then we can get started on the main discussion - could you please tell me your age? 2. What's your highest level of education? 3. Which subjects interest you most at school? TEGA: If the respondent is not in school, ask: If you are not in school, which subjects did you enjoy when you were at school. If she has never been to school code not applicable. 4. Do you want to continue studying? Why? If you have left school already, why did you leave? How did you feel about school when you were there? 5. Do you own or have access to a mobile phone or a smartphone? 6. I would like to hear a bit more about your family, your daily life, and your friends. First can you tell me, who do you live with at home? What do they do? 7. Tell me about your daily routine, what do you do on a typical day during the week? 8. What do you do between waking up and going to school/college and coming back from school/college? This might include school or work, helping at home, socializing with friends, who you spend time with, what you like to eat! I want to hear about it all. Try and include everything! 9. Now can you tell me what you like to do on the weekends? Please just describe your typical weekend activities. Who are you with? Do you stay home or go out? Do you prefer to be alone? Do you have commitments with your family? 10. What is your home neighborhood like? Where can you go? Are there any places you are not allowed to go? Why is this? 11. I would like to hear some more about your family. Can you tell me which member of your family you feel closest to? It doesn't have to be a person that you live with. 12. Why did you choose this person? Is there someone outside your family you feel more comfortable talking to? If so who and why? What kind of things can you do/talk about with this person that you cannot be with anyone else? 13. Who in your family helps you make big decisions in your life? This might be something like how long you study, if you can work, or where you are allowed to go. Do they make decisions for you? Which decisions? Why do you think this person makes decisions for you? How does that make you feel? 14. How do you influence your parents' decisions for you? Can you think of a time that your parents wanted you to do something and you did not want to? What did you do? How did it make you feel? Could you change their minds? What could you have done?
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15. Do you have friends that you socialize with? What are they like and what do you do together? Are they school friends? How did you meet? Do you have friends who are boys? 16. Do you talk to your friends about the things that are important to you? Which of your friends do you trust the most with your secrets? Why? What kinds of secrets girls share with their friends? 17. Do girls like you have boyfriends? What activities do they do with their boyfriends? How do you think parents see relationships between boys and girls before marriage? What do you think about girls having boyfriends? 18. Now we have talked about your family and home life, I want to hear about your aspirations and dreams. Who inspires you in your life? This can be someone you know, or a celebrity or public figure, even more than one person. Why did you choose this person? 19. What do you want to do over the next year? Think about your life now and what do you wish to change? This can be about school, work, family, love, or anything else! 20. Who in your life will help you achieve the things you want in the next year? How will they help you? 21. Do your parents support you in your goals? Is there a difference between what you want and what your parents want for your future? Do you have the same priorities? What are the differences? 22. When do you think you will get married? How do you feel about getting married? Who is your ideal match? And what would make for ideal in-laws? 23. How much do you feel in control over when you get married? 24. Can you tell me your biggest wish for the future, what would you like to do? And now can you tell me the biggest thing you are worried about for your future? This can be about anything. 25. For you to achieve this wish can you tell me one thing you would or should change about your life now? Or do you wish that something was different in your life? What could stop you achieving what you want?
Wave 2 Interview Guide
1. Firstly, I would like to get to know a little bit about you - could you please tell me your age? 2. And if you were to describe yourself in 3 words, what would they be? 3. What do you like to do in your free time for entertainment? Tell us all the things you like to do to have fun! 4. Great, thank you! I would now like to ask you some questions about how you use your/a smartphone. I am going to read you a list of things that people might use a smartphone for. Can you tell me which of these you have used your personal smartphone for, in the past 2 weeks? Remember, I would like to know about the past 2 weeks! -Playing games -Reading the news
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-Downloading apps -Using social media -Listening to music -Watching videos -Watching movies -Using messengers -Sending emails -Taking photos -Making phone calls -Sending text messages -Taking videos -None of these -Researching on the internet 5. Can you tell me about your phone? If you hold it in your hands, I will film you as you talk What do you use it for mostly? When do you mainly use it? For How long for a day? For how long at a time? What phone model would you like? 6. Do you own, share, or borrow your phone? Can you tell me about how you got your own phone of your own? Did you buy it or was it a gift? Or if you borrow or share: Who do you share with or borrow the phone from? Why do you share or borrow? 7. Which social media have you used? What do you use social media for? 8. Have you ever used your phone to find out information on health topics? Health topics mean things to do with your body, or problems with your body. 9. Thank you - I would now like to ask you some questions about playing games using your smartphone. How often do you do this? 10. Which games have you played? Do you remember the name? Did you download an app or search for a website? How did you know about the game(s)? Do you have a favorite game; what is this? and why do you love it? 11. I would now like you to take a look at your smartphone, and tell me if you have any game apps downloaded onto your phone. 12. Can you show me on your phone, or describe to me, where you think you might be able to find and download gaming apps if you wanted to do this? 13. How long do you play a game at a time? Think about your favorite game at the moment and how long you would play it on a typical day. 14. For this next question I would like you to put on your creative hat, as you become a game designer! Imagine that you are designing a brand-new app-based game to play on a smartphone - something
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that you and your friends might enjoy playing. Firstly, from this list what sort of game would you like to design. Pick the game type that sounds most appealing to you! -Adventure - completing a mission -Puzzle - solving puzzles -Quiz - answering quiz questions -Creative - drawing and designing -Educational - learning new information in a fun way -Don't know/couldn't choose 15. And how much do the following features of a game appeal to you- designing your own character in the game, choosing what they wear, how they look, their name. -Appeals a lot -Appeals a little -Not sure -Does not appeal much -Does not appeal at all 16. How much does the feature to interact with your friends in the game and meet them appeal to you? -Appeals a lot -Appeals a little -Not sure -Does not appeal much -Does not appeal at all 17. How much will it appeal to you if a game is designed specifically for girls, not boys? This might mean that it has more girl characters and have stories about things that affect girls. -Appeals a lot -Appeals a little -Not sure -Does not appeal much -Does not appeal at all 18. When you download an app on your phone, why do you usually decide to delete it? -Space constraints -I get bored -I borrow the phone -I find something new
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-I don't want others to know I use that app 19. And what would you like the game to be like? - How would the game make you feel? - When would you play the game? - Would you play the game alone, or with friends?
Wave 3a Interview Guide
1. First, I would like to hear about your best friend, can you tell me about them? What do you like about them? How do you spend time together? 2. I would love you to tell me a bit more about your family - who do you currently live with? 3. Who would you be most likely to go to if you needed advice or information if you had a personal problem or worry? A personal worry might be something about health, changes in your body, relationships, or your feelings. 4. And thinking about this person, is there anything you would not feel comfortable asking them for information or advice about? - What is this? - Why would you feel uncomfortable? - Who would you ask/where would you look for this information/advice instead? If they don't mention this, prompt: Would you feel comfortable asking them for information or advice about intimate relationships?
I would now like to introduce you to a character called Anju! Anju is a 16-year-old girl, she is currently studying in school and dreams of becoming a teacher one day she sometimes hangs around and roams with her friends at the weekends. Anju has noticed in the last few years that her body has started to change, and she has also started her period, but she does not yet want a boyfriend. WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO READ THE STORY ONE MORE TIME? Can you help Anju in what you think she should do in the following situations and what she would be able to do in reality? 5. One day in school Anju gets her period unexpectedly, how do you think she would feel in this case? Can you tell me what she might do? Would she choose to tell anyone about this problem? 6. When Anju gets her period every month, what products do you think she would use? Please pick the ones you think are most common for girls to use. -Tampons -Sanitary napkins (pads) -Menstrual cups -Pantyliners
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-Cloth pads 7. Where or who do you think Anju would go for advice on things like periods or changes to their body? Probes: If she feels that something new or unusual is happening with her and she wants advice where would she find it? 8. Do you think Anju would be able to get period products herself? If not, who gets them for her? 9. When girls are on their period, they can do sports. Is that true or false? 10. When girls are on their period, they can go to the temple. Is that true or false? 11. When girls are on their period, they can eat pickles. Is that true or false? 12. What are the other things that girls may have to do differently whilst on their period? Probe: Can they go to school? Are they allowed to help in the house? What else? Why are things different at this time?" 13. Now I am going to tell you more about Anju's story. One weekend in the park Anju met a boy called Anil. They have become friends and hang out together in a group with other boys and girls from different schools. How do you think Anil and Anju got to know each other? How will the group of boys and girls spend time together? 14. Anil has started asking Anju to go to the park with him alone, and he has also asked to kiss her and hold her hand. Anju is not sure she is ready for these things. What should Anju do if she does not want to kiss Anil or hold his hand? 15. Can you tell me why Anju might not feel comfortable allowing Anil to kiss her? How would she deal with the situation? Do you think she will give in or refuse? Why? 16. If Anil keeps on trying to see Anju alone and she does not feel comfortable, who should she talk to for advice? What would you advise her? Why would she want to delay kissing Anil? 17. Anju has an older brother who has just gotten married. She has been talking to her new sister-in- law Saanvi, she says she doesn't want to have a baby just yet and it's going to delay pregnancy for a year. They have been discussing a woman's cycle and Saanvi has told Anju a few things about a woman's body and when she can get pregnant in relation to her period. When in the month a woman is most likely to get pregnant, in relation to her period? 18. Anju has also heard Saanvi discussing with other women ways she can prevent pregnancy for a while. Which of these are methods for preventing pregnancy? NOTE: allow respondent to select herself. -Injectables -Copper T (IUD) -Condom/Nirodh
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-Oral contraceptive Pill -Emergency contraception -Standard days method -Withdrawal -Other (please specify) -I don't know 19. Can an unmarried girl also use these methods? If yes, then what are the advantages of using these methods? If not, then why? 20. Where might women like Saanvi hear about these methods to prevent pregnancy? -At school -At home -At a club -At a hospital -At a clinic -Boyfriend -School Friend -Husband -In a magazine/leaflet -On the internet -I have never heard of any methods -Don’t Know 21. Who might Saanvi go to discuss these methods with or go for advice? -Family -Friends -Boyfriend -Teacher -Doctor -Nurse -Husband -Other 22. Where would Saanvi have to go if she decided she wanted to get something to delay her pregnancy? Do you think doing this is okay? Why or why not? -Yes - Hospital -Yes - Clinic
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-Yes - Pharmacy -Yes - Boyfriend -Yes - Friends -Yes - Doctor -Yes - Family member -Yes - Nurse -No - do not know -No - seek advice from elsewhere. -Other
Wave 3b Interview Guide
1. I would love you to tell me a bit more about your family. Who do you currently live with? ● Mother ● Father ● Mother-in-law ● Father-in-law ● Other guardian ● Husband/partner ● Brother(s) ● Sister(s) ● Aunt(s) ● Uncle(s) ● Male cousin(s) ● Female cousin(s) ● Male friend(s) ● Female friend(s) 2. Who would you be most likely to go to if you needed advice or information if you had a personal problem or worry? Probe: A personal worry might be something about health, changes in your body, relationships, or your feelings. ● Mother ● Father ● Boyfriend ● Female friend(s)
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● Aunt ● School teacher ● Brother ● Sister ● Other family members ● Doctors ● Other ● Male friend 3. And thinking about this person, is there anything you would not feel comfortable asking them for information or advice about? - What is this? - Why would you feel uncomfortable? - Who would you ask/where would you look for this information/advice instead? - NOTE: if they don't mention this, prompt: - Would you feel comfortable asking them for information or advice about intimate relationships?"
Some of the questions in this survey are about women's health. The first few questions are about when you are younger and are going through some bodily changes, like growing taller and experiencing menstruation. The next questions are about experiences girls have as they get older, like relationships and marriage, and the things that can be hard to ask questions about including the best ways to prevent pregnancy. Women's reproductive health is a difficult subject, therefore, your answers will help us bring the essential information to girls who may want to know further information on this. When I say 'reproductive health' or RH, I mean: Taking care of your bodily needs and the changes that come as you grow, such as menstruation, changes in your body, any issues you face as you grow older. It also includes looking at options if you want to prevent pregnancy. Is this clear?
4. Thinking more specifically about information relating to RH/FP as defined before, who/where do you think girls would go to first for information and advice? And what are her main questions about things like menstruation, growth changes, how her body looks, pregnancy. And what are her most common questions related to RH/FP between the ages of 10-15 years, and then 15-20 years?
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I would now like to introduce you to a character called Ayesha. Ayesha is a 19-year-old girl, she is studying to be a teacher one day. Ayesha lives with her family. She likes to study in the evenings and at the weekends she likes to go to the park and meet friends. For the next part of the interview I am going to give you some scenarios in Ayesha's life and you can tell me what you think she should do.
5. When Ayesha gets her period every month, what products do you think she would use? Please pick the ones you think are most common for girls to use. ● Tampons ● Sanitary napkins (pads) ● Menstrual cups ● Pantyliners ● Cloth pad 6. Is Ayesha able to get period products herself? If not, who gets them for her? Please pick the most likely option. ● Boyfriend ● Friend (female) ● Friend (male) ● Aunt ● Health worker ● Teacher ● Grandfather ● Grandmother ● Uncle ● Mother ● Father ● She buys them 7. Where can Ayesha get period products from? Please pick the most likely option. ● Chemist ● Community health worker ● ANM ● Asha worker ● She finds cloth ● Not sure
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8. One day in school Ayesha gets her period unexpectedly, how do you think she would feel in this case? She had her periods just 12 days back. Can you tell me what she might do? Would she choose to tell anyone about this problem? 9. Ayesha understands that she gets her period every month, but she wants to understand when in the month she could get pregnant if she ever wants to have a baby. Ayesha understands there is a period cycle of 28-30 days between when she gets her first period to the next, are there any particular days in the middle when Ayesha is more likely to have a baby? Which is the correct answer? ● Just before her period begins ● During her period ● Right after her period has ended ● Halfway between two periods ● Other Specify ● Don’t Know
Now, I am going to tell you some more of the story. Ayesha is now a little more grown up and is experiencing other changes in her body and her emotions. Before she didn't like boys at all and didn't want to play or sit with them in school, but as she grew older, she began feeling certain emotions she didn't experience before. While she was studying in college, Ayesha met Aman who was also studying in the same class and is also 19 years old. Ayesha met him a few times outside college with other friends, and started to like many things about him. Soon they became friends and a few months later they started dating and going for movies and began referring to each other as boyfriend and girlfriend. Ayesha never spoke about this with her friends, because she thought she may be judged or teased. She used to spend a lot of time with Aman and got very close. This is Ayesha's first boyfriend and she doesn't know a lot about relationships, what to do, what not to do, whom to ask if she has questions, what to do next. She is still young and doesn't want to get married or become pregnant yet. WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO READ THE STORY ONE MORE TIME? Further, Aman is asking Ayesha if she will have a physical relationship with him. She is not sure she is ready and has many questions, like many other girls who experience this in their lives, and has so much she wants to know and find out. Can you help Ayesha in what you think she should do in the following situations and what she would be able to do in reality...? 10. Do you think Ayesha knows what to do if Aman pressures her to have a physical relationship with him? Consider Ayesha to be like those in your friend circle or in college, do you think she would know what to do if Aman pressures her to have a physical relationship? Who would she go to for advice? Do you think girls would like private information about how to deal with this pressure?
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11. Why would Ayesha allow Aman to get physical with her even if she does not want to? Again, keep in mind other girls in your college or friend circle when answering this. What do you think her reasons could be? If Ayesha chooses to not allow Aman to get physical, what do you think would happen? 12. Why would Ayesha resist Aman, even though she likes him? Why would she want to delay a physical relationship? 13. If Ayesha decides she is ready to have a physical relationship with Aman, would you know which methods of contraception could Ayesha use to prevent pregnancy? Injection Copper T (IUD) Condom/nirodh Oral contraceptive Pill Emergency contraception Standard days method Withdrawal Other (please specify) I don't know 14. How often would Ayesha need to take oral contraceptive pills to prevent pregnancy? Daily Monthly Weekly Yearly 24- 72 hours after she has sex Birth control/oral pills cannot prevent pregnancy Don’t Know 15. How often would Ayesha and Aman have to use a condom to prevent pregnancy? Every time Most of the time Never Not sure She cannot use condoms Condoms cannot prevent pregnancy 16. Ayesha thinks oral contraceptive pills will stop her having a baby in the future or limit her chances of pregnancy in the future? Do you agree?
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Yes No Don't know 17. Where should Ayesha go if she wants to get oral contraceptive pills? Clinic/Hospital Doctor Chemist Elsewhere Not sure 18. Knowing our surroundings and society and how people think around us, how comfortable do you think Ayesha would feel when purchasing contraceptives like condoms or pills? Very comfortable Somewhat comfortable No opinion/I don't know Somewhat uncomfortable Very uncomfortable 19. If something does happen between Ayesha and Aman, Ayesha can be at risk of certain infections and diseases. Can you describe any symptoms of infections that Ayesha can get through intimate relations with Aman? Ulcer/sore in private parts Genital Discharge Itching in private parts Lower abdomen tenderness/pain Warts or growth in private parts Burning or pain on urination Other (specify) No symptoms Don’t know 20. If Ayesha has any of these symptoms and she isn't sure what she should do. Who do you think she would go to for advice first? ● Boyfriend ● Friend (female) ● Friend (male) ● Aunt
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● Health worker ● Teacher ● Grandfather ● Grandmother ● Uncle ● Mother ● Father 21. Do you agree or disagree that she should visit a health clinic to have her symptoms checked? Do you think she would go to the health clinic? If not, why not? What sort of issues do you think Ayesha would face when trying to visit a health clinic? Would this be her decision, or would someone else make this choice for her?" 22. If Ayesha decided that she is ready to have a physical relationship with Aman, but he refuses to get pills for her or use a condom, do you think Ayesha should refuse? Why? What do you think she should do in this situation? Where could she go for advice? What would happen if Ayesha refuses to sleep with Aman? " 23. If Ayesha were to get pregnant without meaning to what would be the consequences? How would her family react and how would it change her life? What would she do? Also, what all would be the implications for Aman? How would the pregnancy change his life, what adjustments would he have to make? 24. Do you think girls like Ayesha have access to all of the information they would like/need? Why do you say this? Is there anything in particular that girls would like to know more about, regarding reproductive health? RH/FP?
Wave 4 Interview Guide
Hello and thank you for taking part in this interview today. We are going to talk about what kinds of characters and stories you like and what kinds of characters you would like to see in a game on your phone. I am going to ask you some questions, and then show you some examples to see what you think. This is not about right or wrong answers so you can give me any options you want. I just want you to speak openly and say how you feel. 1. I would like to know about what stories you like. These stories can be from a book, TV, or movie. Maybe you have a favorite serial! 2. Can you tell me about your favorite book, Radio or TV show or movie? What is the plot or storyline? Why did you like this plot or storyline so much? What happens? Who are the main characters? 3. Now can you tell me about your favorite character, as before this can be in any book, Radio or TV show or movie. Tell me about their character? What role do they play in the story? What do
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you like about them? What characters did you find inspiring? Would you like to be like her/him?" 4. Do any of these game types appeal to you? Pick as many as you want!" 5. If you were playing a game about relationships (husband/wife, boyfriend/girlfriend) which girl profile would you find most interesting? 6. Which qualities do you think girls would most like to see in a female character? Please pick one!
Next I am going to show you four character pictures, one at a time. I would like you just to talk about what the characters look like. Please describe what you see...
7. Show character 1 ○ What does she look like? ○ How does the image make you feel? ○ What kind of girl do you think she is, just by her appearance? ○ Can you describe her in three words? ○ Which celebrity or TV character does she remind you of?" ○ Who do you think she lives with? ○ What did she study? ○ Does she have a job? What is it? ○ Who are her friends? ○ Does she have a boyfriend? if not, why not and if yes, what is he like?" ○ What do you like about her? ○ What you do not like about her? ○ What would you change about her if I gave you a pen, what would you change about her appearance? 8. Show character 2 ○ What does she look like? ○ How does the image make you feel? ○ What kind of girl do you think she is, just by her appearance? ○ Can you describe her in three words? ○ Which celebrity or TV character does she remind you of?" ○ Who do you think she lives with? ○ What did she study? ○ Does she have a job? What is it?
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○ Who are her friends? ○ Does she have a boyfriend? if not, why not and if yes, what is he like?" ○ What do you like about her? ○ What you do not like about her? ○ What would you change about her if I gave you a pen, what would you change about her appearance? 9. Show character 3 ○ What does she look like? ○ How does the image make you feel? ○ What kind of girl do you think she is, just by her appearance? ○ Can you describe her in three words? ○ Which celebrity or TV character does she remind you of?" ○ Who do you think she lives with? ○ What did she study? ○ Does she have a job? What is it? ○ Who are her friends? ○ Does she have a boyfriend? if not, why not and if yes, what is he like?" ○ What do you like about her? ○ What you do not like about her? ○ What would you change about her if I gave you a pen, what would you change about her appearance? 10. Show character 4 ○ What does she look like? ○ How does the image make you feel? ○ What kind of girl do you think she is, just by her appearance? ○ Can you describe her in three words? ○ Which celebrity or TV character does she remind you of?" ○ Who do you think she lives with? ○ What did she study? ○ Does she have a job? What is it? ○ Who are her friends? ○ Does she have a boyfriend? if not, why not and if yes, what is he like?" ○ What do you like about her? ○ What you do not like about her?
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○ What would you change about her if I gave you a pen, what would you change about her appearance? 11. Which of these 4 characters feels closest to your personality or your life?
OK! Thank you so much for talking to me today. You have been brilliant, and I have really enjoyed hearing your thoughts and reactions to these characters. We will use your feedback to help develop characters for a real game. So thank you for your ideas. Can I take a photo of you holding your favorite character picture?
Screener
SECTION 1: FOR FIELD OFFICERS
NOTE TO FIELD OFFICER- The questionnaire must only be conducted with girls aged 15-19 years with regular access to internet.
SAMPLE PER LOCATION IS AS BELOW-
Wave Sample and age-group Total
Wave 1 & 4 (same respondents) 28 respondents between the ages 15-19 years 28
Wave 2 28 respondents between the ages 15-19 years 28
Wave 3a (15-17 years) 14 respondents between the ages 15-17 years 14
Wave 3b (18-19 years) 14 respondents between the ages 18-19 years 14
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TOTAL 84
SECTION 2: FOR RECRUITING RESPONDENTS I.E. RECRUITMENT SCREENER
भाग 2- उ त रदाता को र यटू करने के लये या न र यटू म ट नर
INTERVIEWER TO SAY: Hi my name is {name} I work with Restless Development/Spectra. We are talking to different girls like you in {mention location} to understand your opinions, beliefs and aspirations and I am not selling you anything. I will first have to ask you very simple questions to understand if you qualify for this study. Could I take 5 min of your time? Please know that all the information you share with me is confidential and will not be shared with any corporate or government body, as your security and safety is most important for us. If you qualify for the study I will give you more detailed information about the study and you can decide if you would like to participate in the study thereafter.
PROCEED ONLY IF THE GIRL AGREES
के व ल तभी जार रख अगर लडक सहमत होती है तो
Q1 Can I confirm your exact age?
Enter Age उ डाल PROCEED ONLY IF GIRL’S AGE IS 15, 16, [1] 17, 18 OR 19; ELSE TERMINATE .
Q2 Do you currently own or share a smartphone; by smartphone I mean a mobile phone that functions like a computer, with touchscreen, Internet access, and able to run downloaded apps.
INTERVIEW INSTRUCTION: ASK THE GIRL TO SHOW THE PHONE IF SHE IS OK WITH IT.
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Own 1 GO TO Q3
Share or Borrow 2 GO TO Q3
Don’t own or share 3 TERMINATE
Q3 How frequently do you get access to the internet on a smartphone?
SINGLE RESPONSE
Never 1 TERMINATE
Less than once a week 2
Once a week 3
Two to three times a week 4 GO TO Q4
Four to five times a week 5
Multiple times a day 6
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Q4 How often do you do you play games on your smartphone?
Option Multipl Four Two to Once Less Never e times to five three a than a day times times a week once a a week week week
Q4g Play Games on the Terminate Terminate Phone
Q5 Please take a look at this list and tell me which of these items do you have at home?
Tick all the apply
Items owned / have access at home Number Tick
1 Electricity Connection
2 Ceiling Fan
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3 LPG Stove
4 Two Wheeler
5 Color TV
6 Refrigerator
7 Washing Machine
9 Personal Computer/ Laptop
10 Car/Jeep/Van
11 Air-Conditioner
12 Agricultural land
TOTAL (total number of household items )
Q6 Could you tell me something about the person who makes the biggest contribution to the running of the household? To what level has he studied? Mark in Row A
Compare the level studied with the level studies with the number of household items for Q5 in Column B
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A: Chief earner education?
B: Illiterate School School SSC/ Some Graduate/Po Graduate/Po up to 4 5–9 college st Graduate st Graduate Number of years years HSC but not General Professional household Graduate items (Q5)
None E3 E2 E2 E2 E2 E1 D2
1 E2 E1 E1 E1 D2 D2 D2
2 E1 E1 D2 D2 D1 D1 D1
3 D2 D2 D1 D1 C2 C2 C2
4 D1 C2 C2 C1 C1 B2 B2
5 C2 C1 C1 B2 B1 B1 B1
6 C1 B2 B2 B1 A3 A3 A3
7 C1 B1 B1 A3 A3 A2 A2
8 B1 A3 A3 A3 A2 A2 A2
9+ B1 A3 A3 A2 A2 A1 A1
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PROCEED ONLY IF RESPONDENTS IS CLASSIFIED IN SHADED BOXES- C OR SEC D. ELSE TERMINATE.
PROCEED ONLY IF RESPONDENTS QUALIFY ALL SCREENER QUESTION ELSE TERMINATE.
AFTER QUALIFICATION FOR THE INTERVIEW-
INTERVIEW INSTRUCTION: HAND OVER THE CONSENT FORM TO THE GIRL AND READ IT OUT TO HER.
PROCEED ONLY IF THE GIRL AGREES AND HER PARENTS AGREE IF SHE’S UNDER 18. CONSENT FORMS MUST BE SIGNED AND COMPLETED BEFORE PROCEEDING WITH SCHEDULING THE INTERVIEW AND RECORDING THE FOLLOWING RESPONSES
Q7 Do you have a paid occupation OR any source of income at this time?
(That is, with a regular salary, per piece pay, daily wage OR part time job)
Yes 1
No 2
Don’t Know -998
Refused -999
Q8 Where have you got to in your schooling?
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I never went to school 1
Primary Pass 2
Secondary Pass 3
Studying graduation 4
Not enrolled in 5 school/college; but studying at ITI/beauty parlour class, etc.
Other 6
[1] TERMINATE STATEMENT: Great, thank you for your time. We are looking for girls that…(mention the reason for disqualification) Nevertheless, it was great speaking to you and I am happy to answer any questions you have... if not then thank you for your time!
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