Growing up in rural India: An exploration into the lives of younger and older adolescents in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh

This technical report describes the situation of adolescents according to a baseline assessment conducted in selected villages in India. The objectives of the assessment were to explore the attitudes, practices, and behaviors of adolescent girls, their adolescent brothers and if married, their husbands, with regard to sexual and reproductive matters, including HIV; their perspectives on adolescent girls’ and boys’ vulnerability to HIV and ways in which it can be mitigated; and the perspectives of parents and other critical adults in the community on the vulnerability of adolescent girls and boys to HIV. Results will be used to: (1) enhance adolescent girls’ knowledge about sexual and reproductive matters and equip them with skills that enable them to address their vulnerability to HIV; (2) increase the utilization of sexual and reproductive health services from the public sector by adolescent girls and boys; and (3) develop a supportive environment for adolescent girls that enables them to adopt protective actions to reduce their vulnerability to HIV