فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

INTRODUCTION: “Gender” denotes the differences in the social roles of different sexes. Thisinteraction results in variable health outcomes and care‑seeking behavior. The present study wasconducted to find out the attitude of school‑going adolescents regarding gender equity and also toexplore teachers’ perceptions in this context in a school of tribal belt of West Bengal.MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross‑sectional, mixed‑method study was conducted among thestudents of classes eight to twelve, chosen by complete enumeration technique, with a predesigned,pretested validated questionnaire. The questionnaire was based on Gender Equitable Men scaleand International Men and Gender Equality Survey questionnaire, comprising the followingdomains: ‘Gender restrictions’, ‘Gender attributes’, and ‘Gender domination’. The respondents werecategorized into ‘high’, ‘moderate’, and ‘low’ groups as per their domain‑wise attitude scores. In‑depthinterviews (IDIs) were conducted among seven teachers chosen purposively. Thematic analysis wasdone with the qualitative data.RESULTS: Out of 191 students, 112 were girls (58.6%) and 47 belonged to scheduled tribecategory (24.6%). Overall, 170 (89.0%), 80 (41.9%), and 96 (50.3%) students had a highgender‑equitable attitude regarding the domains of ‘gender restrictions’, ‘gender attributes’, and‘gender domination’ respectively. Girls had higher percentage of high gender‑equitable attitude in allthe three domains (92.0%, 57.1%, and 50.9%, respectively). Regarding ‘gender restrictions’, 91.2%had high gender‑equitable attitude in lower age group, compared to 81.4% in higher age group.Among the lower and higher age groups, 52.7% and 41.9% respectively, had high gender‑equitableattitude on ‘gender domination’. Gender inequality amidst poverty, women deprived of health care,and gender violence were the major themes derived from the IDIs.CONCLUSION: Girls had a better attitude toward gender equity. Laws regarding gender dominanceand violence should be focused. Conducting intensified awareness campaigns on gender equity andaddressing women’s right to health is a much‑needed timely intervention for the health of womenfolk.