GIRL CHILD RIGHTS AND DISCRIMINATION IN INDIA: A SOCIAL WORK PERSPECTIVE

Despite constitutional guarantees and extensive policy frameworks, the girl child in India continues to experience systemic discrimination across multiple domains of life.Gender-based inequalities manifest from pre-birth through childhood and adolescence, affecting survival, education, health, protection, and participation.Drawing on a rightsbased and feminist social work perspective, this paper critically examines the nature and drivers of discrimination against the girl child in India.Using qualitative secondary data drawn from various national and international publications, the study analyses patterns of discrimination and evaluates the effectiveness of existing legal and policy responses.The paper argues that despite India has made measurable progress in improving outcomes for girls, persistent patriarchal norms, socio-economic inequalities, and implementation gaps undermine the realization of girl child rights.From a social work perspective, the paper highlights the role of social work in promoting girl child rights and suggests strategies for effective social work intervention.