Tribune News Service

Sumedha Sharma

Gurugram, January 22

Social media has always been a taboo for them. Nuh, one of most backward districts in the country, had its mandate clear for girls — no social media accounts and no chatting. Parents, community leaders, panchayats and village elders spent years keeping the girls away from “vices” such as Facebook, telling them these could defame them and their families. However, things are changing now as nearly 20 girls, led by activist Sunil Jaglan, have not only opened their social media accounts, but also encouraged other girls to join in. So far, 100 girls are on Facebook and 30 on Instagram. An initiative, “Lado Goes Online”, is making slow but steady change in conservative Mewat where handing out a smartphone to a young girl is still a “taboo”.

Initially, there was resistance

While there was initial resistance, parents had to let their girls be on WhatsApp and soon they got introduced to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and even Linkedln. The fact that these sites can be used for education, exploring and learning new things, was an eye-opener for them. Nimmi, college student

We are sensitising boys

We are sensitising boys and ensuring they follow positive comments’ trend and supporting girls as that makes them confident. A picture of a girl was misused, so we got an FIR registered. The police is aiding us with sensitisation programmes on cyber threats and opportunities. Sunil Jaglan, activist

“We had heard of Facebook and YouTube from our brothers, but were not allowed to open these or see the sites. Frankly, my friends and I used to think Facebook was some kind of a camera that clicked your picture the moment you opened it and sent it to all, including boys. It was only when I got to know about the App and made my account that I realised what it truly was and what was its potential. It was not easy to even convince myself, leave alone the family,” says Tabasum, an 18-year-old resident of Punhana.

Though some girls were on the social media platform using fake accounts and pictures and accessed it through friend’s systems, having their own accounts were unthinkable.

However, things began changing as schools went online and they had to be given access to smart phones. Now, these girls are part of travel, photography, career groups and are getting to know the world better. While in a majority of cases, parents seek passwords and brothers keep checking accounts. They are not allowed to post DPs and have male friends other than well-known ones.

“While there was initial resistance, the parents had to let their girls be on ‘WhatsApp’ and soon they got introduced to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and even Linkedln. The fact that these sites could be used for education, exploring and learning new things was an eye opener for them and they have now started becoming comfortable with the idea,” said 23-year-old Nimmi, a college student .

These girls have formed a group and now aid other girls in joining social media through their common equipment in case they do not have any smart phones. They teach them ways to safeguard accounts and use these to its maximum potential. However, one of the key hurdles are trolling, shaming and misuse of pictures, but even that is sorted out.

“We are sensitising boys and ensuring they follow positive comments’ trend and supportting girls as that makes them confident. A picture of a girl was misused, so we got an FIR registered. The local police is aiding us with sensitisation programmes on cyber threats and opportunities,” says activist Jaglan.