The Experience of Vulnerability and Resilience among Adolescent Girls in Urban Slums

Living in the urban slums is marked by concerns for financial instability, employment, career, health, etc. An effort is made to explore the experience of these challenges in the lives of adolescent girls. In-depth interviews and focused group discussion were conducted with 10 adolescent girls (16-19 years) residing in unauthorized settlements of Delhi for approximately 50 years. Their families have basic amenities with an approximate annual income of $3000. Each family comprises of 5 to 8 members. The living space is limited to approximately 25 square yards. The research documents the participant’s firsthand experience of being a girl child and more so living in an underprivileged community. It raised a number of issues pertaining to an adolescent’s experience of living in an urban slum setup. The themes of vulnerability that emerged from the research are: uncertainty about career, housing, life-partner, social relationship; unsafe environment; problems of marginalization and coping with the mainstream and assuming adult responsibility. The themes of resiliency that emerged are: self determination, family support, futuristic orientation, community connectedness, and access to information and opportunities. It can be concluded that in spite of the challenges of their life circumstances there is hope and optimism in their voices. It can be suggested that the urban socio-cultural context plays a major role in developing resiliency among the adolescent girls.

Keywords: Resilience, Vulnerability, Adolescence, Urban Slum