Prabhavati, 19, Kadri town, Andhra Pradesh, says, “Domestic violence is part of every family in our area. It happens in my home too. Girls in our village are not sent to school. They are discriminated from birth. For this very reason, my neighbour did not want to go through with her pregnancy when she discovered she was having a girl. My friends and I managed to convince her to have the baby. But we still need to ensure equal rights for women. It’s easy to persuade someone to give birth to girl children. But can we ensure they have decent and secure lives? We can do this only if we refuse to accept discrimination and violence.”