Study points to widespread use of gender-based cuss words

A study by the Selfie With Daughter Foundation, whose flagship campaign has featured multiple times in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme, has revealed that around 62 per cent of 7,400 Haryana residents, who were surveyed, regularly use gender-based abusive language during normal conversation.

“The study is based on participants our team contacted during over 11 years in Jind, Hisar, Gurugram and Nuh district of the state under the foundation’s international initiative ‘Gaali Band Ghar’ (Abuse-free homes) launched in 2014 from my native Bibipur village in Jind district,” said Sunil Jaglan, founder of the foundation and Professor of Practice at Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, here on Sunday.

Of the participants, approximately 4,600 admitted to routinely using such language at home, Jaglan added.

He maintained that the study covered over 70,000 individuals across multiple states, including students, parents, teachers, doctors, police personnel, lawyers and other professionals in the past 11 years. It identified 11,300 such cases in Uttar Pradesh, 8,400 in Madhya Pradesh, 6,100 in Rajasthan, 4,200 in Punjab, 3,800 in Maharashtra, besides several others in Delhi, Gujarat, Bihar, Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Goa and West Bengal, he added.

Jaglan noted that Delhi showed the highest prevalence of gender-based abusive language at 80 per cent of respondents, followed by Punjab (78%), Uttar Pradesh and Bihar (74% each), and Rajasthan (68%). On the other hand, at 15 per cent, Kashmir reported the least use of foul language with much lower rates also seen in Odisha, Telangana and the North-Eastern states.

“Interestingly, the trend was not limited to men. The study found that 30 per cent of women and girls admitted to either using or tolerating such language in daily conversations. It also highlighted the growing impact of digital platforms, with 20 per cent young people attributing their use of abusive language to exposure through online games, social media, and OTT content,” he added.

Jaglan said for many respondents, the use of abusive language has become a habit—even creeping into expressions of affection or humour. In fact, 30 per cent of respondents said they couldn’t enjoy jokes unless they included some form of abusive content. The ‘Gaali Band Ghar’ campaign was launched precisely to counter this mindset and bring attention to how normalised such harmful language has become in homes and society, Jaglan added.

He maintained that the campaign would now soon be run in 20 villages of Rohtak.

“Our team will organise small meetings with 15–20 residents in each village to discuss social issues. Through these discussions, individuals who frequently use abusive language would be identified. They would then be encouraged to join the campaign, which involves personalised counselling and a unique tracking system,” he added.

Haryana Tribune