SAJAforum

STATS: Numbers for various South Asians in the U.S.

SAJA often gets requests for the latest stats about Desi America. Those numbers aren't easy to find nor always accurate. This morning, I got this request for 2007 stats for South Asians in the U.S., particularly for:

Pakistanis
Indians
Sri Lankans
Bangladeshis
Nepalis
Bhutanese
Maldivians
Afghans
Indo-Caribbeans (I added the last four to round out the picture)

We'd like to help this person out and also attempt to get good stats ourselves. For numbers for Indian Americans, one resource is ASB Communications' "South Asian Market" stats.  We'd like to hear about other resouces and stats. Please post them in the comments section below and  cite sources, as appropriate. We will pick out the best stats and post them up here, so  check back soon!

STUDY: Most kids in India are physically or sexually abused

According to a massive study of children in India, 2 out of 3 of them are physically abused and over half have been sexually abused. The two-year study was commissioned by the Indian government and involved interviewing 12,247 kids between the age of 5 and 12, and another 2,324 kids over the age of 12. From the BBC...

Dr. Loveleen Kacker, the official in charge of child welfare in the ministry, compiled the report. She said the study had revealed that contrary to the general belief that only girls were abused, boys were equally at risk, if not more. She said a substantial number of the abusers were "persons in trust and care-givers" who included parents, relatives and school teachers. Dr Kacker said a disturbing finding of the study had been that 70% had not reported the abuse to anyone.

The report is particularly significant coming in the wake of the gruesome Nithari serial killings outside New Delhi, when tales of sexual abuse played out in the Indian media for months. But according to the report, most abuse comes at the hands of family members and friends. According to the Indian Express, Minister for Women and Child Development Renuka Chowdhury is pressing for changes:

Chowdhury said the dismal level of awareness about sexual abuse among children necessitated “mandatory sex education” in schools. Her statement comes at a time when Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have banned sex education in schools on the ground that it’s “not compatible with Indian culture”. On the ban, Chowdhury said her Ministry was “concerned” and was in touch with the states. Saying there was a “pressing need” for sex education in school syllabi, she said: “Possibly the language and treatment will have to be changed.”

Here's a statistical table from that Indian Express article. Click on it to enlarge.

Given the immense implications of a study like this, I'd like to hear from any experts out there. Is this a credible study?

UPDATE: Arti Nigam, a psychologist in San Jose, sent us this link to an overview of Child Sexual Abuse in America, with some facts and figures on how often it occurs and how often it's reported:

"The National Resource Council estimates the percent of the U.S. population which has been sexually abused to range from a low of 20-24 percent to a high of 54-62 percent of the population; the higher estimate includes sexualized exposure without touching, such as masturbating in front of the child. The largest retrospective study on the prevalence of child sexual abuse found 27 percent of women and 16 percent of men reported abuse."

STATS: Figures about India

It's often hard to pin down statistics about India and other South Asian countries. Contradictory, inaccurate numbers abound and regularly make their way into the press. I thought I'd post some stats sources I use for India and ask you all for your suggestions for India and the rest of the subcontinent. 

• NationMaster.com India section (2,000+ stats)
• CIA World Factbook India section
• Government of India Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
• Official census site
• UNICEF: At a Glance: India
• InternetWorldStats: India
  [There's also IndiaHealthStat.com, which seems to have a lot of useful information, but charges almost $300 and doesn't seem to have a free trial.]

Please add your suggestions to the comments section below.

Meanwhile, on the back cover of Mira Kamdar's new book, "Planet India: How the Fastest Growing Democracy is Transforming America and the World," (see SAJAforum Q&A) is a set of dramatic stats about India. See the full list below. What do you think? Post your thoughts in the comments below.

From the back cover of "Planet India: How the Fastest Growing Democracy is Transforming America and the World"

Did You Know?

• India is the world's fourth-largest economy.
• By 2034, India will be the most populous country on Earth, with 1.6 billion people.
• India's middle class is already larger than the entire population of the United States.
• One out of three of the world's malnourished children live in India.
• India is home to the biggest youth population on earth: 600 million people are under the age of 25.
• 72,000,000 cell phones will be sold in India in 2007.
• India just edged past the United States to become the second-most-preferred destination for foreign direct investment after China.
• In 1991, Indians purchased 150,000 automobiles; in 2007, they are expected to purchase 10 million.
• By 2008, India's total pool of qualified graduates will be more than twice as large as China's.
• By 2015, an estimated 3.5 million white-collar U.S. jobs will be offshored.
• India is the largest arms importer in the developing world.
• American corporations expect to earn $20 to $40 billion from the civilian nuclear agreement with India.
• In 2007, there are 2.2 million Indian Americans, a number expected to double every decade.
• Twenty-nine percent of India's population speaks English - that's 350 million people.