Studies have found that medical technologies such as ultrasound scans now enable parents to practice prenatal selection and selective abortion, a practice that remains common in India and as a consequence, claims up to half a million female lives every year. The use of ultrasound equipment was introduced to India in 1979 and has estimated to have become a $100million business in India primarily through mobile sex selection clinics that can drive into any village or neighbourhood and therefore promote female foeticides.
Factors that contribute to the issue of abortion/main problems
There are many factors that contribute to the girl deficit which can be classified as cultural issues. For example, the status of women within certain societies, their roles in a marriage and their autonomy.
However in India, there are deviations in cultural traditions with regional variations. In some regions the geography of inequality comes into perspective as there is some evidence that girls receive less food and less care than boys. They are admitted to hospital later than boys and receive fewer medical consultations. It is not specified where exactly in India that this is common. However life expectancy at birth for girls falls dramatically from south to north India. For example the state of Uttar Pradesh in the north has a life expectancy figure which is 20 years lower than Kerala in the south.
The main cultural issue that contributes to the problem of a girl deficit in India is the perception of a daughter as a loss for her parents economically as well as emotionally. The practice of giving a dowry to the grooms’ family once the daughter comes of a marital age puts a tremendous financial burden on the parents. As this is perceived as a threat, more and more parents resort to selective abortion. Another problem concerning the dowry payment is the caste in which the daughter has been married into. Higher castes expect higher payments of dowry and in some regions, such as Bangalore, there have been reports of women being burnt alive by their husbands who expected a higher dowry. Consequently, the cultural practice now stimulates issues of discrimination. Though the Indian government has outlawed the practice of dowry payments, it is still a common and popular practice in India.
- Undervaluing of women/status
The undervaluing of a child is not just an issue related to women but also to young girls as mentioned before, where girls receive less medical care and food than boys in some regions of India. Generally, it can be said that the undervaluing of females in India is the root of the entire matter i.e. matters such as a right to an education and a right to employment and autonomy should be taken into consideration. As the status of women is supposedly very low in India, even the number of well educated women that still opt for selective abortion should cause no surprise. They may be victims of discrimination themselves and may not have a say in such an issue, because of low status.
This comes under cultural issues as the cultural worth of women in India can be measured through their participation in the labour force. Work helps to raise the status of women generally and gives some women power within the family.
It has been statistically proven that with increasing female literacy rates there is a significant decrease in child mortality as better educated mothers are less likely to favour boys more than girls. Thus they can maximise their offsprings’ life chances because they are most likely to make fuller use of medical facilities. Therefore education and most probably awareness of equality is a factor that contributes to the problem of the girl deficit.
Surprisingly, when it comes to low income levels this does not become a factor of the problem, however against common expectations, selective abortion is most common among India’s elite and richer population as evidence suggests that poorer families discriminate less against girls than richer families do. Richer families can afford many trips to the ultrasound clinics and a covered up abortion of an unwanted girl which leads up to the fact that there is a greater number in abortions in richer communities than poorer ones. For example in the wealthy district of Kurukshetra, the sex ratio is 770 girl babies to every 1000 boy babies. So the concluding point here to take note of is that a combination of economic growth, reduced poverty and modernisation may well pose as a threat to the life chances of female babies and put girls and women at a greater disadvantage.
Possible factors that could contribute to the problem
There are some factors that do not contribute to the problem such as religion and, to some extent, autonomy but are worth mentioning as they are often assumed to be factors that do contribute to the issue of abortion.
Religion
Through my research I have found that religion does not have an influence on the sex ratios as the practice is common among all religious groups-Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Muslims, and Christians. The most familiar of India’s religions condemn discrimination against women, however there have been a few temples found in the state of Punjab that promise to help bring fewer women into existence. An example is the Bir Baba Mandir in Amritsar, where couples eat flatbread and onions as they believe this ensures a boy child. But generally, the study found that religion played no role in the phenomenon.
Autonomy
Autonomy is the quality or state of being independent, free self-governing or self-directing. When dealing with the issue of abortion and the girl deficit in India, by autonomy we mean four things:
- Control over ones own sexuality, fertility, freedom of movement, and the choice of friendships and a marriage partner.
- Rights to inheritance, ownership and the disposal of property
- Access to information, knowledge and the expression of opinions in public and through the ballot box
- decision-making power within the household
Though the factors listed above do not directly result in a girl deficit in India, it is estimated that in any of the above areas, if women and girls are more disadvantaged than males, this could in the long-term affect the sex ratios. For example, the expression of opinions in public, control over one’s own fertility and decision making power within the household are just some of the factors that could affect the figures in the sex ratios as there has been some evidence to show that some abortions are forced abortions clearly proving that there is a lack of the factors that I have listed within a household. Statistics suggest that females are more disadvantaged in terms of autonomy in northern India, whereas in the south, a larger proportion of the girls are educated and more women vote. In states such as Kerala women even have rights to land, towards the south and the east of India women are more likely to marry later, have fewer children and there are generally lower rates of infant/child mortality.
What is currently being done to resolve the problem?
India’s government may be criticised by some people for inadequacy in tackling the problem of female foeticides. Through my research, I have discovered only two methods which the government has adopted to resolve the problem of female foeticides which are listed below:
Aside from a ban that was introduced to the nation of India in 1994 there is no evidence of any further actions taken to tackle the problem of female foeticides. However, to add to the magnitude of the problem, like China, India has encouraged smaller families through a mixture of financial incentives and campaigns calling for two children only, which puts pressure on many families who then turn to prenatal scanning and abortion to ensure that they receive a son rather than a daughter to eliminate such pressures of dowry payments and inheritance etc. However as evidence and statistics indicate, the ban has been widely ignored by both doctors and parents.
Assumptions have been made that pregnant women who seek help for sex selection could face a three year prison sentence and a fine of 50,000 rupees ($1,100) while doctors can have their medical license suspended. However there have been no such cases that have yet reached the courts in this matter, prompting the conclusion that there has been little attempt to take this ban seriously.
Naturally there have been campaigners’ attempts to try and alert the government of the current situation and predictions of what the country faces if this problem isn’t approached with some seriousness. Campaigners have tried to bring the attention of the government to the long-term social impact phenomenon warning that like in China, it will make it harder for men to find wives. In China prenatal sex selection and a one child policy has resulted in 40 million bachelors.
What can be done to resolve the problem?
Clearly UNICEF feels that the government of India is not doing enough on its behalf to address this issue of a girl deficit and has the following recommendations:
As mentioned before and as evidence suggests, the current ban which was introduced to the nation of India in 1994 has been widely ignored thus creating the situation today. For there to be any progression towards a balance in the sex ratio for India, it is obvious that the law should be stricter-towards both the patients and doctors/medical staff that help to carry out such operations-on the prison sentence perhaps or a larger fine.
- Monitoring of mobile abortion clinics
Mobile sex selection clinics that travel to the remote neighbourhoods of India’s villages are another problem that contributes to the issue. Monitoring the actions of such organisations and where they are mainly based will help to decrease the number of illegal selective abortions as they can be brought down.
Lack of awareness of the consequences of a girl deficit can be considered as the main root of the problem. No doubt if there were advertisements such as notices on billboards or television adverts discouraging selective abortions, or any other means of pointing out the consequences there would be a decrease in the imbalance of sex ratios in regions of India. Therefore one proposal to tackle this problem concerns spreading awareness of the issue and the current situation as well as what the potential future looks like for the children of India and what can be done to resolve the problem.
As it has been statistically proven that with high female literacy rates there is a significant decrease in infant mortality. The apparent method that needs to be put forward to tackle this problem would be to encourage more females to maintain an education. However, this brings in to prospect the issue of women’s rights and their right to an education. Existing campaigners, such as women’s rights activists are already trying to tackle this problem
Conclusion
The problem of a girl deficit in India seems to be far from being resolved as rising numbers in female foeticides and abortions indicate a deteriorating future for today’s generation of children in India. Overall, the government of India is not doing enough to tackle this problem to the best of its ability. Issues such as a firmer ban/fine, awareness and education need to be addressed.