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Female foeticide in India

Female foeticide in India (Hindi: भ्रूण हत्या, romanizedbhrūṇ-hatyā, lit.'foeticide') is the abortion of a female foetus outside of legal methods. A research by Pew Research Center based on Union government data indicates foeticide of at least 9 million females in the years 2000–2019. The research found that 86.7% of these foeticides were by Hindus (80% of the population), followed by Sikhs (1.7% of the population) with 4.9%, and Muslims (14% of the population) with 6.6%. The research also indicated an overall decline in preference for sons in the time period.[1]

The natural sex ratio is assumed to be between 103 and 107 males per 100 females, and any number above it is considered suggestive of female foeticide. According to the decennial Indian census, the sex ratio in 0 to 6 age group in India has risen from 102.4 males per 100 females in 1961,[2] to 104.2 in 1980, to 107.5 in 2001, to 108.9 in 2011.[3]

The child sex ratio is within the normal range in all eastern and southern states of India,[4] but significantly higher in certain western and particularly northwestern states such as Maharashtra, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir (118, 120 and 116, as of 2011, respectively).[5] The western states of Maharashtra and Rajasthan 2011 census found a child sex ratio of 113, Gujarat at 112 and Uttar Pradesh at 111.[6]

The Indian census data indicates that the sex ratio is poor when women have one or two children, but gets better as they have more children, which is result of sex-selective "stopping practices" (stopping having children based on sex of those born).[7] The Indian census data also suggests there is a positive correlation between abnormal sex ratio and better socio-economic status and literacy. This may be connected to the dowry system in India where dowry deaths occur when a girl is seen as a financial burden. Urban India has higher child sex ratio than rural India according to 1991, 2001 and 2011 Census data, implying higher prevalence of female foeticide in urban India. Similarly, child sex ratio greater than 115 boys per 100 girls is found in regions where the predominant majority is Hindu; furthermore "normal" child sex ratio of 104 to 106 boys per 100 girls are found in regions where the predominant majority is Muslim, Sikh or Christian. These data suggest that sex selection is a practice which takes place among some educated, rich sections or a particular religion of the Indian society.[5][8]

There is an ongoing debate as to whether these high sex ratios are only caused by female foeticide or some of the higher ratio is explained by natural causes.[9] The Indian government has passed Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act (PCPNDT) in 1994 to ban and punish prenatal sex screening and female foeticide. It is currently illegal in India to determine or disclose sex of the foetus to anyone. However, there are concerns that PCPNDT Act has been poorly enforced by authorities.[10]

High sex ratio implication edit

One school of scholars suggest that any birth sex ratio of boys to girls that is outside of the normal 105-107 range, necessarily implies sex-selective abortion. These scholars[11] claim that both the sex ratio at birth and the population sex ratio are remarkably constant in human populations. Significant deviations in birth sex ratios from the normal range can only be explained by manipulation, that is sex-selective abortion.[12] In a widely cited article,[13] Amartya Sen compared the birth sex ratio in Europe (106) and United States (105+) with those in Asia (107+) and argued that the high sex ratios in East Asia, West Asia and South Asia may be due to excessive female mortality. Sen pointed to research that had shown that if men and women receive similar nutritional and medical attention and good health care then females have better survival rates, and it is the male which is the genetically fragile sex.[14] Sen estimated 'missing women' from extra women who would have survived in Asia if it had the same ratio of women to men as Europe and United States. According to Sen, the high birth sex ratio over decades, implies a female shortfall of 11% in Asia, or over 100 million women as missing from the 3 billion combined population of India, other South Asian countries, West Asia, North Africa and China.

Origin edit

 
Male to female sex ratio for India, based on its official census data, from 1941 through 2011. The data suggests the existence of high sex ratios before and after the arrival of ultrasound-based prenatal care and sex screening technologies in India.

Female foeticide has been linked to the arrival, in the early 1990s, of affordable ultrasound technology and its widespread adoption in India. Obstetric ultrasonography, either transvaginally or transabdominally, checks for various markers of fetal sex. It can be performed at or after week 12 of pregnancy. At this point, 34 of fetal sexes can be correctly determined, according to a 2001 study.[15] Accuracy for males is approximately 50% and for females almost 100%. When performed after week 13 of pregnancy, ultrasonography gives an accurate result in almost 100% of cases.[15]

Availability

Ultrasound technology arrived in China and India in 1979, but its expansion was slower in India. Ultrasound sex discernment technologies were first introduced in major cities of India in 1980s, its use expanded in India's urban regions in 1990s, and became widespread in 2000s.[16]

Magnitude estimates for female foeticide edit

Estimates for female foeticide vary by scholar. One group estimates more than 10 million female fetuses may have been illegally aborted in India since 1990s, and 500,000 girls were being lost annually due to female foeticide.[17] MacPherson estimates that 100,000 abortions every year continue to be performed in India solely because the fetus is female.[18]

Reasons for female foeticide edit

Various theories have been proposed as possible reasons for sex-selective abortion. Culture is favored by some researchers,[19] while some favor disparate gender-biased access to resources.[18] Some demographers question whether sex-selective abortion or infanticide claims are accurate, because underreporting of female births may also explain high sex ratios.[20][21] Natural reasons may also explain some of the abnormal sex ratios.[9][22] Klasen and Wink suggest India and China's high sex ratios are primarily the result of sex-selective abortion.[12]

Cultural preference edit

One school of scholars suggested that female foeticide can be seen through history and cultural background. Generally, male babies were preferred because they provided manual labor and success the family lineage. The selective abortion of female fetuses is most common in areas where cultural norms value male children over female children for a variety of social and economic reasons.[23] A son is often preferred as an "asset" since he can earn and support the family; a daughter is a "liability" since she will be married off to another family, and so will not contribute financially to her parents. Female foeticide then, is a continuation in a different form, of a practice of female infanticide or withholding of postnatal health care for girls in certain households.[24] Furthermore, in some cultures sons are expected to take care of their parents in their old age.[25] These factors are complicated by the effect of diseases on child sex ratio, where communicable and noncommunicable diseases affect males and females differently.[24]

Disparate gendered access to resource edit

Some of the variation in birth sex ratios and implied female foeticide may be due to disparate access to resources. As MacPherson (2007) notes, there can be significant differences in gender violence and access to food, healthcare, immunizations between male and female children. This leads to high infant and childhood mortality among girls, which causes changes in sex ratio.[18]

Disparate, gendered access to resources appears to be strongly linked to socioeconomic status. Specifically, poorer families are sometimes forced to ration food, with daughters typically receiving less priority than sons (Klasen and Wink 2003).[12] However, Klasen's 2001 study revealed that this practice is less common in the poorest families, but rises dramatically in the slightly less poor families.[12] Klasen and Wink's 2003 study suggests that this is “related to greater female economic independence and fewer cultural strictures among the poorest sections of the population.” In other words, the poorest families are typically less bound by cultural expectations and norms, and women tend to have more freedom to become family breadwinners out of necessity.[12]

Lopez and Ruzikah (1983) found that, when given the same resources, women tend to outlive men at all stages of life after infancy. However, globally, resources are not always allocated equitably. Thus, some scholars argue that disparities in access to resources such as healthcare, education, and nutrition play at least a small role in the high sex ratios seen in some parts of the world.[12]

Public goods provisions by female leaders (majority vs. minority spillover goods) edit

Minority goods provided by female leaders in India help to alleviate some of the problems of disparate gendered access to resources for women.[26] Public goods are defined as non-excludable and non-rival, but India lacks a system of public goods and has many problems with access to clean water or roads.[27] Additionally, many of the "public goods" exclude females because families choose to prioritize their male children's access to those resources. In India, previous research has found that women leaders' invest in public goods that are more in line with female preferences, in particular water infrastructure, which leads to a reduction in time spent on domestic chores by adolescent girls.[26] This in turn results in more time for young girls to gain an education and increases their value to their families and to society so that they are more likely to give them access to resources in the future.[26] Minority groups, like women, are likely to provide minority or low spillover goods such as transfers, rations, and water connections, which only benefit other women. The majority of men do not find any benefit from these goods and are less likely to invest in them.[28] For example, in a study conducted by political scientists Chattopadhyay and Duflo, results show that in West Bengal women complain more about water and roads and the women politicians invest more in those issues. In Rajasthan, where women complain more often about drinking water, women politicians invest more in water and less in roads.[27]

Dowry system edit

Even though the Dowry System legally ended with the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961, the impossibility of monitoring families and the prevalence of corruption have led to its continuance all over India.[29] A dowry is a payment from the bride's family to the groom's family at the time of marriage. It is often found in "socially stratified, monogamous societies that are economically complex and where women have a relatively small productive role".[30] Theoretically, marriage results in partners choosing the mate who best maximizes their utility and there is equal distribution of returns to both participants. The outcome is pareto optimal and reaches equilibrium when no one can be better off with any other partner or choosing not to marry. However, if both partners do not share an equal distribution of the returns then there must be a transfer of funds between them in order to reach efficiency.[30] In Indian society, the rise of economic growth has allowed men to work in "productive" jobs and gain an income, but many women are not afforded these opportunities. Therefore, women and their families have to compete for men and pay a dowry as a transaction payment to make up for the lack of productive inputs they bring into a marriage.[30] Dowries have been rising in India for the last six decades and increased 15 percent annually between 1921 and 1981.[31] Women are valued less in this partnership and therefore are asked to pay in order to gain the benefits a man brings. The power hierarchy and financial obligation created through this system help perpetuate acts like female foeticide and a high son preference. Additionally, the technological progress leading to sex selective abortions lowers the cost of discrimination and many people think that it is better to pay a "500 rupees now (abortion) instead of 50,000 rupees in the future (dowry).[30]"

Furthermore, dowry-related expenses also extend well beyond marriage.[32] The bride's family is expected to bear the burden of high expenses for the groom.

India's weak social security system edit

Another reason for this male preference is based on the economic benefits of having a son and the costs of having a daughter. In India, there is a very limited social security system so parents look to their sons to ensure their futures and care for them in old age.[33] Daughters are liabilities because they have to leave to another family once they are married and cannot take care of their parents. Additionally, they do not contribute economically to the family wealth and are costly because of the dowry system.[13] People in India usually see men's work as "productive" and contributing the family, while the social perception of female labor does not have that connotation. This also ties to the fact that it is easier for men in India to get high paying jobs and provide financially for their families.[30] Women need increased access to education and economic resources in order to reach that level of gainful employment and change people's perceptions of daughters being financial liabilities. With this cost and benefit analysis, many families come to the conclusion that they must prioritize male children's lives over female lives in order to ensure their financial future.

The traditional social security system in India is family centered, with the joint family of three generations living together and taking care of each other.

Consequences of a declining sex ratio in Indian states edit

 
2011 Census sex ratio map for the states and Union Territories of India, boys per 100 girls in 0 to 1 age group.[34]
 
This table gives information on the child sex ratio in major states in India throughout the years 1981, 1991, and 2001[35]

The following table presents the child sex ratio data for India's states and union territories, according to 2011 Census of India for population count in the 0-1 age group.[36] The data suggests 18 states/UT had birth sex ratio higher than 107 implying excess males at birth and/or excess female mortalities after birth but before she reaches the age of 1, 13 states/UT had normal child sex ratios in the 0-1 age group, and 4 states/UT had birth sex ratio less than 103 implying excess females at birth and/or excess male mortalities after birth but before he reaches the age of 1.

State / UT Boys (0-1 age)
2011 Census[36]
Girls (0-1 age)
2011 Census[36]
Sex ratio
(Boys per
100 girls)
India 10,633,298 9,677,936 109.9
Jammu and Kashmir 154,761 120,551 128.4
Haryana 254,326 212,408 119.7
Punjab 226,929 193,021 117.6
Uttarakhand 92,117 80,649 114.2
DELHI 135,801 118,896 114.2
Maharashtra 946,095 829,465 114.1
Lakashadweep 593 522 114.0
Rajasthan 722,108 635,198 113.7
Gujarat 510,124 450,743 113.2
Uttar Pradesh 1,844,947 1,655,612 111.4
Chandigarh 8,283 7,449 111.2
Daman and Diu 1,675 1,508 111.1
Bihar 1,057,050 957,907 110.3
Himchal Pradesh 53,261 48,574 109.6
Madhya Pradesh 733,148 677,139 108.3
Goa 9,868 9,171 107.6
Jharkhand 323,923 301,266 107.5
Manipur 22,852 21,326 107.2
Andhra Pradesh 626,538 588,309 106.5
Tamil Nadu 518,251 486,720 106.5
Odisha 345,960 324,949 106.5
Dadra and Nagar Haveli 3,181 3,013 105.6
Karnataka 478,346 455,299 105.1
West Bengal 658,033 624,760 105.0
Assam 280,888 267,962 104.8
Nagaland 17,103 16,361 104.5
Sikkim 3,905 3,744 104.3
Chhattisgarh 253,745 244,497 103.8
Tripura 28,650 27,625 103.7
Meghalaya 41,353 39,940 103.5
Arunachal Pradesh 11,799 11,430 103.2
Andaman and Nicobar Islands 2,727 2,651 102.9
Kerala 243,852 238,489 102.2
Puducherry 9,089 8,900 102.1
Mizoram 12,017 11,882 101.1

Marriage market and importation of brides edit

 
This graph shows the marriage market for women in India and how the lack of females due to female foeticide results in a lower supply of women. The gap is bridged by men kidnapping or importing wives from other regions.

Classic economic theory views the market for marriage as one in which people bargain for a spouse who maximizes their utility gains from marriage.[37] In India, many of these bargains actually take place within the family and therefore individual utility is replaced by family utility. In this marriage market, men and their families are trying to maximize their utility, which creates a supply and demand for wives.[29] However, female foeticide and a high sex ratio have high implications for this market. Dharma Kumar, argues that, "Sex selection at conception will reduce the supply of women, they will become more valuable, and female children will be better cared for and will live longer".[38] In the graph, this is depicted by the leftward shift of the supply curve and the subsequent decrease in quantity of females from Q1 to Q2 and increase in their value from P1 to P2. However, this model does not work for the situation in India because it does not account for the common act of males importing brides from other regions.[39] A low supply of women results in men and their families trafficking women from other areas and leads to increased sexual violence and abuse against women and children, increased child marriages, and increased maternal deaths due to forced abortions and early marriages.[39] This ends up devaluing women instead of the presumed effect of increasing their value.

In the graph, the supply of brides outside each village, locality, or region is depicted as 'supply foreign'. This foreign supply values the price of getting a wife at much cheaper than the first domestic price P1 and the second domestic price P2. Therefore, due to the decrease of women domestically due to sex selection and the low price of foreign women (because they are often bought as slaves or kidnapped), the resulting gap of imported women is from Q3 to Q4. Women act like imports in an international trade market if the import price is lower than the high price of domestic dowries with a low supply of women. The foreign price is lower than the market price and this results in even fewer domestic brides than without importation (Q3 instead of Q2). In turn, this creates a self-fulfilling cycle of limiting females domestically and continually importing them and there is no end to the cycle of female feticide if these acts can continue and importation is an option.

The imported brides are known as "paros" and are treated very badly because they have no cultural, regional, or familial ties to their husbands before being brought into their homes.[40] One of the field studies in Haryana revealed that more than 9000 married women are bought from other Indian states as imported brides.[41] This act also results in wife sharing and polyandry by family members in some areas of Haryana, Rajasthan, and Punjab, which maintains the gender imbalance if one family can make do with only one female.[38] For example, the polyandrous Toda of Nilgiri Hills in southern India practiced female infanticide in order to maintain a certain demographic imbalance.[38]

Negative spillovers of pre-natal sex selection and female foeticide edit

When families choose to partake in pre-natal sex selection through illegal ultrasounds or abortions, they impart a negative spillover on society. These include increased gender disparity, a high sex ratio, lives lost, lack of development, and abuse and violence against women and children.[42] Families do not often keep this spillover in mind and this results in sex selection and female foeticide, which hurts society as a whole.[43]

Empirical study on male/female child mortality edit

A study by Satish B. Agnihotri[44] infers the gender bias in India by studying the relationship between male and female infant and child mortality rates in the face of mortality as a whole looking like it is decreasing. Hypothetically, if males and females are identical, then there should be no difference in mortality rates and no gender gap. However, male and female children are perceived as psychologically and socially different so the equation relating mortality looks like this: MRf = a + b*MRm. MRf is female child mortality, a is residual female mortality when male mortality is 0, the slope b shows the rate of decline in female mortality for a decline in male mortality, and MRm is male mortality. In India, the infant mortality equation for 1982-1997 was IMRf = 6.5 + 0.93* IMRm, which shows that there is a high level of residual female mortality and male mortality declines slightly faster than female mortality. The author then breaks down the information by states and rural or urban population. Many states, like Haryana, that are known for high levels of female mortality have slopes greater than 1, which seems counterintuitive. However, this actually goes to show that pre-natal selection may reduce the extent of infanticide or poor treatment of girls who are born. It has a substitution effect on the post-natal discrimination and replaces its effects instead of adding to it. Additionally, urban households usually have a high constant term and a low slope. This shows that simply reducing mortality may not result in a subsequent reduction of female mortality. This research goes to show the extent of gender discrimination in India and how this affects the high sex ratio. It is important to not only target mortality, but specifically female mortality if there is to be any change in gender disparities.[44]

Laws and regulations edit

 
A sign in an Indian hospital stating that prenatal sex determination is a crime.

India passed its first abortion-related law, the so-called Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1971, making abortion legal in most states, but specified legally acceptable reasons for abortion such as medical risk to mother and rape. The law also established physicians who can legally provide the procedure and the facilities where abortions can be performed, but did not anticipate female foeticide based on technology advances.[45] With increasing availability of sex screening technologies in India through the 1980s in urban India, and claims of its misuse, the Government of India passed the Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques Act (PNDT) in 1994. This law was further amended into the Pre-Conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) (PCPNDT) Act in 2004 to deter and punish prenatal sex screening and female foeticide. However, there are concerns that PCPNDT Act has been poorly enforced by authorities.[10]

The impact of Indian laws on female foeticide and its enforcement is unclear. United Nations Population Fund and India's National Human Rights Commission, in 2009, asked the Government of India to assess the impact of the law. The Public Health Foundation of India, an premier research organization in its 2010 report, claimed a lack of awareness about the Act in parts of India, inactive role of the Appropriate Authorities, ambiguity among some clinics that offer prenatal care services, and the role of a few medical practitioners in disregarding the law.[8] The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India has targeted education and media advertisements to reach clinics and medical professionals to increase awareness. The Indian Medical Association has undertaken efforts to prevent prenatal sex selection by giving its members Beti Bachao (save the daughter) badges during its meetings and conferences.[8][46] However, a recent study by Nandi and Deolalikar (2013) argues that the 1994 PNDT Act may have had a small impact by preventing 106,000 female foeticides over one decade.[47]

According to a 2007 study by MacPherson, prenatal Diagnostic Techniques Act (PCPNDT Act) was highly publicized by NGOs and the government. Many of the ads used depicted abortion as violent, creating fear of abortion itself within the population. The ads focused on the religious and moral shame associated with abortion. MacPherson claims this media campaign was not effective because some perceived this as an attack on their character, leading to many becoming closed off, rather than opening a dialogue about the issue.[18] This emphasis on morality, claims MacPherson, increased fear and shame associated with all abortions, leading to an increase in unsafe abortions in India.[18]

The government of India, in a 2011 report, has begun better educating all stakeholders about its MTP and PCPNDT laws. In its communication campaigns, it is clearing up public misconceptions by emphasizing that sex determination is illegal, but abortion is legal for certain medical conditions in India. The government is also supporting implementation of programs and initiatives that seek to reduce gender discrimination, including media campaign to address the underlying social causes of sex selection.[8][46]

Given the dismal Child Sex Ratio in the country, and the Supreme Court directive of 2003 to State governments to enforce the law banning the use of sex determination technologies, the Ministry set up a National Inspection and Monitoring Committee (NIMC). Dr. Rattan Chand, Director (PNDT) was made the convenor of the NIMC. The NIMC under the guidance of Dr. Rattan Chand conducted raids in some of the districts in Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Gujarat. In April, it conducted raids on three clinics in Delhi. In its reports sent to the Chief Secretaries of the respective States, the committee observed that the Authorities had failed to monitor or supervise the registered clinics.[48]

Laws passed in India to alleviate female foeticide edit

Other Legislation Year Passed Goals
Dowry Prohibition Act 1961 Prohibits families from taking a dowry, punishable with imprisonment
Hindu Marriage Act 1955 Rules around marriage and divorce for Hindus
Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act 1956 Deals with the legal process of adopting children and the legal obligation to provide "maintenance" for other family members
Immoral Traffic Prevention Act 1986 Stops sex trafficking and exploitation
Equal Remuneration Act 1976 Prevents monetary discrimination between men and women in the workforce
Female Infanticide Act 1870 Prevents female infanticide (Act passed in British India)
Ban on ultrasound testing 1996 Bans prenatal sex determination

Source:[49]

Central and state government schemes to alleviate female foeticide and child mortality edit

Other recent policy initiatives adopted by many states of India, claims Guilmoto,[50] attempt to address the assumed economic disadvantage of girls by offering support to girls and their parents. These policies provide conditional cash transfer and scholarships only available to girls, where payments to a girl and her parents are linked to each stage of her life, such as when she is born, completion of her childhood immunization, her joining school at grade 1, her completing school grades 6, 9 and 12, her marriage past age 21. Some states are offering higher pension benefits to parents who raise one or two girls. Different states of India have been experimenting with various innovations in their girl-driven welfare policies. For example, the state of Delhi adopted a pro-girl policy initiative (locally called Laadli scheme), which initial data suggests may be lowering the birth sex ratio in the state.[50][51] These types of government programs and schemes are a type of redistribution in an attempt to further development in the country. The central and state governments in India have noticed the country's failure to deal with female foeticide on its own and have come up with programs to deal with the problem at hand.

A serious flaw that makes all of these programs ineffective is that they target only lower-income households, while ignoring the population of higher-income households also partaking in female foeticide. Sex determination tests and sex selective abortions are prevalent more amongst affluent families.[52] For example, upper-class families in Haryana have high rates of foeticide and infanticide and the programs do not target these families.[52] A study in Haryana found that the sex ratio at birth for upper caste women was 127 males for 100 females, compared with 105 with lower caste women.[52] While cash transfers successfully improve school enrollment and immunization rates for girls, they do not directly address parent's demand for sons and gender-biased sex selection. Additionally, a study conducted by Bijayalaxmi Nanda, an associate professor of political science at Delhi University, found that many of the beneficiaries of the Delhi Ladli Scheme wanted to use the money received for marriage rather than educational expenses.[53] Another problem with these government conditional cash transfers is that many of them only target the first two daughters in a family and have no incentive for families to have more than two daughters. These non-linear incentive models do not result in the same increase in benefits as the inputs and cash transfers put in by the government.[54] Additionally, they only incentivize a change in behavior until an age, educational, number of daughters threshold and do not prompt people to act beyond these guidelines.

Select Schemes by the Central and State Governments edit

Program Year Passed Central or State Government Benefits
Balika Samriddhi Yojana 1997 Central Government Cash transfer to mother based on child meeting educational conditions and partaking in income generating activities
Dhan Laxmi Scheme 2008 Central Government Cash transfers to family after meeting conditions (immunization, education, insurance)
Kanya Jagriti Jyoti Scheme 1996 Punjab Cash transfers to 2 girl children in a family after meeting conditions (immunization, education, insurance)
Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Yojana 2015 Central Government Cash transfers based on educational attainment
National Plan of Action 1992 Central Government For the survival, protection, and development of girl children. Goals include ending female feticide, reducing gender disparity, and giving girls better access to resources
Cradle Baby Scheme 1992 Tamil Nadu To eradicate female infanticide and to save the girl Children from the clutches of death
Devirupak 2002 Haryana Cash transfer to couple accepting terminal method of family planning (vasectomy, tubectomy) after birth of 1st or 2nd child
Delhi Ladli Scheme 2008 Delhi Cash transfer based on educational attainment for first 2 daughters
Apni Beti Apna Dhan 1994 Haryana Cash transfer if daughter reaches the age of 18 without being married
Girl Child Protection Scheme 2005 Andhra Pradesh Cash transfer based on age and educational attainment. Family also has to partake in family planning
Beti Hai Anmol Scheme 2010 Himachal Pradesh Interest earned on back account in daughter's name and cash scholarships for each year of school
Bhagya Laxmi Scheme 2007 Karnataka Cash transfer based on age and educational attainment. Cash provided to families for natural death, health insurance, and scholarships
Mukhyamantri Kanya Suraksha Yojna and Mukhyamantri Kanya Vivah Yojna 2008 Bihar Cash transfers to poor families with two daughters
Indra Gandhi Balika Suraksha Yojana 2007 Himachal Pradesh Cash transfers based on age attainment
Ladli Laxami Yojna 2006 Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand Cash transfers based on educational attainment
Rakshak Yojana 2005 Punjab Cash monthly transfers for families with 2 girls
Mukhyamantri Kanyadan Yojna 2017 Madhya Pradesh Cash transfer for marriage assistance if the family waits until the legal age to marry off their daughter
Sukanya Samriddhi Account 2015 Central Government Interest earned on bank account opened for daughter after she turns 21

Source:[55]

Movie based on Female foeticide in India edit

In August 2023 a movie Titled ‘Panch Kriti’ - Five Elements based on Swachh Bharat Mission was released in India which featured five stories and is set in Chanderi in Bundelkhand, Madhya Pradesh, has been largely shot in real locations. It was a women-centric film that touches upon several important themes and topics pertaining to women. It also delves into the importance of social movements taking place in India like ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan’ and ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhaao Abhiyaan’.[56]

Other Campaigns edit

Increasing awareness of the problem has led to multiple campaigns by celebrities and journalists to combat sex-selective abortions. Aamir Khan devoted the first episode "Daughters Are Precious" of his show Satyamev Jayate to raise awareness of this widespread practice, focusing primarily on Western Rajasthan, which is known to be one of the areas where this practice is common. Its sex ratio dropped to 883 girls per 1,000 boys in 2011 from 901 girls to 1000 boys in 2001. Rapid response was shown by local government in Rajasthan after the airing of this show, showing the effect of media and nationwide awareness on the issue. A vow was made by officials to set up fast-track courts to punish those who practice sex-based abortion. They cancelled the licences of six sonography centres and issued notices to over 20 others.[57]

This has been done on the smaller scale. Cultural intervention has been addressed through theatre. Plays such as 'Pacha Mannu', which is about female infanticide/foeticide, has been produced by a women's theatre group in Tamil Nadu. This play was showing mostly in communities that practice female infanticide/foeticide and has led to a redefinition of a methodology of consciousness raising, opening up varied ways of understanding and subverting cultural expressions.[58]

The Mumbai High Court ruled that prenatal sex determination implied female foeticide. Sex determination violated a woman's right to live and was against India's Constitution.[10]

The Beti Bachao, or Save girls campaign, has been underway in many Indian communities since the early 2000s. The campaign uses the media to raise awareness of the gender disparities creating, and resulting from, sex-selective abortion. Beti Bachao activities include rallies, posters, short videos and television commercials, some of which are sponsored by state and local governments and other organisations. Many celebrities in India have publicly supported the Beti Bachao campaign.[59]

See also edit

India specific
Other related

References edit

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  2. ^ Data Highlights - 2001 Census Census Bureau, Government of India
  3. ^ India at Glance - Population Census 2011 - Final Census of India, Government of India (2013)
  4. ^ Census of India 2011: Child sex ratio drops to lowest since Independence The Economic Times, India
  5. ^ a b Child Sex Ratio in India 2013-12-03 at the Wayback Machine C Chandramouli, Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India (2011)
  6. ^ Child Sex Ratio 2001 versus 2011 Census of India, Government of India (2013)
  7. ^ "Sex ratio worsens in small families, improves with 3 or more children | India News". The Times of India.
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  9. ^ a b James W.H. (July 2008). "Hypothesis:Evidence that Mammalian Sex Ratios at birth are partially controlled by parental hormonal levels around the time of conception". Journal of Endocrinology. 198 (1): 3–15. doi:10.1677/JOE-07-0446. PMID 18577567.
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External links edit

  • UNICEF India 2014-12-23 at the Wayback Machine
  • Female Foeticide in India: A Serious Challenge for the Society
  • Documentaries on Female Foeticide
  • Disappearing Daughters
  • Amartya Sen- More Than 100 Million Missing Women
  • Registrar General of India

female, foeticide, india, hindi, हत, romanized, bhrūṇ, hatyā, foeticide, abortion, female, foetus, outside, legal, methods, research, research, center, based, union, government, data, indicates, foeticide, least, million, females, years, 2000, 2019, research, . Female foeticide in India Hindi भ र ण हत य romanized bhruṇ hatya lit foeticide is the abortion of a female foetus outside of legal methods A research by Pew Research Center based on Union government data indicates foeticide of at least 9 million females in the years 2000 2019 The research found that 86 7 of these foeticides were by Hindus 80 of the population followed by Sikhs 1 7 of the population with 4 9 and Muslims 14 of the population with 6 6 The research also indicated an overall decline in preference for sons in the time period 1 The natural sex ratio is assumed to be between 103 and 107 males per 100 females and any number above it is considered suggestive of female foeticide According to the decennial Indian census the sex ratio in 0 to 6 age group in India has risen from 102 4 males per 100 females in 1961 2 to 104 2 in 1980 to 107 5 in 2001 to 108 9 in 2011 3 The child sex ratio is within the normal range in all eastern and southern states of India 4 but significantly higher in certain western and particularly northwestern states such as Maharashtra Haryana Jammu and Kashmir 118 120 and 116 as of 2011 respectively 5 The western states of Maharashtra and Rajasthan 2011 census found a child sex ratio of 113 Gujarat at 112 and Uttar Pradesh at 111 6 The Indian census data indicates that the sex ratio is poor when women have one or two children but gets better as they have more children which is result of sex selective stopping practices stopping having children based on sex of those born 7 The Indian census data also suggests there is a positive correlation between abnormal sex ratio and better socio economic status and literacy This may be connected to the dowry system in India where dowry deaths occur when a girl is seen as a financial burden Urban India has higher child sex ratio than rural India according to 1991 2001 and 2011 Census data implying higher prevalence of female foeticide in urban India Similarly child sex ratio greater than 115 boys per 100 girls is found in regions where the predominant majority is Hindu furthermore normal child sex ratio of 104 to 106 boys per 100 girls are found in regions where the predominant majority is Muslim Sikh or Christian These data suggest that sex selection is a practice which takes place among some educated rich sections or a particular religion of the Indian society 5 8 There is an ongoing debate as to whether these high sex ratios are only caused by female foeticide or some of the higher ratio is explained by natural causes 9 The Indian government has passed Pre Conception and Pre Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act PCPNDT in 1994 to ban and punish prenatal sex screening and female foeticide It is currently illegal in India to determine or disclose sex of the foetus to anyone However there are concerns that PCPNDT Act has been poorly enforced by authorities 10 Contents 1 High sex ratio implication 2 Origin 2 1 Magnitude estimates for female foeticide 3 Reasons for female foeticide 3 1 Cultural preference 3 2 Disparate gendered access to resource 3 2 1 Public goods provisions by female leaders majority vs minority spillover goods 3 3 Dowry system 3 4 India s weak social security system 4 Consequences of a declining sex ratio in Indian states 4 1 Marriage market and importation of brides 4 2 Negative spillovers of pre natal sex selection and female foeticide 4 3 Empirical study on male female child mortality 5 Laws and regulations 5 1 Laws passed in India to alleviate female foeticide 5 2 Central and state government schemes to alleviate female foeticide and child mortality 5 2 1 Select Schemes by the Central and State Governments 6 Movie based on Female foeticide in India 7 Other Campaigns 8 See also 9 References 10 External linksHigh sex ratio implication editOne school of scholars suggest that any birth sex ratio of boys to girls that is outside of the normal 105 107 range necessarily implies sex selective abortion These scholars 11 claim that both the sex ratio at birth and the population sex ratio are remarkably constant in human populations Significant deviations in birth sex ratios from the normal range can only be explained by manipulation that is sex selective abortion 12 In a widely cited article 13 Amartya Sen compared the birth sex ratio in Europe 106 and United States 105 with those in Asia 107 and argued that the high sex ratios in East Asia West Asia and South Asia may be due to excessive female mortality Sen pointed to research that had shown that if men and women receive similar nutritional and medical attention and good health care then females have better survival rates and it is the male which is the genetically fragile sex 14 Sen estimated missing women from extra women who would have survived in Asia if it had the same ratio of women to men as Europe and United States According to Sen the high birth sex ratio over decades implies a female shortfall of 11 in Asia or over 100 million women as missing from the 3 billion combined population of India other South Asian countries West Asia North Africa and China Origin edit nbsp Male to female sex ratio for India based on its official census data from 1941 through 2011 The data suggests the existence of high sex ratios before and after the arrival of ultrasound based prenatal care and sex screening technologies in India Female foeticide has been linked to the arrival in the early 1990s of affordable ultrasound technology and its widespread adoption in India Obstetric ultrasonography either transvaginally or transabdominally checks for various markers of fetal sex It can be performed at or after week 12 of pregnancy At this point 3 4 of fetal sexes can be correctly determined according to a 2001 study 15 Accuracy for males is approximately 50 and for females almost 100 When performed after week 13 of pregnancy ultrasonography gives an accurate result in almost 100 of cases 15 AvailabilityUltrasound technology arrived in China and India in 1979 but its expansion was slower in India Ultrasound sex discernment technologies were first introduced in major cities of India in 1980s its use expanded in India s urban regions in 1990s and became widespread in 2000s 16 Magnitude estimates for female foeticide edit Estimates for female foeticide vary by scholar One group estimates more than 10 million female fetuses may have been illegally aborted in India since 1990s and 500 000 girls were being lost annually due to female foeticide 17 MacPherson estimates that 100 000 abortions every year continue to be performed in India solely because the fetus is female 18 Reasons for female foeticide editVarious theories have been proposed as possible reasons for sex selective abortion Culture is favored by some researchers 19 while some favor disparate gender biased access to resources 18 Some demographers question whether sex selective abortion or infanticide claims are accurate because underreporting of female births may also explain high sex ratios 20 21 Natural reasons may also explain some of the abnormal sex ratios 9 22 Klasen and Wink suggest India and China s high sex ratios are primarily the result of sex selective abortion 12 Cultural preference edit One school of scholars suggested that female foeticide can be seen through history and cultural background Generally male babies were preferred because they provided manual labor and success the family lineage The selective abortion of female fetuses is most common in areas where cultural norms value male children over female children for a variety of social and economic reasons 23 A son is often preferred as an asset since he can earn and support the family a daughter is a liability since she will be married off to another family and so will not contribute financially to her parents Female foeticide then is a continuation in a different form of a practice of female infanticide or withholding of postnatal health care for girls in certain households 24 Furthermore in some cultures sons are expected to take care of their parents in their old age 25 These factors are complicated by the effect of diseases on child sex ratio where communicable and noncommunicable diseases affect males and females differently 24 Disparate gendered access to resource edit Some of the variation in birth sex ratios and implied female foeticide may be due to disparate access to resources As MacPherson 2007 notes there can be significant differences in gender violence and access to food healthcare immunizations between male and female children This leads to high infant and childhood mortality among girls which causes changes in sex ratio 18 Disparate gendered access to resources appears to be strongly linked to socioeconomic status Specifically poorer families are sometimes forced to ration food with daughters typically receiving less priority than sons Klasen and Wink 2003 12 However Klasen s 2001 study revealed that this practice is less common in the poorest families but rises dramatically in the slightly less poor families 12 Klasen and Wink s 2003 study suggests that this is related to greater female economic independence and fewer cultural strictures among the poorest sections of the population In other words the poorest families are typically less bound by cultural expectations and norms and women tend to have more freedom to become family breadwinners out of necessity 12 Lopez and Ruzikah 1983 found that when given the same resources women tend to outlive men at all stages of life after infancy However globally resources are not always allocated equitably Thus some scholars argue that disparities in access to resources such as healthcare education and nutrition play at least a small role in the high sex ratios seen in some parts of the world 12 Public goods provisions by female leaders majority vs minority spillover goods edit Minority goods provided by female leaders in India help to alleviate some of the problems of disparate gendered access to resources for women 26 Public goods are defined as non excludable and non rival but India lacks a system of public goods and has many problems with access to clean water or roads 27 Additionally many of the public goods exclude females because families choose to prioritize their male children s access to those resources In India previous research has found that women leaders invest in public goods that are more in line with female preferences in particular water infrastructure which leads to a reduction in time spent on domestic chores by adolescent girls 26 This in turn results in more time for young girls to gain an education and increases their value to their families and to society so that they are more likely to give them access to resources in the future 26 Minority groups like women are likely to provide minority or low spillover goods such as transfers rations and water connections which only benefit other women The majority of men do not find any benefit from these goods and are less likely to invest in them 28 For example in a study conducted by political scientists Chattopadhyay and Duflo results show that in West Bengal women complain more about water and roads and the women politicians invest more in those issues In Rajasthan where women complain more often about drinking water women politicians invest more in water and less in roads 27 Dowry system edit Even though the Dowry System legally ended with the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961 the impossibility of monitoring families and the prevalence of corruption have led to its continuance all over India 29 A dowry is a payment from the bride s family to the groom s family at the time of marriage It is often found in socially stratified monogamous societies that are economically complex and where women have a relatively small productive role 30 Theoretically marriage results in partners choosing the mate who best maximizes their utility and there is equal distribution of returns to both participants The outcome is pareto optimal and reaches equilibrium when no one can be better off with any other partner or choosing not to marry However if both partners do not share an equal distribution of the returns then there must be a transfer of funds between them in order to reach efficiency 30 In Indian society the rise of economic growth has allowed men to work in productive jobs and gain an income but many women are not afforded these opportunities Therefore women and their families have to compete for men and pay a dowry as a transaction payment to make up for the lack of productive inputs they bring into a marriage 30 Dowries have been rising in India for the last six decades and increased 15 percent annually between 1921 and 1981 31 Women are valued less in this partnership and therefore are asked to pay in order to gain the benefits a man brings The power hierarchy and financial obligation created through this system help perpetuate acts like female foeticide and a high son preference Additionally the technological progress leading to sex selective abortions lowers the cost of discrimination and many people think that it is better to pay a 500 rupees now abortion instead of 50 000 rupees in the future dowry 30 Furthermore dowry related expenses also extend well beyond marriage 32 The bride s family is expected to bear the burden of high expenses for the groom India s weak social security system edit Another reason for this male preference is based on the economic benefits of having a son and the costs of having a daughter In India there is a very limited social security system so parents look to their sons to ensure their futures and care for them in old age 33 Daughters are liabilities because they have to leave to another family once they are married and cannot take care of their parents Additionally they do not contribute economically to the family wealth and are costly because of the dowry system 13 People in India usually see men s work as productive and contributing the family while the social perception of female labor does not have that connotation This also ties to the fact that it is easier for men in India to get high paying jobs and provide financially for their families 30 Women need increased access to education and economic resources in order to reach that level of gainful employment and change people s perceptions of daughters being financial liabilities With this cost and benefit analysis many families come to the conclusion that they must prioritize male children s lives over female lives in order to ensure their financial future The traditional social security system in India is family centered with the joint family of three generations living together and taking care of each other Consequences of a declining sex ratio in Indian states edit nbsp 2011 Census sex ratio map for the states and Union Territories of India boys per 100 girls in 0 to 1 age group 34 nbsp This table gives information on the child sex ratio in major states in India throughout the years 1981 1991 and 2001 35 The following table presents the child sex ratio data for India s states and union territories according to 2011 Census of India for population count in the 0 1 age group 36 The data suggests 18 states UT had birth sex ratio higher than 107 implying excess males at birth and or excess female mortalities after birth but before she reaches the age of 1 13 states UT had normal child sex ratios in the 0 1 age group and 4 states UT had birth sex ratio less than 103 implying excess females at birth and or excess male mortalities after birth but before he reaches the age of 1 State UT Boys 0 1 age 2011 Census 36 Girls 0 1 age 2011 Census 36 Sex ratio Boys per100 girls India 10 633 298 9 677 936 109 9Jammu and Kashmir 154 761 120 551 128 4Haryana 254 326 212 408 119 7Punjab 226 929 193 021 117 6Uttarakhand 92 117 80 649 114 2DELHI 135 801 118 896 114 2Maharashtra 946 095 829 465 114 1Lakashadweep 593 522 114 0Rajasthan 722 108 635 198 113 7Gujarat 510 124 450 743 113 2Uttar Pradesh 1 844 947 1 655 612 111 4Chandigarh 8 283 7 449 111 2Daman and Diu 1 675 1 508 111 1Bihar 1 057 050 957 907 110 3Himchal Pradesh 53 261 48 574 109 6Madhya Pradesh 733 148 677 139 108 3Goa 9 868 9 171 107 6Jharkhand 323 923 301 266 107 5Manipur 22 852 21 326 107 2Andhra Pradesh 626 538 588 309 106 5Tamil Nadu 518 251 486 720 106 5Odisha 345 960 324 949 106 5Dadra and Nagar Haveli 3 181 3 013 105 6Karnataka 478 346 455 299 105 1West Bengal 658 033 624 760 105 0Assam 280 888 267 962 104 8Nagaland 17 103 16 361 104 5Sikkim 3 905 3 744 104 3Chhattisgarh 253 745 244 497 103 8Tripura 28 650 27 625 103 7Meghalaya 41 353 39 940 103 5Arunachal Pradesh 11 799 11 430 103 2Andaman and Nicobar Islands 2 727 2 651 102 9Kerala 243 852 238 489 102 2Puducherry 9 089 8 900 102 1Mizoram 12 017 11 882 101 1Marriage market and importation of brides edit nbsp This graph shows the marriage market for women in India and how the lack of females due to female foeticide results in a lower supply of women The gap is bridged by men kidnapping or importing wives from other regions Classic economic theory views the market for marriage as one in which people bargain for a spouse who maximizes their utility gains from marriage 37 In India many of these bargains actually take place within the family and therefore individual utility is replaced by family utility In this marriage market men and their families are trying to maximize their utility which creates a supply and demand for wives 29 However female foeticide and a high sex ratio have high implications for this market Dharma Kumar argues that Sex selection at conception will reduce the supply of women they will become more valuable and female children will be better cared for and will live longer 38 In the graph this is depicted by the leftward shift of the supply curve and the subsequent decrease in quantity of females from Q1 to Q2 and increase in their value from P1 to P2 However this model does not work for the situation in India because it does not account for the common act of males importing brides from other regions 39 A low supply of women results in men and their families trafficking women from other areas and leads to increased sexual violence and abuse against women and children increased child marriages and increased maternal deaths due to forced abortions and early marriages 39 This ends up devaluing women instead of the presumed effect of increasing their value In the graph the supply of brides outside each village locality or region is depicted as supply foreign This foreign supply values the price of getting a wife at much cheaper than the first domestic price P1 and the second domestic price P2 Therefore due to the decrease of women domestically due to sex selection and the low price of foreign women because they are often bought as slaves or kidnapped the resulting gap of imported women is from Q3 to Q4 Women act like imports in an international trade market if the import price is lower than the high price of domestic dowries with a low supply of women The foreign price is lower than the market price and this results in even fewer domestic brides than without importation Q3 instead of Q2 In turn this creates a self fulfilling cycle of limiting females domestically and continually importing them and there is no end to the cycle of female feticide if these acts can continue and importation is an option The imported brides are known as paros and are treated very badly because they have no cultural regional or familial ties to their husbands before being brought into their homes 40 One of the field studies in Haryana revealed that more than 9000 married women are bought from other Indian states as imported brides 41 This act also results in wife sharing and polyandry by family members in some areas of Haryana Rajasthan and Punjab which maintains the gender imbalance if one family can make do with only one female 38 For example the polyandrous Toda of Nilgiri Hills in southern India practiced female infanticide in order to maintain a certain demographic imbalance 38 Negative spillovers of pre natal sex selection and female foeticide edit When families choose to partake in pre natal sex selection through illegal ultrasounds or abortions they impart a negative spillover on society These include increased gender disparity a high sex ratio lives lost lack of development and abuse and violence against women and children 42 Families do not often keep this spillover in mind and this results in sex selection and female foeticide which hurts society as a whole 43 Empirical study on male female child mortality edit A study by Satish B Agnihotri 44 infers the gender bias in India by studying the relationship between male and female infant and child mortality rates in the face of mortality as a whole looking like it is decreasing Hypothetically if males and females are identical then there should be no difference in mortality rates and no gender gap However male and female children are perceived as psychologically and socially different so the equation relating mortality looks like this MRf a b MRm MRf is female child mortality a is residual female mortality when male mortality is 0 the slope b shows the rate of decline in female mortality for a decline in male mortality and MRm is male mortality In India the infant mortality equation for 1982 1997 was IMRf 6 5 0 93 IMRm which shows that there is a high level of residual female mortality and male mortality declines slightly faster than female mortality The author then breaks down the information by states and rural or urban population Many states like Haryana that are known for high levels of female mortality have slopes greater than 1 which seems counterintuitive However this actually goes to show that pre natal selection may reduce the extent of infanticide or poor treatment of girls who are born It has a substitution effect on the post natal discrimination and replaces its effects instead of adding to it Additionally urban households usually have a high constant term and a low slope This shows that simply reducing mortality may not result in a subsequent reduction of female mortality This research goes to show the extent of gender discrimination in India and how this affects the high sex ratio It is important to not only target mortality but specifically female mortality if there is to be any change in gender disparities 44 Laws and regulations edit nbsp A sign in an Indian hospital stating that prenatal sex determination is a crime India passed its first abortion related law the so called Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1971 making abortion legal in most states but specified legally acceptable reasons for abortion such as medical risk to mother and rape The law also established physicians who can legally provide the procedure and the facilities where abortions can be performed but did not anticipate female foeticide based on technology advances 45 With increasing availability of sex screening technologies in India through the 1980s in urban India and claims of its misuse the Government of India passed the Pre natal Diagnostic Techniques Act PNDT in 1994 This law was further amended into the Pre Conception and Pre natal Diagnostic Techniques Regulation and Prevention of Misuse PCPNDT Act in 2004 to deter and punish prenatal sex screening and female foeticide However there are concerns that PCPNDT Act has been poorly enforced by authorities 10 The impact of Indian laws on female foeticide and its enforcement is unclear United Nations Population Fund and India s National Human Rights Commission in 2009 asked the Government of India to assess the impact of the law The Public Health Foundation of India an premier research organization in its 2010 report claimed a lack of awareness about the Act in parts of India inactive role of the Appropriate Authorities ambiguity among some clinics that offer prenatal care services and the role of a few medical practitioners in disregarding the law 8 The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India has targeted education and media advertisements to reach clinics and medical professionals to increase awareness The Indian Medical Association has undertaken efforts to prevent prenatal sex selection by giving its members Beti Bachao save the daughter badges during its meetings and conferences 8 46 However a recent study by Nandi and Deolalikar 2013 argues that the 1994 PNDT Act may have had a small impact by preventing 106 000 female foeticides over one decade 47 According to a 2007 study by MacPherson prenatal Diagnostic Techniques Act PCPNDT Act was highly publicized by NGOs and the government Many of the ads used depicted abortion as violent creating fear of abortion itself within the population The ads focused on the religious and moral shame associated with abortion MacPherson claims this media campaign was not effective because some perceived this as an attack on their character leading to many becoming closed off rather than opening a dialogue about the issue 18 This emphasis on morality claims MacPherson increased fear and shame associated with all abortions leading to an increase in unsafe abortions in India 18 The government of India in a 2011 report has begun better educating all stakeholders about its MTP and PCPNDT laws In its communication campaigns it is clearing up public misconceptions by emphasizing that sex determination is illegal but abortion is legal for certain medical conditions in India The government is also supporting implementation of programs and initiatives that seek to reduce gender discrimination including media campaign to address the underlying social causes of sex selection 8 46 Given the dismal Child Sex Ratio in the country and the Supreme Court directive of 2003 to State governments to enforce the law banning the use of sex determination technologies the Ministry set up a National Inspection and Monitoring Committee NIMC Dr Rattan Chand Director PNDT was made the convenor of the NIMC The NIMC under the guidance of Dr Rattan Chand conducted raids in some of the districts in Maharashtra Punjab Haryana Himachal Pradesh Delhi and Gujarat In April it conducted raids on three clinics in Delhi In its reports sent to the Chief Secretaries of the respective States the committee observed that the Authorities had failed to monitor or supervise the registered clinics 48 Laws passed in India to alleviate female foeticide edit Other Legislation Year Passed GoalsDowry Prohibition Act 1961 Prohibits families from taking a dowry punishable with imprisonmentHindu Marriage Act 1955 Rules around marriage and divorce for HindusHindu Adoption and Maintenance Act 1956 Deals with the legal process of adopting children and the legal obligation to provide maintenance for other family membersImmoral Traffic Prevention Act 1986 Stops sex trafficking and exploitationEqual Remuneration Act 1976 Prevents monetary discrimination between men and women in the workforceFemale Infanticide Act 1870 Prevents female infanticide Act passed in British India Ban on ultrasound testing 1996 Bans prenatal sex determinationSource 49 Central and state government schemes to alleviate female foeticide and child mortality edit Other recent policy initiatives adopted by many states of India claims Guilmoto 50 attempt to address the assumed economic disadvantage of girls by offering support to girls and their parents These policies provide conditional cash transfer and scholarships only available to girls where payments to a girl and her parents are linked to each stage of her life such as when she is born completion of her childhood immunization her joining school at grade 1 her completing school grades 6 9 and 12 her marriage past age 21 Some states are offering higher pension benefits to parents who raise one or two girls Different states of India have been experimenting with various innovations in their girl driven welfare policies For example the state of Delhi adopted a pro girl policy initiative locally called Laadli scheme which initial data suggests may be lowering the birth sex ratio in the state 50 51 These types of government programs and schemes are a type of redistribution in an attempt to further development in the country The central and state governments in India have noticed the country s failure to deal with female foeticide on its own and have come up with programs to deal with the problem at hand A serious flaw that makes all of these programs ineffective is that they target only lower income households while ignoring the population of higher income households also partaking in female foeticide Sex determination tests and sex selective abortions are prevalent more amongst affluent families 52 For example upper class families in Haryana have high rates of foeticide and infanticide and the programs do not target these families 52 A study in Haryana found that the sex ratio at birth for upper caste women was 127 males for 100 females compared with 105 with lower caste women 52 While cash transfers successfully improve school enrollment and immunization rates for girls they do not directly address parent s demand for sons and gender biased sex selection Additionally a study conducted by Bijayalaxmi Nanda an associate professor of political science at Delhi University found that many of the beneficiaries of the Delhi Ladli Scheme wanted to use the money received for marriage rather than educational expenses 53 Another problem with these government conditional cash transfers is that many of them only target the first two daughters in a family and have no incentive for families to have more than two daughters These non linear incentive models do not result in the same increase in benefits as the inputs and cash transfers put in by the government 54 Additionally they only incentivize a change in behavior until an age educational number of daughters threshold and do not prompt people to act beyond these guidelines Select Schemes by the Central and State Governments edit Program Year Passed Central or State Government BenefitsBalika Samriddhi Yojana 1997 Central Government Cash transfer to mother based on child meeting educational conditions and partaking in income generating activitiesDhan Laxmi Scheme 2008 Central Government Cash transfers to family after meeting conditions immunization education insurance Kanya Jagriti Jyoti Scheme 1996 Punjab Cash transfers to 2 girl children in a family after meeting conditions immunization education insurance Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana 2015 Central Government Cash transfers based on educational attainmentNational Plan of Action 1992 Central Government For the survival protection and development of girl children Goals include ending female feticide reducing gender disparity and giving girls better access to resourcesCradle Baby Scheme 1992 Tamil Nadu To eradicate female infanticide and to save the girl Children from the clutches of deathDevirupak 2002 Haryana Cash transfer to couple accepting terminal method of family planning vasectomy tubectomy after birth of 1st or 2nd childDelhi Ladli Scheme 2008 Delhi Cash transfer based on educational attainment for first 2 daughtersApni Beti Apna Dhan 1994 Haryana Cash transfer if daughter reaches the age of 18 without being marriedGirl Child Protection Scheme 2005 Andhra Pradesh Cash transfer based on age and educational attainment Family also has to partake in family planningBeti Hai Anmol Scheme 2010 Himachal Pradesh Interest earned on back account in daughter s name and cash scholarships for each year of schoolBhagya Laxmi Scheme 2007 Karnataka Cash transfer based on age and educational attainment Cash provided to families for natural death health insurance and scholarshipsMukhyamantri Kanya Suraksha Yojna and Mukhyamantri Kanya Vivah Yojna 2008 Bihar Cash transfers to poor families with two daughtersIndra Gandhi Balika Suraksha Yojana 2007 Himachal Pradesh Cash transfers based on age attainmentLadli Laxami Yojna 2006 Madhya Pradesh Jharkhand Cash transfers based on educational attainmentRakshak Yojana 2005 Punjab Cash monthly transfers for families with 2 girlsMukhyamantri Kanyadan Yojna 2017 Madhya Pradesh Cash transfer for marriage assistance if the family waits until the legal age to marry off their daughterSukanya Samriddhi Account 2015 Central Government Interest earned on bank account opened for daughter after she turns 21Source 55 Movie based on Female foeticide in India editIn August 2023 a movie Titled Panch Kriti Five Elements based on Swachh Bharat Mission was released in India which featured five stories and is set in Chanderi in Bundelkhand Madhya Pradesh has been largely shot in real locations It was a women centric film that touches upon several important themes and topics pertaining to women It also delves into the importance of social movements taking place in India like Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan and Beti Bachao Beti Padhaao Abhiyaan 56 Other Campaigns editIncreasing awareness of the problem has led to multiple campaigns by celebrities and journalists to combat sex selective abortions Aamir Khan devoted the first episode Daughters Are Precious of his show Satyamev Jayate to raise awareness of this widespread practice focusing primarily on Western Rajasthan which is known to be one of the areas where this practice is common Its sex ratio dropped to 883 girls per 1 000 boys in 2011 from 901 girls to 1000 boys in 2001 Rapid response was shown by local government in Rajasthan after the airing of this show showing the effect of media and nationwide awareness on the issue A vow was made by officials to set up fast track courts to punish those who practice sex based abortion They cancelled the licences of six sonography centres and issued notices to over 20 others 57 This has been done on the smaller scale Cultural intervention has been addressed through theatre Plays such as Pacha Mannu which is about female infanticide foeticide has been produced by a women s theatre group in Tamil Nadu This play was showing mostly in communities that practice female infanticide foeticide and has led to a redefinition of a methodology of consciousness raising opening up varied ways of understanding and subverting cultural expressions 58 The Mumbai High Court ruled that prenatal sex determination implied female foeticide Sex determination violated a woman s right to live and was against India s Constitution 10 The Beti Bachao or Save girls campaign has been underway in many Indian communities since the early 2000s The campaign uses the media to raise awareness of the gender disparities creating and resulting from sex selective abortion Beti Bachao activities include rallies posters short videos and television commercials some of which are sponsored by state and local governments and other organisations Many celebrities in India have publicly supported the Beti Bachao campaign 59 See also editIndia specificDomestic violence in India Dowry system in India Feminism in India Gender inequality in India Gender pay gap in India Men s rights movement in India National Commission for Women Pre Conception and Pre Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act 1994 Rape in India Sexism in India Welfare schemes for women in India Women in agriculture in India Women in India Women in Indian Armed Forces Women s Reservation Bill Women s suffrage in India Other relatedSex selective abortion Bride burning Foeticide Gendercide Sex selection Prenatal sex discernment Bride buying Intra household bargainingReferences edit Kaur Banjot 2022 09 06 Foeticide More Missing Girls Among Hindus Than Muslims in Last Two Decades Official Data Shows The Wire Retrieved 2022 09 06 Data Highlights 2001 Census Census Bureau Government of India India at Glance Population Census 2011 Final Census of India Government of India 2013 Census of India 2011 Child sex ratio drops to lowest since Independence The Economic Times India a b Child Sex Ratio in India Archived 2013 12 03 at the Wayback Machine C Chandramouli Registrar General amp Census Commissioner India 2011 Child Sex Ratio 2001 versus 2011 Census of India Government of India 2013 Sex ratio worsens in small families improves with 3 or more children India News The Times of India a b c d IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PCPNDT ACT IN INDIA Perspectives and Challenges Archived 2019 10 06 at the Wayback Machine Public Health Foundation of India Supported by United Nations FPA 2010 a b James W H July 2008 Hypothesis Evidence that Mammalian Sex Ratios at birth are partially controlled by parental hormonal levels around the time of conception Journal of Endocrinology 198 1 3 15 doi 10 1677 JOE 07 0446 PMID 18577567 a b c UNICEF India UNICEF Archived from the original on 2014 12 23 Retrieved 2012 05 06 Therese Hesketh and Zhu Wei Xing Abnormal sex ratios in human populations Causes and consequences PNAS September 5 2006 vol 103 no 36 pp 13271 13275 a b c d e f Klausen Stephan Wink Claudia 2003 Missing Women Revisiting the Debate Feminist Economics 9 2 3 263 299 doi 10 1080 1354570022000077999 S2CID 154492092 a b Sen Amartya 1990 More than 100 million women are missing New York Review of Books 20 December pp 61 66 Kraemer Sebastian The Fragile Male British Medical Journal 2000 n pag British Medical Journal Web 20 Oct 2013 a b Mazza V Falcinelli C Paganelli S et al June 2001 Sonographic early fetal gender assignment a longitudinal study in pregnancies after in vitro fertilization Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 17 6 513 6 doi 10 1046 j 1469 0705 2001 00421 x PMID 11422974 Mevlude Akbulut Yuksel and Daniel Rosenblum January 2012 The Indian Ultrasound Paradox IZA DP No 6273 Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit Bonn Germany BBC NEWS South Asia India loses 10m female births bbc co uk 2006 01 09 a b c d e MacPherson Yvonne November 2007 Images and Icons Harnessing the Power of Media to Reduce Sex Selective Abortion in India Gender and Development 15 2 413 23 doi 10 1080 13552070701630574 A Gettis J Getis and J D Fellmann 2004 Introduction to Geography Ninth Edition New York McGraw Hill pp 200 ISBN 0 07 252183 X Johansson Sten Nygren Olga 1991 The missing girls of China a new demographic account Population and Development Review 17 1 35 51 doi 10 2307 1972351 JSTOR 1972351 Merli M Giovanna Raftery Adrian E 2000 Are births underreported in rural China Demography 37 1 109 126 doi 10 2307 2648100 JSTOR 2648100 PMID 10748993 S2CID 41085573 R Jacobsen H Moller and A Mouritsen Natural variation in the human sex ratio Hum Reprod 1999 14 12 pp 3120 3125 Goodkind Daniel 1999 Should Prenatal Sex Selection be Restricted Ethical Questions and Their Implications for Research and Policy Population Studies 53 1 49 61 a b Das Gupta Monica Explaining Asia s Missing Women A New Look at the Data Archived 2016 04 29 at the Wayback Machine 2005 Mahalingam R 2007 Culture ecology and beliefs about gender in son preference caste groups Evolution and Human Behavior 28 5 319 329 doi 10 1016 j evolhumbehav 2007 01 004 a b c Beaman Lori Duflo Esther Pande Rohini Topalova Petia 2012 02 03 Female Leadership Raises Aspirations and Educational Attainment for Girls A Policy Experiment in India Science 335 6068 582 586 Bibcode 2012Sci 335 582B doi 10 1126 science 1212382 PMC 3394179 PMID 22245740 a b Women as Policy Makers Evidence from a Randomized Policy Experiment in India Gender Action Portal Retrieved 2018 03 05 Duflo Esther 2004 Unappreciated service performance perceptions and women leaders in India PDF Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT Department of Economics a b Jaggi Tonushree 2001 The Economics of Dowry Causes and Effects of an Indian Tradition University Avenue Undergraduate Journal of Economics 5 1 18 a b c d e Anderson Siwan Fall 2007 The Economics of Dowry and Brideprice Journal of Economic Perspectives 21 4 151 174 doi 10 1257 jep 21 4 151 ISSN 0895 3309 S2CID 13722006 PSC Michigan Population Studies Center Rao The Rising Price of Husbands A Hedonic Analysis of Dowry Increases in Rural India www psc isr umich edu Retrieved 2018 03 05 Unnithan Kumar Maya February 2010 Female selective abortion beyond culture family making and gender inequality in a globalising India Culture Health amp Sexuality 12 2 153 166 doi 10 1080 13691050902825290 PMID 19437177 S2CID 39414131 Sen Amartya 1990 12 20 More Than 100 Million Women Are Missing The New York Review of Books ISSN 0028 7504 Retrieved 2018 03 05 Age Data C13 Table India States UTs Final Population 2011 Census of India Ministry of Home Affairs Government of India 2013 Gupta Monica Das Chung Woojin Shuzhuo Li 2009 06 01 Evidence for an Incipient Decline in Numbers of Missing Girls in China and India Population and Development Review 35 2 401 416 doi 10 1111 j 1728 4457 2009 00285 x ISSN 1728 4457 a b c Age Data Single Year Age Data C13 Table India States UTs Population Enumeration Data Final Population 2011 Census of India Ministry of Home Affairs Government of India A Treatise on the Family Gary S Becker Harvard University Press www hup harvard edu Retrieved 2018 03 05 a b c Dube Leela 1983 Misadventures in Amniocentesis Economic and Political Weekly 18 a b Female foeticide in India UNICEF unicef in Retrieved 2018 03 05 Pandey Sanjay Female foeticide India s ticking bomb www aljazeera com Retrieved 2018 03 05 Alston Margaret 2014 Women Political Struggles and Gender Equality in South Asia Palgrave MacMillan ISBN 978 1 137 39057 8 Sen Amartya 2001 The Many Faces of Gender Inequality The New Republic pp 35 39 Ayres Robert U Kneese Allen V 1969 Production Consumption and Externalities The American Economic Review 59 3 282 297 JSTOR 1808958 a b Agnihotri Satish January 2001 Declining Infant and Child Mortality in India How Do Girl Children Fare Economic and Political Weekly 36 3 228 233 JSTOR 4410198 Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971 Introduction Health News RSS Med India n d Web 20 Oct 2013 a b MTP and PCPNDT Initiatives Report Archived 2014 06 01 at the Wayback Machine Government of India 2011 Nandi A Deolalikar A B 2013 Does a legal ban on sex selective abortions improve child sex ratios Evidence from a policy change in India Journal of Development Economics 103 216 228 doi 10 1016 j jdeveco 2013 02 007 Small gain for the girl child Front Line Tandon Sneh 2006 Female Foeticide and Infanticide in India An Analysis of Crimes against Girl Children PDF International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences 1 a b Christophe Z Guilmoto Sex imbalances at birth Trends consequences and policy implications United Nations Population Fund Hanoi October 2011 Delhi Laadli scheme 2008 Government of Delhi India a b c Miller B D December 2001 Female selective abortion in Asia patterns policies and debates American Anthropologist 103 4 1083 1095 doi 10 1525 aa 2001 103 4 1083 ISSN 0002 7294 PMID 12769123 Government scheme to save girls in womb a flop Study India Today 2011 12 28 Retrieved 2018 03 05 Brody Samuel 2010 Non linear incentives plan design and flood mitigation the case of the Federal Emergency Management Agency s community rating system Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 53 2 219 239 doi 10 1080 09640560903529410 S2CID 1634492 Sekher T V 2010 Special Financial Incentive Schemes for the Girl Child in India A Review of Select Schemes PDF International Institute for Population Sciences https zeenews india com bollywood panch kriti five elements a film that showcases rural india in its real form 2633758 html Helen Pidd 13 July 2012 Indian campaign confronts prevalence of female foeticide the Guardian A Mangai Cultural Intervention through Theatre Case Study of a Play on Female Infanticide Foeticide Economic and Political Weekly Vol 33 No 44 Oct 31 Nov 6 1998 pp WS70 WS72 https www jstor org stable 4407327 Baker D P 2016 Citizen Killings Liberalism State Policy and Moral Risk Bloomsbury Publishing p 102 ISBN 978 1 4725 7545 6 Retrieved 2023 07 25 External links editUNICEF India Archived 2014 12 23 at the Wayback Machine Female Foeticide in India A Serious Challenge for the Society Documentaries on Female Foeticide Disappearing Daughters Amartya Sen More Than 100 Million Missing Women Registrar General of India Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Female foeticide in India amp oldid 1206324648, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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