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| India: Where Are All the Women? |
| The birth of a girl often means financial hardship |
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Hyejin Kim (mine1004)  |
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Published 2006-12-21 06:23 (KST) |
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If you have a chance to travel to India and to stroll along the streets, a question is likely to come to mind: "Where are the women?" From shop clerks to hotel staff, men seem to hold all the jobs. India seems to be a man's land. Visiting Delhi recently, I was given the impression that the vast majority of women must be doing housework.
Another explanation appeared when I was walking through Old Delhi and encountered the largest number of women I had seen in one place in India. Clad in orange saris, some women held up signs while others had stickers attached to their clothing. "No to female infanticide" read one slogan.
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| Everyday in India, some 7,000 fewer female babies than male babies are born, according to a Dec. 5 report by UNICEF. The main reason for this unbalanced sex ratio is the practice of parents killing girls before birth after determining the sex of their unborn baby. The consequent unequal child sex ratio has long been prevalent in India, particularly in northern states like Punjab and Haryana. Today, India has 93 women for every 100 men, according to the Web site, Indianchild.com. Despite an increase in education and wealth, the gap has widened since 1991.
That Web site sees the source of the problem in the dowry system, which forces families to pay a great deal of money to merry off a daughter. Therefore, for a poor family especially, the birth of a girl means financial hardship. As the report explains, "Diagnostic teams with ultrasound scanners which detect the sex of a child advertise with catch-lines such as spend 600 rupees now and save 50,000 rupees later." Even though the Indian government since 1994 has prohibited the use of ultrasounds to determine the sex of an unborn baby, except for medical reasons, the law has not produced effective results.
However, the dowry system and poverty are not the sole reasons for the increase in female infanticide. A study by the Swedish Research Council and research at Lund University, as reported in the Hindustan Times on Dec. 18, found that people living in rich and educated homes tend to abort more female fetuses. The study calls this phenomena the "disconnect" between economic improvement and human development and characterizes it as the shift from "son preference to active daughter discrimination."
 | |  Women protesting female infanticide in Delhi. | | | ©2006 Hyejin Kim | | Preparing for the coming year, some concerned people and organizations are stepping up efforts to address the problem. One approach the government is attempting is to appeal to religion to battle deep-rooted prejudice toward girls. Renuka Chowdhury, minister for women and child development, is trying to persuade priests to chant for newborn girls, not just for boys. She told the Times of India on Dec. 15, "They have to stop giving blessings about sons. They should bless couples with healthy children." Encouraging Hindu families to worship female deities at home would also help change the gender mindset in India, the government hopes.
| | Why Girls Are Not Easily Accepted in Indian Society | | | |
1. Investment in a daughter's education is viewed as fruitless as she will eventually wed.
2. Indian society prefers fewer children so a son who carries on the bloodline is seen as more valuable than a daughter.
3. Employment chances are better for men.
4. The burden of a dowry discourages parents for having girls.
5. Technology is used to determine fetal sex.
6. Daughters will eventually leave their parents; sons will take care of them.
7. Freedoms for women, such as pre-marital sex, can lead to loss of honor in society.
(Hindustan Times, Dec. 18) | | | | |
In addition, new laws and methods are on the way. Just this September, the government in Haryana, a state with one of the highest female infanticide rates, announced that people who provide information about illegal sex-selective abortions or ultrasound use would receive a reward, worth about U.S.$215, for information leading to the apprehension of violators. Health Department officials also indicated they would pay the same amount to those who are willing to serve as false customers at medical clinics and doctor's offices to help expose those who violate the laws, Livenews.com reported on Dec. 11.
There is another effort focusing on improving the status of women. The Indian government passed the Prevention of Child Marriage bill on Dec. 14. According to the International Center for Research on Women, 57 percent of girls in India are married off before they are 18 and 1,000 girls die every day due to pregnancy-related-problems and early child marriage, the Hindustan Times reported on Dec. 15. With the new legislation, state governments will appoint child marriage prevention officers for either the entire state or a specific area. These officers will have the authority to prevent the performance of a child marriage and to assist victims.
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©2006 OhmyNews
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