Thursday 14 January 2016

Female Foeticide a matter of shame


Female foeticide is the elimination of girl child after sex determination test from the womb. Girl child is killed before birth just to fulfill the wishes of old members in the family of getting boy baby first. All the process gone under familial pressure especially by husband or in-laws. General reason behind abortion becomes unplanned pregnancy however female foeticide becomes planned by the families. People believe that boys are the key to continue their family lineage however they do not understand the most simple thing that girls are reasons to give birth to new entity in the world not boys. People in the Indian society are used to of giving birth to the child continuously until they get boy baby by killing all the girl baby earlier to the boy. Daughters are given less respect and priority than sons in Indian society from the ancient time. They did not have same access like boys in the areas of education, healthcare, nutrition, play, etc.

The frequency of female foeticide in India is assumed to be an estimation derived from its high birth sex ratio, that is the ratio of boys to girls at birth. The natural ratio is assumed to be between 103 to 107, and any number above it is considered as suggestive of female foeticide. According to the decennial Indian census, the sex ratio in the 0 to 6 age group in India has risen from 102.4 males per 100 females in 1961, to 104.2 in 1980, to 107.5 in 2001, to 108.9 in 2011.
Over the past decade, Odisha has witnessed a drastic reduction in the sex ratio of children within the age-group 0-6 years, according to the Population Foundation of India. The  child sex ratio, according to the 2001 census, stands at 950 girls to 1,000 boys in Orissa. This is a significant decline from 1991, when the ratio was 967 girls per 1,000 boys.In 2011 941 in 1000 boys.
 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.

Females not only face inequality in this culture, they are even denied the right to be born. Why do so many families selectively abort baby daughters? In a word: economics. Aborting female fetuses is both practical and socially acceptable in India. Female foeticide is driven by many factors, but primarily by the prospect of having to pay a dowry to the future bridegroom of a daughter. While sons offer security to their families in old age and can perform the rites for the souls of deceased parents and ancestors, daughters are perceived as a social and economic burden. Prenatal sex detection technologies have been misused, allowing the selective abortions of female offspring to proliferate. Legally, however, female feticide is a penal offence. Although female infanticide has long been committed in India, foeticide is a relatively new practice, emerging concurrently with the advent of technological advancements in prenatal sex determination on a large scale in the 1990s. While abortion is legal in India, it is a crime to abort a pregnancy solely because the fetus is female. Strict laws and penalties are in place for violators. These laws, however, have not stemmed the tide of this abhorrent practice.

The advancement of ultrasound technology in India came in 1979 however its spread was slow. But became widespread in 2000s. It is estimated that since 1990s, more than 10 million of female foetuses have been aborted because of being girl. We can see that female foeticide has been practiced through the history and cultural background. Earlier, people believed that male babies are superior as they would provide manual labor as well as lead the family lineage in future. Son is considered as family asset however a daughter is a liability.

In order to control the population and stop female foeticide, Government of India made various rules and regulations against female foeticide and trend of abortions after sex determination tests. Killing of a baby girl through abortion has been an offense all through the country. Doctors found performing sex determination tests and abortions especially for killing girl baby would be guilty and lose their license. Awareness about the importance of girl child in the society is major weapon to get relief from the female foeticide.Recent awareness programmes like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, or Save girls campaign, etc have been made regarding girl’s rights.

Anuradha Mohanty
ExecutiveDirector ,PECUC 

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