FEMALE FOETICIDE

“MISSING GIRLS“

Introduction:
Female children are seen to be a burden to the family. Female foeticide is an extreme manifestation of violence against women. It is
regrettable that female foeticide is rapidly decreasing the female population throughout the world, especially in India and china.
People in Punjab, Haryana and other western states afford illegal test to determine the sex of the baby and discard it. The families that
commit female foeticide love their living daughters however that passion is not extended to the female fetus. As females drop in
number in a society, society gets destabilized. .

FACTORS RESPONSIBLE: “The two child norms leads to female foeticide”

The main factors that are responsible for the increase in the incidence of female infanticide and foeticide is the low status of women,
son preference, and the practice of dowry across all casts groups and cultural beliefs. The low status of women and girls is due to the
material cost they represent to their families. Female FOETICIDE are often practiced in societies where it is believed that having a
girl child is culturally and economically less advantageous than having a boy child.

LACK OF AWARNESS:
The determination of the sex of the foetus by ultrasound scanning, amniocentesis, and in vitro fertilization has aggravated this
situation. The situation is further worsened by a lack of awareness of women’s rights and by the indifferent attitude of governments
and medical professionals. As a result of selective abortion, over 100 million girls are missing from the Indian population. the birth of
a son is regarded as essential in Hinduism and many prayers and lavish offerings are made in temples in the hope of having a male
child. Modern medical technology is used in the service of this religion-driven devaluing of women and girls Worryingly, the trend is
far stronger in urban rather than rural areas, and among literate rather than illiterate women

Social pratices :“Still-Born-Baby!”

The practice of dowry has spread nationwide, to communities and castes in which it had never been the custom, fuelled by
consumerism and emulation of upper caste practices. It is estimated that a dowry death occurs in India every 93 minutes. Theneed for
a dowry for girl children, and the ability to demand a dowry for boys exerts considerable economic pressure on families to use any
means to avoid having girls, who are seen as a liability

Sex ratio
The sex ratio has altered consistently in favour of boys since the beginning of the 20th century and the effect has been most
pronounced in the states of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. It was in these states that private foetal sex determination clinics were first
established and the practice of selective abortion became popular from the late 1970s,. .More generally, demographers warn that in the
next twenty years there will be a shortage of brides in the marriage market mainly because of the adverse juvenile sex ratio.

The reasons for the decline in sex ratio?

Census 2001 shows that during the 1991-2001 decade the overall sex ratio increased from 927 per 1,000 to 933 per 1,000 (an increase
of six points). But during the same decade the child sex ratio (0-6 years) dropped from 945 to 927 (a decline of 18 points)

In some states, the situation is dire. Haryana, , has 861 females to 1,000 males. Chandigarh has 773. Daman and Diu, 709. Punjab,
874.. Tamil Nadu is the small, lone light at the end of the tunnel with its figure of 986/1000, which is marginally higher than the
corresponding national one.

India’s population

On March 8, the Governor of New Delhi launched a campaign against selective abortions.: only 814 girls are born for every 1000 boys
in the Capital. The irony of the whole situation is that in the 10 years since India enacted the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Technologies
(PNDT) Act, not a single person was convicted till very recently and in the beginning of this year6 only two people were convicted,
fined and pronounced five years of rigorous imprisonment. Only 23 cases have been registered under this act so far.according to
India’s Health Minister Anbumoni Ramadoss’ s statement in the parliament As the world celebrates 13th July as the World Population
Day, we will helplessly observe girls ‘missing’ from the worlds second most populated country, India. Female infanticide stretched
through the districts of Salem, Dharmapuri, North Arcot, Periyar, Dindigul and MaduraiANDHARDCOregions like north Salem,
south Dharmapuri, south Dindigul and west Madurai accounted for practically 70 per cent of all female infanticide..
]STATISTICS

• 1 out of every 10 women reported some kind of child sexual abuse during childhood, chiefly by
known persons.
• 1 out of 4 girls is sexually abused before the age of 4
• 19% are abused between the ages of 4 and 8
• 28% are abused between the ages of 8 and 12
• 35% are abused between the ages of 12 and 16
•1 out of 6 girls will not live to see their 12th birthday
• 3 lakh more girls than boys die every year
• Female mortality exceeds male mortality in 224 out of 402 districts in India
• Death rate among girls below the age of 4 years is higher than that of boys. Even if she escapes
infanticide or foeticide, a girl child is less likely to receive immunisation, nutrition or medical
treatment compared to a male child
• Every year 27,06,000 children under 5 years die in India. And the deaths of girl children are higher
than those of male children.

GOVERNMENT ACTION

In 1994, the Government of India passed the Pre- conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act.
It was later amended and replaced in 2002 by the Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act aim of
preventing female foeticide.
Presently the government of india has introduced a scheme which is beneficial to parents who accepts female childbirth . The
government helps the parents from poor economial background providing funds for them .

Violation of laws:

A girl is killed before she is born; that sex of a foetus is determined to be that of a female By the doctors there is crime involved in
violating not one but many laws: the Pre Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) 1994 Act, the Section
307 IPC (of attempt to murder) and along with crime of abetment of murder etc..

Preventive measures

A move away from religious teachings and the advocacy of a scientific, rational, and humanist approach. The empowerment of women
and a strengthening of women’s rights through campaigning against practices such as dowry, and ensuring strict implementation of
existing legislation Ï Simple methods of complaint registration, accessible to the poorest and most vulnerable women.

Wide publicization in the media of the scale and seriousness of the practice. NGOs should take a key role in educating the public on
this matter. Regular assessment of indicators of status of women in society, such as sex ratio, and female mortality, literacy, and
economic participation. It is only by a combination of monitoring, education campaigns, and effective legal implementation that the
deep-seated attitudes and practices against women and girls can be eroded.
Free education for women up to college and even post graduate education in government run institutions This is the one thing that
makes female killing folks look foolish and dumb.
- Encourage marriage of males to educated women. Conversely, an educated female class will be more aware of their rights

Conclusion: Gone! ‘Gone, to the grave yard’!

As observed, it is not poverty alone that makes families kill their. Female child, the community
too acts in strange ways to perpetuate the crime by ridiculing couples who do not have a male child.
It is not easy to change overnight the attitude of even women towards females infanticide. Even if the women are prepared to
understand and accept the need to change, the social situation and the family environment prevent them from doing so. The above
could be the reasons for the failure of schemes and interventions undertaken by the government and NGOs to eradicate female
infanticide. Only social awareness of equality of gender will bring a change towards female foeticide.