Female feticide

What is female feticide / infanticide- Female feticide is the deliberate act of aborting a fetus solely because it is a female. Female Infanticide occurs when a girl child is killed after birth; over ten million girls have been missing in the last two decades from infanticide alone.

Female feticide has eliminated over 50 million girls from India alone in the last century and is practiced by people from all over the world and from all walks of life.

This is often done under social/family pressure from the family, husband, or inlaws. This is a major social problem in India and China where male child is preferred and girls are seen as a burden (Dowry issue)

This problem is not limited to a country or a culture but spread globally and can be seen in countries such as USA and Canada according to latest news reports.

The fanatic obsession with the male sex, though, is one of a kind. Right from the ancient scriptures, one finds instances where men are glowingly praised as the key to continue the family lineage. A girl is forced to undergo multiple pregnancies and (or) abortions, until she fulfills her lifelong goal of being a breeding machine that produces male offspring as per the needs of the family.

Process of abortion

Prenatal sex discernment:

The earliest post-implantation test is to take a blood sample from the mother and test on the small amount of fetal DNA that can be found within it. A meta-analysis published in 2011 found that such tests are reliable more than 98% of the time, as long as they are taken after the seventh week of pregnancy.

Surgical Abortion:

After the sex is determined through tests, the family decides whether to abort the child or not via surgical method.

Injection

Since abortion is only possible when the fetus is three to four month old, older fetuses are aborted using chemical injection to induce the baby. In India, the injection costs well around 60000 to 70000 rupees (approximately USD $1070 to 1250 – living standard of India also must be considered) to induce miscarriage. Therefore, only well-off families have the privilege. In fact, researches have shown that as developing countries become richer, sex-selective abortion rises.

Drugs (over-the-counter medication)

The underprivileged who do not have the luxury to have surgical performance or chemical injection to induce abortion drug themselves with over-the-counter medication to miscarry the child. The underprivileged who cannot afford costly operations take harmful medications to poison the baby. Sadly, even if the baby fights the toxins and is born, there are no guarantees that the baby will be physically or mentally healthy – often, babies become deformed or disabled.

Geography

India

Female foeticide in India

Sex-selective abortion has been seen as worsening the sex ratio in India, affecting gender issues related to sex compositions of Indian households.

50 Million girls have been eliminated from India’s population in last century.

About 10 million girls have been eliminated by sex-selective abortions and infanticide in the last 20 years.

In the last census in 2001, the ratio of males to females was 1000 to 927. About 10 million girls have been eliminated by sex-selective abortions and infanticide in the last 20 years. In western part of India sex ratio goes as low as 491 women to 1000 men.

There have been only two convictions — a fine of 300 rupees ($7) and another fine of 4,000 rupees ($98) — from over 400 cases lodged under the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques Act.

China

A similar situation is going on in China, too. Every year, about a million female fetuses are aborted and tens of thousands of female babies go missing. In China, a historical preference for a male child has been exacerbated by the one-child policy, which was enacted in 1979. The strong cultural preference for sons is heightened by the one-child policy leading and cultural values results in serious consequences.

It has been argued that by having a one-child policy, China has increased the rate of abortion of female fetuses, thereby accelerating a demographic decline. As most Chinese families are given incentives to have only one child, and would often prefer at least one son.

North America

According to latest reports - Sex-selective abortion occur in certain Indian and Other nations

Abnormal sex ratios at birth, possibly explained by growing incidence of sex-selective abortion, have also been noted in some other countries outside South and East Asia. According to the 2011 CIA World Factbook, countries with more than 110 males per 100 females at birth also include Albania and former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan. A 2005 study estimated that over 90 million females were “missing” from the expected population in Afghanistan.

Despite these horrific numbers, foetal sex determination and sex selective abortion by unethical medical professionals has today grown into a Rs. 1,000 crore industry (US$ 244 million).

Social discrimination against women, already entrenched in Indian society, has been spurred on by technological developments that today allow mobile sex selection clinics to drive into almost any village or neighbourhood unchecked.

The battle against sex selection has proved to be long drawn out. But some signs are visible that demonstrate that the fight can be won.

Lakhanpal, a small village in Punjab has turned the tide of male births for the first time. In a state that has the lowest sex ratio in the country, the village boasts of 1,400 girls for every 1000 boys.

Organizations across the globe are working day and night to put an end to this horrific act, which if not stopped will contribute more to problems such as, rape, human trafficking, abuse, child marriages and increased crime rate. We all must work together.