Daughters are not for Salughter Rally on 14-11-2011

Comment

Comment by Prof. Dr. Vibhuti Patel on April 16, 2011 at 11:06pm

Consumerist Culture oriented economic development, commercialisation of medical profession and sexist biases in our society, combined together have created a sad scenario of ‘missing girls’.  Global comparisons of sex ratios shows that Sex ratios in Europe, North America, Caribbean, Central Asia, the poorest regions of sub Saharan Africa are favourable to women as these countries neither kill/ neglect girls nor do they use NRTs for production of sons. The lowest sex ratio is found in some parts of India. 

 Deficit of women in India since 1901 -Violence against Women over the Life Cycle, from womb to tomb- female infanticide, neglect of girl child in terms of health and nutrition, child marriage and repeated pregnancy taking heavy toll of girls’ lives- Selective Elimination of Female Foetuses and selection of male at a preconception stage-Legacy of continuing declining sex ratio in India in the history of Census of India has taken new turn with widespread use of new reproductive technologies (NRTs) in India. NRTs are based on principle of selection of the desirable and rejection of the unwanted. In India, the desirable is the baby boy and the unwanted is the baby girl. The result is obvious. The Census results of 2001 have revealed that with sex ratio of 927 girls for 1000 boys, India had deficit of 60 lakh girls in age-group of 0-6 years, when it entered the new millennium- Female infanticide was practiced among selected communities, while the abuse of NRTs has become a generalised phenomenon encompassing all communities irrespective of caste, class, religious, educational and ethnic backgrounds. Demographers, population control lobby, anthropologists, economists, legal experts, medical fraternity and feminists are divided in their opinions about gender implications of NRTs. NRTs in the context of patriarchal control over women’s fertility and commercial interests are posing major threat to women’s dignity and bodily integrity. The supporters of sex selective abortions put forward the argument of “Women’s Choice” as if women’s choices are made in social vacuum. In this context, the crucial question is-

 Can we allow Asian girls to become an endangered species?