Female Foeticide a serious issue in India

Oh god, I beg of you,

I touch your feet time and again,

Next birth don’t give me a daughter,

Give me hell instead….

Women have been the subject of deprivation, discrimination, intimidation and unjust treatment in society throughout history. They are considered persons whose duty is to act on the advice of males, serve them, please and take care of them: first father, then husband then son. They are given such an ideal role as to live at the mercy of the husband and die at his prey. The reason is that in the social fiber of many societies males are given a privileged position because they are bread winners, feed the family; women are the commodities at the disposal of males, whenever and however they want to use them. Thus they are in a subordinate position, do not respect and independent entity, have no control over their lives, and do not stand on their own, but constitute the amour proper of others.

In India, welfare measures like empowerment of women, reservation in parliament, free education to girl child and a lot of other women progressive initiative do not make sense when we look at cases of female foeticide. Female foeticide is violation of right a basic human right and guarantee under the constitution. In the case of female foeticide, the female children in the wombs of expecting mothers, they are not only denied the right to live but are robbed to their right to be born. The selection of male child over females is enough proof for the lack of right to birth to girl child.

Meaning of Female Foeticide and Female Infanticide:

Female Fetuses are selectively aborted after pre natal sex determination, thus avoiding the birth of girls. Pre natal diagnostic test includes:

• ·         Ultra- sonography
• ·         Foetoscopy
• ·         Placental tissue sampling
• ·         Amniocentesis
• 
  

The female fetus is lucky enough to survive till her birth then she faced the peril of elimination in infancy by female infanticide. Female infanticide is the inhuman killing of the baby girl after she is born. In the absence of genetic testing, infanticide was the only inhumane option for discarding the female child.

“Killing of an entirely dependent girl child less than one year of age by mother, parents or others in whose care she is entrusted”.

Historically, female infanticide has been in existence since long. Girl infants have been known to be killed by rubbing poison on the mother’s breast, by giving paddy grains, giving sleeping tablets or by simply burying the girl infants alive. Cases of female infanticide in Indian villages were often reported as natural deaths. Some parents have seen succeeded in having false death certificate issued after bribing doctors. The bodies of infant girls are the burned to destroy any evidence. Further when evidence surfaced that people were poisoning their girl children, they began to adopt methods such as starving the baby to death. Many other girl children are disposed of, often in garbage dumps. Although some girls are found and revived, most die. Brutal treatments of the desired son. The mother and newly born baby are treated badly because they are viewed as a burden and often receive no medical care. Eighty to ninety percent of victims of female infanticide are girls of higher birth order. The girls who survive are likely to suffer neglect as parents often do not hide their contempt for these girls. Most of the killings of these infant girls are committed by senior women in the family. Many girls who are granted the right to be born are then denied the right to basic life sustaining nutrition and health and instead by their families and communities. The resulting ill health of the child often leads to death.

Test to check:

Medical advances and technological development have enabled scientists and medical practitioners to initiate certain methods and techniques to determine the sex of the fetus. The most important among them are amniocentesis and now the widely used ultrasonography. The sex determination testes were basically designed to detect gender related abnormality in the unborn child. Ultrasonography is the most commonly used technique. It is non-invasive system of the fetus. It is unfortunate that it is abused largely in India and other Asian countries to detect the sex of the fetus in order to have it aborted if it happens to be that of a female. The intention behind such tests is good but humans, under the influence of hedonistic tendencies, always manipulate good to satisfy their egos, desires and ambition at the cost of others and society as well.

In India the sex determination test has been used since 1978 and has gradually become popular. As a matter of fact, private clinics throughout the country were established to do profitable business. One of the sophisticated methods to determine the sex of the fetus as well as to fulfill the desires and aspirations of people to have a male child is the Erison method. It is a device to separate the X and Y chromos from the sperm and then inject back only Y chromos into the womb to ensure a male fetus.

Social, cultural, financial and psychological reasons are responsible for the prevalence of evil female foeticide in our society.

Male child preference is a pivotal factor in female foeticide. In our society people think that male child brings social status for them. It is the general opinion which prevails in our society that a boy is advantageous and beneficial to the family in general and to his parents in particular. He heads the family when the parents retire or become old, look after and serves them, takes the responsibility of running the family, replaces the parents and, in fact continues the name of the family, this is all due to patriarchal structure of the family but is also supported by some religious ethos. In Hinduism, the birth of a son is essential because he has to perform the last rites of the father by which he can attain salvation. All religions have legitimized gender inequalities and accorded an inferior status to women.

Dowry system is also crucial in preventing the birth of a girl child than to give birth to female child and spend five lacs for her marriage. Girl child is treated as a bird of passage, a guest in her own parent’s house. The prospective husband and his family demand a huge amount un cash or in the form of valuable materials in the marriage from the girl’s parents. The price of a groom, in face, depends upon his social and economic position as well as his lucrative job and business. The groom and his family take advantage of the vulnerable position of the girl’s parents. It is a sort of exploitation which the groom does not hesitate to demand in spite of the fact that he also has sisters who have to face the same situation. It places the parents in an hard situation who struggle very hard to meet the demands of dowry. Sometimes they succeed but at the cost of great sacrifice and the heavy price which they and the entire family have to bear.

Girls a liability: Girls are considered a liability and burden that one has to carry though out one’s life, creating difficulty and pain. Parents have to face various ordeals in rearing the girl child, educating her and settled her in life. Their foremost duty is to get her married and search for a suitable and worthy life partner for her ar whatever cost is required. They are supposed to develop all possible qualities in her, inculcate moral and spiritual values, make her expert in household works, enable her to be an earning family member and last but not the least, to ingrain in her those abilities that can make her a good wife who can please her husband and in-laws. In case any mishaps comes about daughter fails to come up to the expectations of the husband and in laws, all blame comes to the parents. Thus, parents live under continuous stress and strain.

Girls are considered as financial obligation by many parents. They conceive that money spend on a girl will be total waste as she will go to her in law’s home after the marriage. According to Hindu’s methodology birth of a boy is considered as a path to heaven. Being trapped in such orthodox ideas the girls are put to death before their birth.

The other root cause of female foeticide is rise in the inflation. Due to rise in inflation parents thought hundred times before giving birth to a girl child. They worry about the education and marrying their daughter. The advancement in technology is the major cause of female foeticide. Nowadays parents determines the sex of a child before birth and kill if not according to their choice. Corruption is another major factor in the rise of female foeticide. Some of the doctors do this terrible act to fulfill their money desire. One’s status in society is higher, in a house with sons.

Data Related to Female Foeticide:

The serious impact of female foeticide is disparity in gender ratios. The south and East Asian countries like India and China are worse affected as the female foeticide are selectively aborted after pre-natal sex determination. Thus, avoiding the birth of girls has damaged the structure of the population to an alarming extent and the number of females has decreased. The result is that the selective abortion, according to an estimate, has taken the lives of 35 to 40 million girls who could not be the part of the Indian population.

The child sex ration stands at a mere 754 in Fategarh Sahib District in Punjab, the lowest in the country i.e. there are only 754 girls to 1000 boys in the district.The kurukshetra district of Haryana has the ration of 770, Ahmedabad has a ration of 814 and south west Delhi has 845. These regions again are among the most prosperous in the country. The ratio in Mumbai is also seen to be falling at 898..

States where Female Foeticide is most prevalent:

• ·         Punjab
• ·         Delhi
• ·         Madhya Pradesh
• ·         Rajasthan
• ·         Gujarat
• ·         Haryana
• ·         Chandigarh

PNDT Act (Preconception and Prenatal Diagnostic Test)

The practice of sex determination followed by abortion in case of female child is not only illegal but constitute a criminal offence. It was proposed to prohibit pre-natal diagnostic techniques for determination of sex of fetus for the purpose of female foeticide. Such abuse of scientific technique was found discriminatory against female sex and also affecting the dignity and status of women.

In the year 1994 India’s government passed preconception and prenatal diagnostic test act (PNDT). According to this act, the test of sex of a child before the birth is a legal offence. But implementation of this act on grass rot level is still like a snail’s speed. The main problem in the implementation of this act is the running of several unregistered clinics across the country. These clinics performs this heinous act for few rupees. The PNDT act has a central and state Level supervisory Board, an Appropriate Authority and Supporting Advisory Committee. The main role of the Supervisory Board is to monitor the law and making any amendment if required. The role of the Appropriate Authority is to provide registration to the new clinics and giving punishment to those who are guilty. The Advisory Committee involves in providing technical support, expert ideas to Appropriate Authority.

The act has two aspects, regulatory and preventive. It seeks to regulate the use of prenatal diagnostic techniques for legal or medical purposes and prevent misuse for illegal purposes. The act provides for the setting up of various bodies along with their composition power and functions. There is a central supervisory board, appropriate authorities and advisory committees.

Apart from this law, the following sections from the Indian Penal Code, 1860 are also important.

• ·         When death is caused by a person (Section 299 and Section 300).
• ·         Voluntarily cause a pregnant woman to miscarry the unborn baby (Section 312).
• ·         Act done with intent to prevent child being born alive or to cause it to die after birth(Section 315).
• ·         Causing quick death of unborn child (Section 316).
• ·         Exposing and abandoning of child below 12 years (Section 317).
• ·         Concealing the birth of child by secretly disposing her/his body (Section 318).

The punishment for those these offences extend from two years up to life imprisonment, or fine or both.

How to Stop Female Foeticide?

• ·         Free education for women up to college and even post graduate education in government run institution.
• ·         Males should stand up to their own mother and father when they start chirping about unwanted female children.
• ·          Create a feminine movement so that women feel a sisterhood towards each other and stand up for a woman in a neighbouring house rather than turn a blind eye.
• ·         Refuse marriage of woman into households or be very careful of families that have only male children or very high percentage of males.
• ·         Do not provide any government incentives to families that have only males.
• ·         Provide extra incentives for families that have more than one girl child. This will help correct the gender balance in a few years.
• ·         If you have female child, educate her and provide her the same opportunities as a male child. This is the one thing that makes female killing folks look foolish and dumb.
• ·         It is necessary to change the mindset of people. Men of knowledge, intellectuals and social scientists should mould public opinion and convince people by their writings and speeches that women are an essential part of humanity just as men are. They are equal to men and have the potential to come to the rescue of not only their parents but also of any person who is in need of their help.
• ·         Mass media should be extensively used to bring about an awakening among the populace about the root of the problem. They should conduct interesting and impressive programmes to create awareness among people.
• ·         Dowry it’s giving and taking should be banned and made punishable by law. Social organizations and activities should report such cases to the appropriate authority and bring the culprit to the court of law.
• ·         Girls should be provided free education. A person should be given financial assistance for educating girls and getting them married if he/she has more than two daughters.
• ·         Girls should be trained and socialized from early childhood in such a way that they should not consider themselves inferior to boys. Instead, they should be bold, develop, courage, dynamism and initiative to live with self-respect and fight against injustice an inhuman treatment.