Female Feticide: India's Ticking Time Bomb

By Wendy Griffith

In 1961, the sex ratio in India was 976 girls per 1,000 boys. Today, the sex ratio has fallen below the 900 mark for the first time.

Mumbai – It is being called one of the worst forms of genocide in human history: female feticide. It has been happening in China for years, but now, it is happening at an alarming rate in India. What is behind this disturbing trend, and what will it mean for Indian men looking for brides?
A beautiful healthy baby, that is what every mother wants, right? Well, for many women in India, that is true, as long as it is a boy. It appears that the age–old and deeply entrenched mindset that women are inferior to men has collided with modern–medical technology, causing a nightmare scenario for Indians: basically not enough women for men to marry and form families.
In 1961, the sex ratio in India was 976 girls per 1,000 boys. Today, the sex ratio has fallen below the 900 mark for the first time and reached a national low of just 754 girls per 1,000 boys in the eastern Punjab region of India.
The reason? Female feticide – the practice of aborting female fetuses based on sex– determination tests. The government outlawed sex–determination tests in 1994 when it became obvious that girl babies were not being born in proportion to males but the law wasn't really enforced until a few years ago.
President of the All Indian Christian Council, Dr. Joseph D'Souza, recounts the sober words of a famous Indian historian on the subject, who said: '"To our utter shame as a nation, we have engaged in the largest genocide in history in the last 50 years since Independence.' He talks about 30–40 million female fetuses [who] have been aborted and killed."
An activist for women's issues, Dr. Sabu George, said, "Women have not been wanted in our society."
George has been fighting against female feticide in India for 19 years. He says doctors who practice unethically have taken advantage of India's patriarchal society by promoting and providing illegal sex–determination tests.
All that is required is a sonograph machine to determine the sex of the baby. Some doctors use code words like "the sky is blue" or "your baby's a doll" to let the mother know the sex of the fetus.
George said, "It's illegal, it's unethical – and you know, it's not one or two doctors, it's tens of thousands of doctors across the country doing [it]. We estimate something like 1.5 million girls have been eliminated between 1996 and 2001."
Surprisingly, he says, it's been the wealthiest parts of India where the practice has been the most prevalent.
"Economic prosperity has not changed the social attitudes against women," George said. "In fact, economic prosperity has led to increased access to these efficient ways of eliminating girls."
Last month, in the city of Belgaum in southern India, thousands of women, girls and some men, marched through the streets, protesting female feticide. "Stop female feticide! Stop female feticide! It's against humanity, celebrate the birth of a girl child," marchers cried.
Mrs. Shandule, a villager and one of the marchers, said, "In our world, there is an increase in the number of boys, but the number of girls is decreasing. This will not do. And there's a lot of violence against women, that even before her birth, like a bud is crushed, she is killed. It should not happen that way. So to create awareness, we all are here."
At a rural Indian hospital, sex–determination tests are strictly forbidden, but Dr. Vasant Dagade, who runs the hospital, says that does not stop some of his patients from asking for it.
Dagade said, "Some people come for that. They're interested in knowing the sex before they have the baby, but I don't entertain them."
On–camera, few women would admit to wanting a boy over a girl, but Dr. Dagade says women feel pressured, mostly from family members, to have a boy, especially if their first child was a girl.
"Some females say, if I do not have a male child," says Dagade, "my husband will get a second marriage, which is not legally allowed."
Mrs. Shinde, a lady protestor, said, "It is the male people from the house who are forcing their wives, or their daughter–in–laws or their daughters, to go in for sex–determination, and later on for abortion, not the doctors."
But why so much pressure to have a male child? Experts say it has to do with tradition. In the Hindu religion, after the death of the parents, the final ritual is performed by the son, not the daughters. Also, the son must inherit whatever property is left, and of course, the family name is continued if there is a son.

If the trend continues, the shortage of girl babies is expected to create tremendous social problems in many parts of India, because there simply will not be enough women for the men to marry. Experts believe this will lead to more violence against women, more rapes and even a total crumbling away of social structures that used to keep society stable.
"Because, after 20 years," Dr.Dagade said, "when these girls and boys become matured and they get married, the ratio is so much disturbed, most of the boys don't get a female to marry. So in that case, they will have to share one female for two boys; the situation will be very horrible."
George said, "Already we find in northwestern India, parts of western India, we already find trafficking of women from other parts of the country, because there aren't enough women."

But, why, in modern 21st century India, where many women serve in politics, hold high–paying jobs and are well–educated, is this mind–set that women aren't worth bringing into the world so pervasive? D'Souza says there's a great disconnect between what is written in the law books, that women are equal, and what is written in the minds and hearts of the Indian people.
D'Souza said, "For those who don't understand India, it comes from what is known as the laws of Manu. Manu is a guy who lived about 3,000 years ago and glorified the caste system and the (low) place of women. His influence is bigger than the constitution of India, even though those laws were put together 3,000 years ago."
In recent years, the Indian government has taken steps to promote women. Today, 35 percent of government jobs are reserved for females, and education up to 12th grade is free for girls.
D'Souza says these are nice gestures, but they do nothing to solve the real problem, which is the deeply–rooted and dangerous mindset that girls are just not as valuable as boys.