India's missing women
Posted by Madeleine Bunting Friday 22 July 2011 10.02 BST guardian.co.uk
Research has cast fresh light on the massive and increasingly alarming
phenomenon of sex selection in India
Foeticide poster
A 'save the girl child' poster at a Delhi hospital. The political and
social repercussions of sex selection remain to be seen. Photograph:
Pedro Ugarte/AFP/Getty Images
Half a million girls a year are being aborted in India, equal to the
total number of girls born in the UK. The scale of sex selection in
Asia is extraordinary, yet it has not attracted the attention it
deserves in the west. This is the age of "missing women" - an
estimated 30 to 70 million of them. The number of girls born has
dropped significantly because of sex selective abortions, and the sex
imbalance has been aggravated by higher mortality rates as boys
receive better care.
The very vagueness of the figures indicates how poorly understood this
massive phenomenon is – quite apart from the still limited analysis of
the impact the resulting sex imbalance will have on the development of
countries such as India and China. In May, there was widespread
concern in India as the results of the 2011 census revealed a sharp
deterioration of the sex ratio. Many attributed the growing gap to a
powerful lobby of doctors and commercial interests who sell ultrasound
machines; both make profits from the illegal, multimillion dollar sex
selection procedures.
An ultrasound scan costs the equivalent of £10, a small amount
relative to the cost of a dowry expected with a girl. Even for less
well-off families, a sex-selective abortion may seem cost effective,
according to a study by Sonia Bhalotra, from the Centre for Market and
Public Organisation (CMPO) at Bristol University, published in the
summer issue of its Research in Public Policy bulletin.
But what is particularly interesting about her analysis is that the
practice is more strongly established in the better off areas of India
than the poorer rural areas. This challenges assumptions that the
practice is driven by traditional customs. In fact, it is the wealthy
and better educated who are most likely to choose sons, perhaps
because they want to keep their families small. One of the richest
states in India is Punjab, where, in the 2001 census, there were 125
boys per 100 girls in the nought to six age group. The predominant
pattern is to use sex selection not for the first child but for
subsequent children; the ideal seems to be two sons and one daughter.
There is also evidence that high-caste Hindus are more likely to use
the practice than Muslims. Bhalotra suggests that cultural practices -
parents live with their sons until death and it is the son who lights
the funeral pyre - may be among the factors driving sex selection.
The economic boom in India is accelerating the trend of sex-selective
abortion. This factor is combining with technological developments in
ultrasound that make scans more reliable earlier in pregnancy, and the
machinery more mobile, increasing penetration across the country. The
research talks of an "intersection of recent economic, demographic and
technological change with deep rooted social preference", which is
costing the lives of millions of girls.
There are no easy steps to stop the practice. Sex-selective abortion
has been illegal since 1994, but has little impact on the growing
trend. Proposals to ban ultrasound machines are unlikely to gather
substantial support because the devices also play a positive role in
pre-natal care.
Another study from the CMPO looked at differential forms of care for
girls and boys in India. Using the Indian Time Use Survey, they found
that, on average, boys receive more parental time a day than girls –
an extra 30 minutes , or 14%. The quality of childcare is also better
for boys, who are more likely to be vaccinated and given vitamin
supplements, and are typically breastfed for longer. These inputs were
on average 10% higher for boys. The research concludes that such
differential care probably accounts for nearly a third of the higher
mortality rate for girls.
The research doesn't offer detailed analysis of the consequences of
this gender imbalance, other than to suggest that a large number of
unmarried men is likely to lead to an increase in violence against
women. It will be another 15 years before we begin to see the
political and social impact of the missing women.
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