Geetanjali Jha - 9/13/2007
The birth of a daughter, grant it elsewhere, here grant a son".
http://globalpolitician.com/articledes.asp?ID=3456&cid=6&sid=20
That is a saying from a sacred scripture in India. It illustrates the attitude of Indian society towards womankind. It is a heartbreaking realization that the gender bias, deep-rooted prejudice and discrimination against girls, which have been plaguing the society for centuries, are now found to begin in the mother's womb itself. While the Media is rejoicing the economic growth in China and India, these nations suffer the worst form of violation of human rights. A recent report by UNICEF said India kills almost 7,000 girls everyday by abortion.
One root cause for female foeticide is the Hindu belief that parents cannot obtain salvation unless they have a son to perform their last rites. Moreover, girls are considered an economic burden as other problems like dowry still exists in modern India. She is considered to be a bad investment as she is thought to be a part of her husband's family. Law though does not adhere to these views – women are equal partners in assets and debts of the family and are held responsible for the caretaking of parents in their old age. But staunch patriarchy has lead to horrid practices like female infanticide and female foeticide (Female foeticide refers to the elimination of female foetus through abortions.)
UK-based medical journal, the Lancet estimates the number of girls killed by abortion in India at ten million over the last two decades . The number is shocking and the most disheartening aspect is that the higher levels of education of parents, equal property and responsibility regulation, availability of birth control methods, financial assistance, free education for girls, reservation in jobs, ban on dowry….almost nothing seems encourage the Indian family to welcome girls in their homes.
Statistics show that of a sample of 700 pregnant women, only four per cent of those pregnant with girls chose to keep their pregnancies. The remaining 96 per cent had abortions. By contrast, 100 per cent of those expecting boys carried their pregnancies to term, even when a genetic illness was considered possible. The most recent advances in medical sciences like amniocentesis and ultrasonography are being abused. These tests are being abused primarily to detect the sex of the foetus, they were intended to detect congenital abnormality of the foetus. Amniocentesis and other diagnostic techniques are viewed as important ways of arriving at a 'balanced family', If an equal representation of a male and a female child for a couple can be considered as constituting a 'balanced family', then the presence of only boys should not be regarded as 'balanced family'. The female-to-male sex ratio is even worse in families where a couple already has a daughter, but no sons, dropping to 759 to 1000 for the second child if the first was a daughter, and 719 to 1000 for a third child if the first two were both girls. Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Gujarat have one of the worst sex ratios in the country.
An international group had set up a small orphanage and empty cradles in select communities. It was 'the cradle baby' scheme appealing to mothers to leave their babies in the cradles rather than killing them. The scheme was not successful. In one year, only seven girl babies were left in the crib whereas over 700 'disappeared' soon after delivery. The Punjab Government started the 'Shagan scheme', which involved giving Rs. 5001 as shagan wherever a female child was getting married off by her parents. All these efforts were in vain, there was no improvement in the number of girls.
Historically, female infanticide has been in existence since long. Girl infants have been known to be murder by rubbing poison on the mother's breast, by feeding infants with milk of poisonous flowers or berries, by shoving husks of paddy grains down her throat, giving sleeping tablets or by simply burying the girl infants alive. Law apparently banned this heinous practice in 1870, more than a century ago.
Law makers and intellectuals always thought that education is the key to remove all prejudices and immoralities in the society. But unfortunately, the link between education and female foeticide is not an inverse one. Infact, the more educated a women is, the more likely she is to actively choose a boy if she decides to have one child. The only educated women likely to keep daughters are the very independent minded. Not those who are just economically independent. Educated men, especially in the business class, also want to have sons to take care of their business. Most other parts of the world show no great gender disparity. Populations of European countries have a ratio of roughly 105 males per 100 females, but this appears to be genetically determined. European cultures show mild son preference, but not to the point of committing infanticide, which is viewed as unethical. In African cultures, preference for sons appears to be the weakest in the world, there is high demand for women workers, and brides. It is only in China and India, two traditionally patriarchal societies that the population of men is six to eight percent more than the female population.
The removal of this practice from Indian society is a grim challenge. It involves a shift from religious preaching to logical, rational, and humanist approach. Religious education can play a role by preaching against female foeticide, dowry and discrimination against the girl children.Women should also be socialized from early childhood to consider themselves as equal to men. They should be encouraged to assume all those responsibilities, which are normally considered to be belonging to the male domain. It must include, inculcating a strong ethical code of conduct among medical professionals, beginning with their training as undergraduates and regular assessment of indicators of status of women in society, such as sex ratio, and female mortality, literacy, and economic participation.
Lastly, there is an urgent need to amend The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971 which permits abortions of pregnancies caused due to the failure of contraception. It is an exceptional clause and one of its kind in all abortion laws across the world.
The policymaker could not have envisaged that the misuse of technology along with a loophole in the Act would result in such a severe social crisis. It is a silent crime which has wiped out almost two generations of women and regrettably, there is still no viable solution in sight.
Ask a question on any topic and get answers from real people. Go to Yahoo! Answers.
No comments:
Post a Comment