NEW DELHI 14. December: Indias sex ratio is even more skewed (skæv) than in 2001 as some Indians from almost all backgrounds continue to abort female fetuses (fostre) or let infant girls die because they prefer to raise boys, according to a new study.
Researchers looked at a representative sample of about 6.500 households in five districts in states already known to have especially skewed sex ratios – Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
The sex ratio had dropped in four of the five districts, compared to 2001 census data, according to researchers working for ActionAid, an advocacy and aid organization.
In one of the worst examples, researchers found only 300 girls for every 1.000 boys among upper-caste Hindus in urban areas of Punjabs Fatehgarh Sahib district.
– These sex ratios are disastrous, said Mary John, a researcher from the Centre for Women Development Studies in New Delhi.
They reflect the culmination of a trend toward ever smaller families, she noted – some families now choose to have only one child and they make sure that child is a boy, with illegal prenatal sex tests and abortions if necessary.
Indian wedding customs mean that girls are often seen as a huge cost with very little return, partly because the practice of demanding dowries (medgift) remains the norm, despite being illegal.
Sons, on the other hand, can inherit property, continue the family line, and play a vital role in important Hindu rituals.
John said they found skewed sex ratios in almost all communities, regardless of background, educational, incomes, religion or caste.
Even in poorer, rural communities, prospective parents often prefer to pay perhaps a month or twos earnings now for an illegal ultrasound sex test rather than have to spend several years worth of income on a dowry.
Richer families can then visit an abortion clinic; poorer, rural families often rely on herbal potions (urtemidler) or similar traditional methods to induce a miscarriage, or, if a daughter is born, may fatally neglect her if she gets sick.
Kilde: The Push Journal
