Killing the little girls of the world – the lingering problem of female infanticide

For 50 years, from 1960-2011, fewer and fewer girls were allowed to be born in India. This situation, what I refer to as gendered arrangement, is old and commonly misunderstood. In India, there are “about 7.1 million fewer girls than boys aged 0-6 years.” This is due to “prenatal sex determination with subsequent selective abortion of female fetuses” (Jha et.al, 2011). Data from the 2011 population census, provided by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, also proves this. There are 914 girls per 1000 boys between the ages of 0 and 6. Future estimates paint a grim picture of the imbalanced demographic slide, the effects of which, research estimates, will spill beyond India.

In 1990, Nobel Laureate and economist Amartya Sen alerted the world to the phenomenon of “missing women.” He said that more than 100 million women were missing from the world, which challenged the commonly held belief that women make up fifty percent of the world’s population. Such a view is a generalization of the fact that there is a relatively higher number of women compared to men in Europe and North America. For a majority of the world, however, and especially in South Asia, the gender ratio favors men over women (Sen, 1990). Women in these parts of the world are considered “missing” in the sense that they aren’t allowed to be born.

Worldview

The issue of “endangered sex” is not limited to India. Cultural preference for boys extends to both China and the Republic of Korea as well, countries that have also had a history of being predominantly male; and although the Republic of Korea has been successful in reversing the gender imbalance, China continues to have a female deficit, which research says has become worse due to their one-child policy. A United Nations Population Fund report on skewed gender ratios states that in the Republic of Korea, “the imbalance could not have developed in the 1980s without modern technology, coupled with son preference and declining fertility . . . More research is needed to prove that the decrease in sex selection in Korea has been mainly due to increase in daughter preference, policy changes and shifts in socio cultural norms” (UNFPA Report, 2011).

Historical Perspective

Girls have been eliminated in India for centuries. In the past getting rid of girls was harder and was accomplished after birth by strangling the infant girl, also known as female infanticide. During British rule over India in the 19th century, however, female infanticide was recognized as a social evil and was outlawed by the Female Infanticide Prevention Act of 1870 (Wikipedia). There have also been instances where sex of the fetus is determined before birth and the pregnant woman is beaten with blows to her stomach so that the female fetus doesn’t survive (www.satyamevjayate.in).

Current Status

For the first time in 64 years (1947-2011), the number of girls (0-6 years) in India has dropped down to 914 per 1000 boys (2011 Population Census of India). Researchers suggest that in India “there are about 400,000 sex selective abortions per year” (Skewed Sex Ratios at Birth, UNFPA, 2012), which is roughly equal to the entire estimated population of Oakland, California in 2012 (US Census Bureau). This fact relates to the more recent development in India, which is to eliminate girls even before birth.

This latest phenomenon became possible primarily through the misuse of ultrasound technology. Ultrasound technology was a major breakthrough in medical imaging in the 1980’s and it also led to major developments in obstetrics and gynecology. It was intended to expedite the process of fixing issues by allowing doctors to visualize the fetus and detect abnormalities, including severe neurological disorders. Certain fetal abnormalities do not surface entirely until later in pregnancy, primarily between late first trimester and early second trimester. In such situations when fetal abnormalities can potentially threaten the life of a pregnant patient or the developing fetus, the patient may decide to abort the pregnancy. Feticide is one of the procedures used to terminate such a pregnancy. In medical literature, the term is used neutrally “as if it were unproblematic” (Graham, Robson, Rankin, 2007).

In India, the use of ultrasound has become something more precarious than a technique used to perform neutral feticides. It is largely used to determine the sex of a fetus so that the pregnancy can be terminated if the fetus is female. In academic discussions, “sex selective abortion” is a term used to refer to the abortion of a female fetus. “UNICEF reported that 43 million of the estimated 100 million women worldwide who would have been born if not for extraneous circumstances, including gender-specific abortion, would have been Indian” (Frontline PBS, 2007). So, about half of the missing female population is from India, a country that is roughly one-third the size of the United States but that has three times as many people.

Misconceptions

The population census of India, conducted every 10 years, is the most reliable form of data on gender percentages in the country. The most current population census of 2011 has helped disprove some popular research-based perceptions about sex selective abortions.

Son Preference

Preference for sons over daughters is cited as the number one reason for sex selective abortions in India. “One reason for desiring sons, common to all the patrilineal societies of the world, is the transmission of family name and property” (May & Herr, Populations Studies, 1968). It is expected that marrying a son will extend the family lineage. “May you be the mother of 100 sons” is still a common blessing for a pregnant woman. According to the Hindu religion, a son or a male relative must fulfill the last rites for a parent. Most people think it worthwhile to spend money on a boy who is expected to contribute to the family even after marriage, both financially and emotionally, by supporting aging parents.

Girls are primarily considered a liability until they are married off. Spending money on educating a girl is equated to investing in a venture that has already failed. “Other’s Wealth” is an adjective that is used for a daughter. No matter how much a parent or family spends on educating their daughter, most Hindu parents will not even touch the money a daughter earns whether it is before or after she marries. Instances of dowry, which is given by the bride’s family to the groom’s, only increase the burden of having a girl.

How can preferring a son be the sole reason for fewer and fewer girls in India, when girls have been consistently declining among all religiously affiliated and southern Indian states with a matrilineal society?

Technology

The introduction of ultrasound technology in India is also blamed for the rapid elimination of females in India. Though sex selective abortions rose steeply after the introduction of ultrasound in India in the 1980s, it is not technology but its misuse that is responsible for the fewer number of females.

“The problem is that when it comes to sex determination, doctor and patient go hand- in-hand. Patients have to undergo ultrasound for many other medical conditions and it is difficult to find if it is for sex determination or not. One of the two stakeholders – either the patient or the doctor — needs to feel they are doing the wrong thing by looking for the unborn child’s sex” (Singh, TNN 2011).

Socioeconomic

Another common misconception is that poverty, dowry, rural Indians and poor economic status is responsible for the elimination of girls in India. In a 2000 study, Shelly Clarke concludes that “son preference is not distributed randomly, but is found to be greater among the socially and economically disadvantaged, that is uneducated, scheduled castes, rural Muslims and Hindus and non-southern states” (Sex Ratio at Birth, UNFPA, 28), while it is a fact that India’s economy continued to grow even as the world’s economy was “fairly uneven and uncertain” (Singh, IMF).

Illiteracy & Ignorance

Lack of literacy and ignorance is often cited as reasons for the declining number of girls in India. Based on that logic, an improvement in the national literacy rates should reflect an improvement in the sex ratio. According to the 2011 census, all 35 states and union territories of India reported an improvement in literacy rates from 2001. 74 percent of the total Indian population, 7 years and older, is literate while only 26 percent still remains illiterate. Females, who are less in number than males, outnumber males in literacy rates by roughly 4 percent.

Urban vs Rural

It is often believed that more rural than urban Indians opt for sex selection. Contrary to this belief, the 2011 census showed that there are fewer girls in cities (902 per 1000 boys, aged 0-6) than in villages (919 per 1000 boys, aged 0-6). Media reports in India have quoted the Census Commissioner, C. Chandramouli saying that, “It’s a matter of grave concern that educated people in cities, who are better off, are opting for sex determination tests” (Singh, TNN 2011). This statistic is consistent with the conclusions drawn after the 2001 census: “The decline in urban sex ratio was more than twice that is [sic] seen in rural areas” (George, 2002; UNFPA, 31).

North vs South

It is said the phenomenon of sex selective abortions was regional, limited to only a few North Indian states, but today more than 90% of India, i.e. 27 out of the 35 states and union territories, has fewer girls than boys (2011 population census, India). This includes some southern states that were not considered to have a deficit in girls. Previous research is not only conflicting but has been proved wrong. For example a researcher named Arokiasamy concluded in 2005 that “the rise in sex ratio at birth was steeper in the northern region while the western and eastern regions showed moderate rise [sic]” (Declining Sex Ratio in India, 21-22). The southern state of Kerala, which has the highest number of literate females in the entire country, reported a decline in the number of girls in 2001 and again in 2011, whereas Arnold’s research study published in 1998 says that “Kerala was the only state that did not exhibit son preference at any parity.”

Abortion or Pro-Choice

Mostly in the west, the discourse on sex selective abortion is often seen in the same light as abortions. The argument is that a ban on sex selective abortions is taking away the choice and right of a female to control her own body, whereas for women who want to know the sex of their fetus, “it is assumed that she does so under compulsion from the family” (Gupta, Skewed Sex Ratios at Birth, UNFPA, 14). Sex selection in India is not about the choices or rights of women, in fact, in India, “sex selection is not about abortion, its [sic] about sex determination” (Vemuri, UNFPA). “The 1972 Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act in India legalized abortion in order to reduce the incidence of illegal abortions” (Legalization of abortion in India, Gupta, Pande). These misconceptions only confuse and dwarf the issue of sex selection.

It is important to realize that sex selective abortion is an Indian issue that is already causing irreparable consequences and that what is true in one culture cannot be seen as a solution for another. A majority of westerners and feminists, including Indian, view the issue simply in terms of rights and choices, but if there are no women, whose rights and choices will we talk about. The current situation is so bad that often people hesitate to talk about sex selection for fear of being perceived as belonging to the abortion or pro-choice debates. None of these situations are helping to resolve the shortage of girls in India.

Laws vs Social Outlook

“In order to prohibit sex selection and prevent misuse of technology for preconception and prenatal sex determination, the Government of India enacted the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostics Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994 (PCPNDTAct)” (Towards a Stronger Implementation of the PCPNDT Act, Govt. of India & UNFPA, 2012).

Since then, the act has been amended in 2003. Despite these laws, fewer and fewer girls are born in India, which has been “attributed to the introduction and proliferation of modern technology such as ultrasound that enables sex determination, thereby reinforcing societal mindsets for son preference (1). “It has been challenging to enforce the law. Effective implementation of this significant social legislation requires commitment to the ideal of gender equality and entails capacity building of all stakeholders involved in implementation of the PCPNDT Act” (1).

How do you make sure that following an ultrasound the sex of a fetus is not seen and reported to the patient? Here, the decision becomes an ethical one. The issue of sex selection is so complicated, but more than the issue itself, its interpretation is what makes the problem complex.

The Reality

Since sex selective abortions have increased throughout India, there is no one reason that fits all. Despite the enactment of prohibitory laws intended to protect unborn girls, the truth is that in India selective abortion of female fetuses is a very real problem, one that has spread like an epidemic, engulfing the entire country. The archives of local and national newspapers have reported instances of female fetuses, ranging from a few weeks to 15-18 weeks, found floating in bodies of water, dumped in sewers, or abandoned in Medical College campuses in Udaipur, Jaipur, Pali and other cities of Rajasthan (The Tribune, 2006).

The Way Ahead

Decreasing number of females in India is a problem that people intellectually understand, but when it comes to personal issues, they often go against their own logic. How do you resolve such a complex problem? Many special groups, activists, media and government organizations, as well as non-governmental organizations (NGOs), are trying to address the issue in their own way, and yet there is a disconnect when it comes to stakeholders, their stories, and the interaction among these different groups. Moreover, often the way various groups address the issue is in conflict with each other, except the fact that the number of girls is decreasing. Activists and social workers talk about the reality they see on the ground, which scholars, researchers and policy makers consider as “emotionally charged.”

If there is a problem, there has to be a solution too, but where does the solution come from? The impact of the female feticide requires that the issue be addressed by multiple agencies in various mediums, since there are various stakeholders here, and not everyone understands a similar language. Keeping the wide cross section of society in mind, awareness campaigns need to be catered to specific audience, for example the issue should be addressed through the medium of art, music, theater, informal conversations, writing, and so forth. It is important to hear people’s stories and narratives, out of which a solution may emerge. Acknowledging the positive in society is another way. Simplifying the issue itself is a big problem. Scholars need to step out of their ivory tower and interact with people in a language that they can understand.

In an attempt to simplify and understand the problem, I am working on a digital and visual rhetoric of videos and infographs: a combination of words and visuals in a poster. If there is a problem, a solution must be there.

The author would like to acknowledge the support from a SEAD grant by The Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology at Virginia Tech. Michelle Gailhac’s ([email protected]) graphic design contribution is very instrumental to this essay.

Dear Dr Manisha: as a doctor, as a female , I too had my brush with life as a girl, female. I understand the problem and totally agree that misuse of technology should not occur which can be catastrophic. But, at the same time, I want to emphasize that till Indian society gears up to take care of every single, individual girl, situation will remain grim. Rapes are on increase,increasing number sex rackets are occurring,as a female i am not safe even at the age of 55, there is not much empowerment of women. With all these problems, general population will be marred by bias.

I am sending one article which is not liked by any one, but it can be one plausible solution till we take charge of every girl of the our family of India:

On Mar. 23, 2014, Rema Nagarajan of TOI reported big drop in child sex ratio of India as per latest Annual Health Survey data of the census office. Report revealed substantial fall in the sex ratio in the 0-4 years age group in several districts spread across nine states in India. Since many of these are the most populous states, this fall would account for lacs of missing girls. This also means that problem of skewed sex ratio will continue to pester health reformers. Earlier, all guns were targeted toward doctors as if they have been going home to home for sex determination test followed by sex directed abortion. Even Amir Khan in his popular show Satyamev Jayate portrayed doctors on the wrong side. With the introduction of tracker i.e. third eye with USG machines, issue of female feticide could be tackled to certain extent and might help in improving sex ratio at birth. However, there is no law to protect the girl child from neglect within and without her family. Remember popular Ammaji of serial “Is desh na aana lado” where newborn girls were shown to be killed by throwing them in cans full of milk. Rajputs of Rajasthan and dais of Bihar traditionally practised this method. Now horrifying incidents of female infants being found buried in mud or in bush have been reported in leading newspapers. Girls are even said to be stolen from other families to be sacrificed at the altar of God to have a male child. So, the question is whether in this modern era, are we going to prehistoric time where newborn girls were killed as soon they were born as facilities for antenatal sex determination were not available or we are going to do deep soul searching for the reason and then find out the solution in context of Indian mindset.

Most of us will agree that female infanticide is a crime but is still practiced ruthlessly in our country. In eighty percent of cases, entire family is involved including mother and father of the new born. Only in ten percent of the cases, women who are educated, independent or having parental support raises their voice against this crime. If infanticide can be practised bluntly and blatantly and if it is crime, then why not allow feticide albeit under the ambit of law, which is not so heinous act. However, all momentum by Government and social activist in our country has been gathered on feticide with focus on wrongdoings by doctors without considering or looking into the history of India on such a sensitive issue. Proponents of choice do not want to see a discussion of sex selective abortion and many people who support reproductive choice are uncomfortable when debate is held because of fear of being ostracised. Sex selective abortion poses a genuine conundrum for those who support reproductive choice.

It is time to rationalize the facts in this context and find a solution amicable to all. If we examine the female body physiologically,we find that female hormones make woman tender and emotionally dependent. Their body has specific demands and is made to nurture reproduction there by making them vulnerable. Anatomically menstruation, pregnancy and lactation are the main functions of the body of females and that is why family is a very important issue for every woman. Pregnancy and lactation pose difficult situations for a woman especially if she is working. She needs immense physical as well as emotional support during these stages of her life. Physically, in general she cannot be as laborious as a male can be. Even in International weightlifting championships, standards of weight lifted by male and female are different. Our seers and ancestors understood these differences very well. That is why females were allotted specific roles. With this mindset, if we now analyze the social, cultural and religious fibre of India, we find that females have been traditionally homemaker and males the breadwinner. In ancient times, man and woman were equally important for running the family because the ultimate aim to have the family was to run the lineage. Males could face the challenges of the world more easily whereas females require protection, privacy and support in many ways. (This fact is relevant even today) Even if we look at the history of leading civilizations of the world, same role was allotted to males and females. Males had run the kingdoms, females had supported families and had been helping their mates in every aspect of life, be it battle or governance. In difficult situations, females have led the command and even have surpassed their male counterparts but still major role has been of homemaker and nurturing. In modern times, females have been more liberalized but major priorities have not changed much although lot are struggling to manage job as well as home.

With this background, if we start analysing the facts then we find that over time, males had started dominating the society and this patriarchal system contributed extensively to the secondary status to women. The patrilineal social structure based on the foundation that the family life runs through a male makes men a precious “commodity” that needs to be protected and given a special status. Another important pillar of the patriarchal structure is marriage wherein women are given a subordinate status, having no say in the running of their lives or any control over their bodies or bodily integrity. The groom price is so staggeringly high irrespective of the class structure that generations may have to toil to repay the debts incurred during marriage. All of this has contributed to a secondary status for women in society to such an extent that even the birth of a girl child in a family is sought to be avoided.
Beliefs such as “it is the son only who can perform the last rites”, “lineage and inheritance runs through the male line”, “sons will look after parents in old age”, “men are the breadwinners”, etc are some of the other reasons that contribute to the mediocre status of women in our society. Boy-preference is so ingrained in the Indian family system that many women do not feel they have done their wifely duty until they produce a son.

A deleterious fall-out of the subjugated position of women is their vulnerability to domestic violence, rape, sexual abuse, dowry harassment, trafficking, etc with little or no mechanisms for combating the same, by way of either effective laws and implementation or civil society action.

Similar glaring example can be seen with widows. Patriarchy has played the biggest role in the total marginalization of widows. As widows, women suffer some of the most severe subjugation for their entire lives. Widowed women are harassed, abused, and denied land and livelihood. Criticized for being dependent, widows are severely restricted by cultural norms. Local interpretations of the custom of the caste determine whether a widow will be granted some permanent or temporary share of the joint family’s land or property or not. In rural India land ownership tends to engender the bitterest family disputes and are even more horrendously intense when a husband dies. A full account of land inheritance in India would have to distinguish between 1) traditional law 2) modern law and 3) actual practice.

The patriarchal nature of Indian society vests all economic and social powers in a man. In the name of religion, males perpetuate innumerable atrocities against women. Even a tottering old man tries to marry after his wife dies. To deal with such deplorable situation every girl / female / widow has to demand her rights and exercise them. To understand her rights she has to be literate, courageous and mobile. She needs to be able to assist her claims along with the males. For a rural female, this is impossible. Even caste plays havoc on girls / women. High-class males will never marry low caste girl but rape them and kill them for their own satisfaction. Recent incident in UP in Badaun District is a glaring example where two dalit girls were raped, murdered and then were hanged from a tree. With politicians making their own points on such incidences, how can the Government of India think that male female ratio will not be skewed. Females in India, in general, are completely unequipped to deal with the bureaucracy, confront males, strangers and while seeking outside assistance often make themselves susceptible to more abuse.
With number of rape incidents increasing in India, with no political will to control the same, with no policies to support girls / women in general, with 33% reservation bill for women still pending in Parliament, with no defined laws or support system for widows, with caste still a major factor in India, with ineffective implementation of schemes meant for welfare of girls / women, with inequalities in rights and education, is it difficult to understand the mindset of common man regarding feticide / infanticide?
Therefore, as a doctor and feminist, I am of the firm opinion that sex determination based feticide should be legalized in India but not repetitively. Number of such abortions can be restricted to two or three or discussion should be held to determine the permissible limit of such abortions. Side by side, adverse effects of such abortions on physical, emotional and spiritual health of the mother should be highlighted or conveyed to family/ female. Just like polio vaccine for children and Tetanus Vaccine for pregnant mothers gained momentum by the push from Government of India, this message regarding restrictive sex determination abortions and law can be enforced.

More importantly, side by side, if support systems are established in such a way that every girl is taken care of to such an extent that whatever happens, but one is confident that there is some support, feticide/infanticide will drop automatically. Government need not target doctors or Ultrasound machines but need to revamp whole system so that girls are taken care of as precious commodity like gold.

This is ignorance on a global scale and but mainly India. There are other countries who practices such Barbaric social practice as well , it should be a against International law. How do they expect their countries population to continue growing if there are no females bear the children, such extreme ignorance discourages travelers from vacationing and visiting this or any country supporting such beliefs, especially women.

The government act as if they are concerned with the raping of women and the abortion of females and even murdering of infant girls however, there is an old wise saying ” It comes from the top” they could easily put a end to such atrocities if the laws were there to protect the females of this and other countries.

I have a different opinion about infanticide in India. The main reason for female infanticide stems from the readiness of Indian society to extort the male gender. It not that complex, let me explain!

In India, parents choose to have more male children over female children. Why?

Simple, society expects male children to work, and “be a man”. There is a cultural expectation that the male children work. With my own eyes, I have seen some little boys working in farms, quarries, and factories. Child labor is everywhere (laws are not enforced). Also, the society expects that the male children be there for their parents at old age and for the society as whole. In India, it is not uncommon for people to be living with their extended families unlike here in the US, where even the basic nuclear family ends in a divorce 50% of the time.

The female infanticide issue can be fixed in a number of ways. First, laws should be enforced to end child labor. This will reduce the demand for male children. Looks at it this way, “why have more boys if they cannot work on the farm or wherever?” Second, new social norms need to set where the child is told to “fly away from the nest”. This would mean the abolishing of “male responsibility to others” and “female dowry”. Don’t believe the lies about the nonexistence of dowry; female dowries are still around.

In summation if boys cannot be use as the labor for the state and the family, there is less need for boys. If families don’t have to pay for someone to take their girls, there will be less disincentive for having girls. In the end for India, girls will be the better choice.

Female infanticide is a deliberate and intentional act of killing a female child within one year of its birth either directly by using poisonous organic and inorganic chemicals or indirectly by deliberate neglect to feed the infant by either one of the parents or other family members. Female infanticide has adversely affected Indian society. The practice of killing the girl child is a cruel and abominable act that must be stopped.