After birthing one daughter, Renu decided to get a sex-determination test
done when she was pregnant the second time. Despite the fact that sex
determination tests are illegal in India, she went ahead with one and on
discovering that the foetus was a girl, she had it aborted. Renu belongs to an
affluent family living in Haryana, and her husband actually fought with her
over wanting to get an abortion, reports international NGO, Action Aid. But she
argues that the society does not value girls, treats them like a burden, they
have to face violence and the mother has to face the taunts of people around
her.
A study of women in India is a study of
sharp contradictions.
It is not uncommon to see women in
positions of power in various walks of life in India today. From business to
politics, there are multiple women achievers who have not just managed to get
to the top, but stay in positions of strength. Going just by this urban metric
it almost appears that there are opportunities abound for women.
Opportunities, there are, yes.
But apparently only for those, who by
either destiny or will, have passed some severe tests. And as is evident from
Renu’s case, there are tests that start even before birth. Sex determination
tests continue to be rampant, as does sex selective abortion.
Girl children continue to disappear in
India
Given the culture of male dominance and son
preference, there is little surprise over the fact that the Census of 2011
revealed yet another decade of continued decline in child sex ratio (CSR). The
ratio, defined as the number of females per 1000 males in the 0-6 age group,
has fallen by a whole 7% from 1951, the first post-Independence census of India
to 2011. It now stands at 914, down from 983 then. There has been a 1.4%
decline in the last one decade alone. In 2001, the child sex ratio was at 927.
This is in sharp contrast with the fact
that overall sex ratio i.e. the number of women of all age groups per 1000 men
of all age groups, has actually improved by 0.8% from 933 in 2001 to 940 in
2011.The overall sex ratio has actually improved for the second consecutive
decade.
The import: Females’ chances of staying
alive are much more improved once they cross the age of 6, but danger to their
life when they are less than 6 years old is only increasing.
Gender bias is a long standing problem
Why is this happening?
Clearly, loss of female life before or at
birth is a well- known explanation for the falling child sex ratio. However,
the female biology inherently allows them to live longer than men. As per the
WHO, the average life expectancy for an average male was 64.7 years in 2013,
while for an average female it was 68.2 years. Therefore, it would appear that once
females have crossed the early years unscathed, they survive for longer. With
advances in health care, rising awareness about nutrition and overall
development, there is thus improvement in the overall sex ratio even as the CSR
falls.
That said, however, the fact remains that
despite improvements, the sex ratio is still skewed in favor of men
compared with women. This, ties in with the initial impulse for son preference.
Detailing further on the falling CSR issue, in what it has called a problem of
‘epidemic proportions’, the UN Women published a report ‘Sex ratios and gender
biased sex selection: History, Debates and Future Directions’; according to
which:
“Unequal inheritance
rights, dowry, unequal socio-religious status, unpaid work, unequal pay, lack
of economic opportunities for women, focus on male lineage, a culture
of honor that places a greater burden of safety and protection
on the parents of girls – all contribute to building a society
that favors sons and men, and neglects daughters and women.”
Furthermore, in a very well-known article,
titled ‘More than 100 million women are missing’, that was published over 25
years ago in 1990 in the New York Review of Books, economist Amartya Sen had
argued the problem of weak sex ratios in the broader context of developing
versus developed countries. He surmised:
“The numbers of “missing women”
in relation to the numbers that could be expected if men and women received
similar care in health, medicine, and nutrition, are remarkably large. A great
many more than a hundred million women are simply not there because women are
neglected compared with men.”
Both the arguments underline the fact that
sons receive higher preference compared with daughters, which either leads to
foeticides/infanticides of females as well as inferior care once they are born,
which in turn reduces their chance of survival. There is a smaller argument,
which says that it is possible that male mortality at birth has reduced as
well, which statistically accentuates the challenge of a falling child sex
ratio as well.
Some silver linings are present
Irrespective of the arguments for a falling
CSR, however, there are some silver linings. Policy makers and civil society
activists are actively engaged in creating awareness about sex selection
practices. One instance of this would be the current government’s ‘Beti bachao,
beti padhao’ scheme, which translates into ‘Save the daughter, educate the
daughter’. The scheme aims to tackle the very problem of a falling child sex
ratio in 100 districts with low child sex ratios.
There is also on the ground improvement in
some of the states, as of census 2011. The northern states/union territories of
Punjab, Chandigarh and Haryana have made maximum improvement in the child sex
ratio. This is heartening, since these states/UTs along with Jammu and Kashmir
and Delhi have the lowest absolute CSRs in the country today. An improvement in
some of these very states, suggests a sorely required reversal in trend. It
appears that the bottom of CSR has been seen in other states like Gujarat and
Himachal Pradesh as well.
The problem is far from over, though
However, while some of the states lowest in
CSR levels are improving, the problem seems to be growing in traditionally more
gender equal states. A case in point is that of North East India, which has
shown a largely secular decline in CSR as per the 2011 census compared to the
2001 census. Even though their CSR remains high in absolute terms, the decline
is worth watching out for. A number of other states have also reported a
decline in CSR, which has contributed to the overall decline. How the trend
plays out remains to be seen, but for now, it would appear that things would
get worse before they get better.
The article was first published on Our
Stories.
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