SocialGe graphic
Woman is the companion of man, gifted
with equal mental capacities. She has the
right to participate in very minutest detail in
the activities of man and she has an equal
right of freedom and liberty with him.
----- M K Gandhi, 1933

Since the late 1970s when
the technology for sex
determination first came
into being, sex selective
abortion has unleashed a
saga of horror in India.

In some parts of the country, the sex ratio of girls to boys has dropped to less
than 800:1,000. It's alarming that even liberal states like those in the northeast
have taken to disposing of girls.

Worryingly, the trend is
far stronger in urban
rather than rural areas,
and among literate
rather than illiterate
women, exploding the
myth that growing
affluence and spread of
basic education alone
will result in the
erosion of gender bias.

Over the years, laws have
been made stricter and the
punishment too is more
stringent now. But since
many people manage to
evade punishment, others
too feel inclined to take
the risk. Just look at the
way sex-determination
tests go on despite a stiff
ban on them. The United
Nations has expressed
serious concern about the
situation.

According to one United Nations
estimate, 113 to 200 million
women are “demographically
missing” from the world today.
That is to say, there should be 113
to 200 million more women
walking the earth, who aren’t. By
that same estimate, 1.5 to 3 million
women and girls lose their lives
every year because of gender-
based neglect or gender-based
violence and Sexual Violence in

India alone accounts for more than 50 million of the women who are “missing” due to female
foeticide - the sex-selective abortion of girls, dowry death, gender-based neglect and all forms of
violence against women.
We can point a finger at poverty. But poverty alone does not result in these girls and women’s
deaths and suffering; the blame also falls on the social system and attitudes of the societies.

The decline in the sex ratio and the
millions of Missing Women are
indicators of the feudal patriarchal
resurgence. Violence against women
has gone public – whether it is dowry
murders, the practice of female
genital mutilation, honour killings,
sex selective abortions or death
sentences awarded to young lovers
from different communities by caste
councils, rapes and killings in
communal and caste violence, it is
only women’s and human rights
groups who are protesting – the
public and institutional response to
these trends is very minimal.

Unite To End Violence Against Women and girls!
Say No To Sex Selection and Female Foeticide!
Educate & Empowered Women for a Happy Future !
SocialGe graphic
Photo: Firoz Ahmad Firoz
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