Assessing the complex dynamic that exists between Armenian women and sex-selective policy, and showing that the goal of policy should be to promote the value of girls and not to restrict women's reproductive choices. One of the goals of this presentation is to challenge the narrative of "women as victims". As an alternative, I use "women as rational actors". This narrative may seem obvious to some but is actually controversial to my target audience. Presentation audio (in English y español): https://soundcloud.com/user-857728928/dis-empowered-women-armenian-women-as-victim-and-perpetrator-of-sex-selective-abortion

1. GABRIEL ARMAS-CARDONA, ESQ.
Gabriel.Armas -Cardona@nyu.edu
@GArmasCardona
X TALLER INTERNACIONAL MUJERES EN EL
SIGLO XXI
HAVANA, CUBA
7 MARCH, 2017
(Dis)Empowered Women: Armenian
Women as both Victim and
Perpetrator of Sex-Selective Abortion

2. Presentation objectives
 Learning objectives:
 Explain the theory behind sex-selective abortion (SSA)
 Differentiate the ways Armenian women interact with SSA
 Recognize the importance of empowerment in policy
 Presenter objectives:
 Formulate a policy for Armenia to combat SSA while
respecting reproductive rights
 Develop general rights-respecting guidelines applicable to any
country experiencing SSA
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3. What is sex-selective abortion?
 Sex-selective abortion (SSA) is the termination of a
pregnancy due to the sex of the fetus.
 Prevalent in only a few geographic areas:
 South and SE Asia: China, India and Pakistan
 Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia
 Europe: Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia
“More Than 100 Million Women Are Missing”
– Amartya Sen, discussing SSA
and infanticide in 1990
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4. The difficult moral question of SSA
 SSA poses a difficult moral question that divides
reproductive rights activists
 Those focused on violence against women want to ban SSA
 Those focused on empowering women and increasing their
autonomy want to legally allow SSA (even if they’re against it)
 No easy solution to justice vs. autonomy
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5. Necessary conditions for SSA
The 3 necessary conditions for SSA:
1) Available technology
1) Technology able to determine the sex of the fetus
2) Son preference
1) Parents must want a son over a daughter.
3) Fertility squeeze
1) Something limits how big the family can be
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6. Introduction to Armenia
 In Western Asia; a cultural mix of Europe and Asia
 Features: landlocked, frozen conflict with neighbor,
first Christian nation in the world
 Population: 3 million
 Average salary: $390
 Post-Soviet country
 Inherited USSR’s liberal
abortion policy:
legal in the 1st trimester
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7. Gender discrimination in Armenia
 Gender-blind laws  no facial legal discrimination
 Instead, social discrimination and negligent state
institutions
 Gender roles and social expectations are very strong
 Examples:
 Women are involved in public life, but “should” leave politics to men
 Many families are de facto woman-headed because of male
migration, but men are still the assumed head of the family
 Armenian women have more university degrees than men, but men
are viewed as smarter
 Armenia is 69th out of 144 for women’s economic
participation and 27th for educational attainment
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8. Armenia, SSA and sex ratio at birth
 Armenia satisfies the conditions for SSA:
 1) Available technology
 Sonography available since 1993 (but de facto illegal as sex
determination occurs after 1st trimester)
 2) Son preference
 Women prefer a son to a girl 2.7:1. Comparable to other countries.
 3) Fertility squeeze
 Socio-economic conditions are the main reason for smaller
families. Armenia’s fertility rate is 1.7 children per woman.
 Armenia’s sex ratio at birth (SRB) is 1.15
 A normal SRB is 1.05–1.07
 3rd highest after China and Azerbaijan
 But only about 1% of Armenian women have a SSA
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9. “Why does your family give preference to sons
rather than to daughters?”

10. The role of women in SSA
 Women’s role in SSA is complex
 Three different views:
1) Women as victims
2) Women as perpetrators
3) Women as rational actors
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11. Women as victims
 Unquestionable that some women face massive
pressure to commit SSA
 Numerous stories of domestic violence or husbands
abandoning wives if she doesn’t provide a son
 The SRB for children registered by fathers is 1.17.
The SRB for children registered by mothers is 1.06
(presumably instances of unmarried or abandoned women).
 Husbands, and mothers-in-law, often have the last
word on reproductive choices, not the wife
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12. Women as perpetrators
 Mothers-in-law are a source of domestic violence
 One study found 10% of instances of physical abuse caused by
them, anecdotes suggest even higher for psychological abuse
 Women choose to commit SSA
 Out of 1988 women, 23 admitted to committing SSA.
19 of the 23 said the choice was theirs.
 In contradiction to what many would imagine:
Educated and wealthy Armenian women are
the most likely to have a sex-selective abortion
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13. Women as perpetrators
 Women’s education
 Women with university degrees:
SRB of 1.6 for the third birth and a startling 3.2 for the fifth
 Women with basic or elementary education:
Not comparable
 Women’s income
 Women with high personal income:
an unparalleled SRB of 8.2 for the fourth birth
 Family’s with high income:
Not comparable
13

14. Correlation between sex ratio at birth for
different birth orders and high income
 Woman’s
income
matters
 Family’s
income
doesn’t

15. Women as rational actors
 How best to understand this?
Women are rational actors
 Rational actors choose the best option available to them,
regardless of whether the choices are unjustly limited
 There is a spectrum of pressure: severe—mild—none
 Sons benefit mothers:
 Direct external (the benefits in Chart 1, like continuing lineage)
 Indirect external (the positive opinions of others)
 Internal (satisfying internalized expectations of a wife’s
duties)
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16. Goal of policy: adjust the decision-making factors
in favor of girls
Policy should change pregnant women’s balancing of
choices in favor of keeping a female fetus over SSA
 Decrease external boy preference
 Combat domestic violence
 Increase the value of girls
 Educate the public on women’s legal equality
 E.g. inheriting property
 Increase women’s leadership opportunities
 Not just high salaries or education
 Have a social change campaign showing equality of girls
 Girls can continue the family and be strong and powerful
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17. Policy should not restrict options,
leads to rights violations
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Possible
restriction
Likely negative
outcome(s)
Human right violated
Don’t tell the
fetal sex
Corruption in providing
medical service
Right to Health: right to access
health information
Criminalize
SSA
Corruption in providing
medical service
and
More unregulated
abortion
Right to Health: must use least
restrictive option
General Comment 22 of
ICESCR: Don’t impose
barriers to reproductive care
Penalize
doctors
Reduced medical care
and/or
Corruption in providing
medical service
Direct: none
Indirect: Don’t impose
barriers to reproductive care

18. Thank you for your time
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Questions?
Gabriel Armas-Cardona, Esq.
Gabriel.Armas-Cardona@nyu.edu
@GArmasCardona