Female foeticide in India is very high.

1. 18th refresher course: Women studies
Female foeticide in
India
Dr. Jyoti Srivastava
College of Nursing
IMS, BHU

2. Introduction
‘Foeticide' is the abortion of a female foetus outside of legal
methods.
Foeticide (British English), or feticide (American and Canadian
English), is the act of killing a fetus, or causing a miscarriage.

4. Magnitude estimates for female foeticide
United Nations: India accounts for 45.8 million of the world’s 142.6 million “missing
females” over the past 50 years,
100,000 abortions every year continue to be performed in India solely because the
fetus is female.
Every year more than 10 million female foetuses are illegally being
aborted in India.
In Mumbai, out of 15,914 abortions performed during 1984, almost 100
percent were those of girl foetuses.
Even today out of the 12 million girls born in India, 1 million do not even
see their first “birthday”

6. Reasons for female foeticide
Cultural preference
Female foeticide can be seen through history and cultural
background. Generally, male babies were preferred
because they provided manual labor and success the
family lineage.
A son is often preferred as an "asset" since he can earn
and support the family; a daughter is a "liability" since she
will be married off to another family, and so will not
contribute financially to her parents. In some cultures sons
are expected to take care of their parents in their old age.

7. Reasons for female foeticide
Disparate gendered access to resource
Disparate gendered access to resources appears to be
strongly linked to socioeconomic status. Specifically, poorer
families are sometimes forced to ration food, with daughters
typically receiving less priority than sons (Klasen and Wink
2003).
Public goods provisions by female leader
"public goods" exclude females because families choose to
prioritize their male children's access to those resources.

8. Reasons for female foeticide
Dowry system: Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961, the impossibility of
monitoring families and the prevalence of corruption have led to its
continuance all over India.
A dowry is a payment from the bride's family to the groom's family at the
time of marriage.
Additionally, the technological progress leading to sex selective abortions
lowers the cost of discrimination and many people think that it is better to
pay a "500 rupees now (abortion) instead of 50,000 rupees in the future
(dowry). Furthermore, dowry-related expenses also extend well beyond
marriage. The bride's family is expected to bear the burden of high
expenses for the groom.

9. Reasons for female foeticide
India's weak social security system
Another reason for this male preference is based on the economic
benefits of having a son and the costs of having a daughter. In
India, there is a very limited social security system so parents look
to their sons to ensure their futures and care for them in old age.
Daughters are liabilities because they have to leave to another
family once they are married and cannot take care of their
parents.
Additionally, they do not contribute economically to the family
wealth and are costly because of the dowry system.

12. Laws passed in India to alleviate female foeticide
Other Legislation Year Passed Goals
Dowry Prohibition Act 1961
Prohibits families from taking a dowry, punishable with
imprisonment
Hindu Marriage Act 1955 Rules around marriage and divorce for Hindus
Hindu Adoption and Maintenance
Act
1956
Deals with the legal process of adopting children and the legal
obligation to provide "maintenance" for other family members
Immoral Traffic Prevention Act 1986 Stops sex trafficking and exploitation
Equal Remuneration Act 1976
Prevents monetary discrimination between men and women in
the workforce
Female Infanticide Act 1870 Prevents female infanticide (Act passed in British India)
Ban on ultrasound testing 1996 Bans prenatal sex determination

13. Select Schemes by the Central and State Governments
Program
Year
Passed
Central or State
Government
Benefits
Balika Samriddhi
Yojana
1997
Central
Government
Cash transfer to mother based on child meeting educational conditions
and partaking in income generating activities
Dhan Laxmi
Scheme
2008
Central
Government
Cash transfers to family after meeting conditions (immunization,
education, insurance)
Kanya Jagriti
Jyoti Scheme
1996 Punjab
Cash transfers to 2 girl children in a family after meeting conditions
(immunization, education, insurance)
Beti Bachao, Beti
Padhao Yojana
2015
Central
Government
Cash transfers based on educational attainment
National Plan of
Action
1992
Central
Government
For the survival, protection, and development of girl children. Goals
include ending female feticide, reducing gender disparity, and giving
girls better access to resources
Devirupak 2002 Haryana
Cash transfer to couple accepting terminal method of family planning
(vasectomy, tubectomy) after birth of 1st or 2nd child
Delhi Ladli
Scheme
2008 Delhi Cash transfer based on educational attainment for first 2 daughters

14. Conclusion
Female Foeticide is a growing menace in our society.
• The government should take harsh steps against those who readily kill their
girl child
• Strong action against the doctors who facilitate female foeticide.
• More awareness in this regard to make the people of our nation more
conscious and eradicate this menace.

16. Overview
 Sex ratio is poor when women have one or two children, but gets better as
they have more children, which is result of sex-selective "stopping practices"
(stopping having children based on sex of those born).
 In India, where dowry deaths occur when a girl is seen as a financial burden.
 Urban India has higher child sex ratio than rural India, sex ratios are only
caused by female. The Indian government has passed Pre-Conception and
Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act (PCPNDT) in 1994 to ban and punish
prenatal sex screening and female foeticide. It is currently illegal in India to
determine or disclose sex of the foetus to anyone.