female foeticide
Female Foeticide in India
What is female foeticide?
The act of aborting or terminating a foetus while it’s still in the womb, because it is female, is known as female foeticide. This can be done after determining the sex of the child before it’s born, through ultrasound scans.
Although, sex determination in India is illegal, the practice is rampant and has become a multi-million dollar industry. Coupled with prospective parents desperate for a boy child, and physicians who are carrying out these abortions, female foeticide has become a shameful and shocking reality of our nation.
What is the main cause of female foeticide? For centuries, families across many parts of India have regarded a male child as the preferred of the two sexes. There have been many social, financial, emotional and religious reasons for this preference and while times have changed, many of these reasons and beliefs continue to remain.
Today, some of the key reasons that exist for the preference of a male child are as follows:
The tradition of paying dowry at the time of a daughter’s marriage is alive and kicking. This amount can be so huge that many parents will go to extreme lengths to avoid having a daughter in the first place.
A son is seen as someone who can earn and care for his parents in their later years, while a daughter will get married and go away.
A son can carry on the family name, while a daughter becomes part of her husband’s family.
Girls are seen as consumers, whereas boys are seen as producers.
Many families consider it a status symbol to have a son, and a point of shame to have a daughter.
Often, the pressure to bear a male child on the woman is so great that she herself might choose to get sex determination done and abort the baby if it’s a girl.
Illiteracy, poverty and the tag of ‘burden’ that is assigned to a girl child, makes the desire for a male child even stronger.
Modern technology has made it very easy to determine the sex of the child while it’s
What is female foeticide?
The act of aborting or terminating a foetus while it’s still in the womb, because it is female, is known as female foeticide. This can be done after determining the sex of the child before it’s born, through ultrasound scans.
Although, sex determination in India is illegal, the practice is rampant and has become a multi-million dollar industry. Coupled with prospective parents desperate for a boy child, and physicians who are carrying out these abortions, female foeticide has become a shameful and shocking reality of our nation.
What is the main cause of female foeticide? For centuries, families across many parts of India have regarded a male child as the preferred of the two sexes. There have been many social, financial, emotional and religious reasons for this preference and while times have changed, many of these reasons and beliefs continue to remain.
Today, some of the key reasons that exist for the preference of a male child are as follows:
The tradition of paying dowry at the time of a daughter’s marriage is alive and kicking. This amount can be so huge that many parents will go to extreme lengths to avoid having a daughter in the first place.
A son is seen as someone who can earn and care for his parents in their later years, while a daughter will get married and go away.
A son can carry on the family name, while a daughter becomes part of her husband’s family.
Girls are seen as consumers, whereas boys are seen as producers.
Many families consider it a status symbol to have a son, and a point of shame to have a daughter.
Often, the pressure to bear a male child on the woman is so great that she herself might choose to get sex determination done and abort the baby if it’s a girl.
Illiteracy, poverty and the tag of ‘burden’ that is assigned to a girl child, makes the desire for a male child even stronger.
Modern technology has made it very easy to determine the sex of the child while it’s