Female Foeticide in India

What is effeminate foeticide?The act of aborting or terminating a foetus while its still in the womb, because it is female, is known as female foeticide. This endure be done after determining the sex of the fry before its born, through ultrasound scans. Although, sex determi solid ground in India is illegal, the practice is rampant(ip) and has become a multi-million dollar industry. Coupled with prospective pargonnts desperate for a boy child, and physicians who are carrying out these abortions, female foeticide has become a shameful and alarming 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. on that point have been many social, financial, emotional and religious rea give-and-takes for this preference and while times have deepend, many of these rea give-and-takes and beliefs continue to remain. Today, some of the key reasons that exist for the pref erence of a male child are as follows The tradition of paying dowry at the time of a daughters marriage is alive and kicking. This core 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 husbands family. Girls are seen as consumers, whereas boys are seen as producers. Many families analyse 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 its a girl. Illiteracy, pauperisation 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 rule the sex of the child while it s still in the womb, giving parents-to-be the option of aborting the foetus and continuing to try to conceive till they get a male child. While sex determination has been banned by the Indian government, it does not stop families from going to great lengths to find out anyway. Not only if are there plenty of scanning centres that reveal this information, many of the wealthier families fly the pregnant mother to neighbouring countrieswhere sex determination is legal, to find out the gender of the baby. once the gender of the baby is known, families that are keen to have a baby boy choose to abort the female foetus. The law on aborting is also strict, and the Indian government allows it only under certain circumstances.Therefore, by determining the sex of the baby and aborting it because its a girl, the parents as well as the participating physicians are breaking two major laws.What impact does female foeticide have on the sex ratio?Sex ratio refers to ratio of females to males in a habituated region. Practices like female foeticide and female infanticide (killing a baby girl after she is born) have had an adverse effect on the sex ratio of a nation and gives rise to further social evils. As per the Indian Census 2011 report, the sex ratio of India (females per 1000 males) is as follows Average India sex ratio 933Rural sex ratio 946 Urban sex ratio 900 State with highest female sex ratio Kerala 1058 State with lowest female sex ratio Haryana 861 What are the long-term impacts of female foeticide?The most important impact of female foeticide is the skewed ratio it gives rise to. The dearth of females leads to other complications like female trafficking, kidnappings and in increase in ravishment and rape against women. Female foeticide is a horrific and illegal practice that has got to be stopped. The way to do this is by implementation of stronger laws and bringing about a change in the mind-set of our countrymen uphill tasks, but absolutely crucial nevertheless.