THE ‘MISSING GIRLS’ – ISSUE OF CHILD SEX SELECTION AND GENDER DISCRIMINATION

A sound social health is a cornerstone of sustainable social development leading towards well being of every citizen in any State or Country. The sex ratio is an indicator which describes the number of women per 1000 men for a given population. The child sex ratio describes the ratio of girls to boys in the age group of 0-6 years.

The sex ratio of a given population is also used as a strong indicator to ascertain social health. In the developed societies where female and male enjoy equal status the women usually out number men. The adverse sex ratios (where female are lesser than male) not only indicate poor social health, but also a barrier in attaining sustainable social development.

In a “normal world,” the female population equals or slightly surpasses the number of males. Except in India, that is, where the situation is just the opposite, where the gender ratio — or the number of females to males — is known to be among the most imbalanced in the world.

Although China has the most severe shortage of girls compared to boys of any country in the world today, in India, the 2001 census revealed disturbing news: the proportion of girls aged 0-6 years dropped from 945:1000 to 927:1000 since the previous census done 10 years earlier.
This means that 35 million fewer females than males were registered in India over this particular decade.

The census also revealed that the phenomenon has reached high proportions in states which had no prior history or practice of female infanticide, or where forms of discrimination against girls were not strongly evident earlier.

The declining child sex ratio in India is so alarming that if the present trend continues it is going to result in a demographic and social disaster. Hence, hidden though it is often, this is an issue which ought to be of concern to every citizen.

This is so because India’s already abysmal sex ratio figures are getting worse by the day, with 80% of its districts recording declining sex ratios since 1991, as thousands of girl-children are killed before or at birth; according to a report by UNICEF on the global status of children.

In another indication of just how serious the problem of missing girl-children in India really is, a new report by UNICEF finds that child sex ratios have declined in all but three Indian states and union territories. Kerala, Pondicherry and the Lakshadweep islands are the only exceptions to this rule.

Unsurprisingly, the state of Punjab is cited as the worst offender -- the ratio has dropped from 875 in 1991 to 798 girls for every 1,000 boys in 2001, says ‘State of the World’s Children 2007’ the UN children’s agency annual report. Haryana, which records a sharp 60-point drop, from 879 girls in 1991 to 819 in 2001, is a close second. Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal, all in north India, are other states where girl-children are largely unwanted.

The all-India sex ratio is 927 girls for 1,000 boys, which puts the country right at the bottom of the global charts, worse off than countries like Nigeria (965) and neighbour Pakistan (958).

Although there have been attempts to address the problem through legislative provisions with the enactment of PNDT (Pre-natal Diagnostic Test) Act in 1994 which was later amended to PC-PNDT Act (Pre—conception and Pre natal Diagnostic Techniques Act) in 2003 to check the misuse of technology cited as a major reason responsible for distorting child sex ratios.

In order to regulate use and prohibit misuse of technology, the Pre-Conception and Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (PC and PNDT) Act is considered an important tool for addressing sex selective eliminations and in addressing the declining child sex ratios.

However, the law has not been effective in controlling the declining numbers of girls and the reasons behind this mistreatment of girls crosses the spectrum of Indian regions, economic classes, and castes and are due to a complex mix of economic, social, and cultural factors.