The missing girls

The declining child sex ratio is proving to be an extremely intractable problem. Routine ultrasound tests,which a pregnant woman needs for health reasons,also easily reveal the gender of the foetus. This has made almost impossible enforcement of the law to penalise doctors/ clinics complicit in revealing the gender of a foetus. The law,as it operates and is enforced currently,serves no substantial purpose other than to assert,crucially,a parameter for social progress in this country to defeat discrimination against women.

Provisional estimates for Census 2011 put the CSR at 914,the lowest since Independence that is there are 914 girls for every 1,000 boys in the 0-6 age group. The census figures also appeared to confirm whats been more than a suspicion that regions with relatively strong economic growth were also reporting lower child sex ratios. Now,a study published in Lancet indicates that decline in the sex ratio is greater among families with higher incomes and literacy. Its another reminder that its dangerous to be complacent and believe a rapid development alone will sort out the sex ratio problem.

Such widespread discrimination continues to take place under the radar of law enforcement. But the extent of the discrimination also makes it evident that at a personal/ individual level such cruel methods carry little stigma. After all,a right to abortion integral to womens equality is being used to discriminate against women. That says a lot about gender inequality in large tracts of this country. Governments have to be far more inventive in getting the message across they need to work at the grassroots level to change the ecosystem that accommodates such discrimination so casually. They should harness local bodies,schools and health centres to spread awareness.