Killing of Female Fetuses
The greatest threats to our contemporary
civilization
Killing of Female Fetuses
OR
Sex-selective abortion
is the practice of terminating
pregnancy based upon the predicted sex of
a girl baby
The selective abortion of female
fetuses is most common in areas
where cultural norms value male
children over female children,
especially in western part of
Rajasthan. Sex-selective infanticide is
killing a child based on the child's sex
Sex-selective abortion has been
seen as worsening the sex ratio
In Rajasthan, affecting gender
Issues related to sex
compositions of Rajasthani
households
The use of ultrasound and abortion
for sex selection has been banned
since 1994 in India, however, there is
evidence that such bans are rarely
enforced, and numerous dedicated
Sex selection clinics operate in
many regions of Rajasthan
Reasons for sex-selective abortion
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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
The burden of raising dowry for a daughter's
marriage
Sex-selective abortion is thought to be most
common in most of parts in Rajasthan
Social Effects
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Gender bias can broadly impact the society, and
it is estimated that by 2020 there could be more
than 25 million young "surplus males" in the
country
In the society with an artificial shortage of
women, a combination of surplus of males and
increased upward mobility of females results in
accumulation of unmarried, lower-class males,
who tend to be violence-prone
Social Effects
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Shortage of females has the effect of driving
human trafficking and mail-order bride
phenomena
There are reports of women from some
backward
communities
of
Rajasthan
systematically trafficked to other parts and sold
into forced marriages
Researchers have expressed concern that
prenatal sex selection may reduce the number
of families in the next generation
Think…
Prevention & creating awareness
against killing of female fetuses
is the prime concern
Needs to be curb immediately by an
strong and well designed awareness
strategy for Preventing Killing of
Female Fetuses
Prevent…Killing of Female Fetuses
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Awareness at wider level
Mobilization & sensitization at community level
Counseling at household level
Vision building with indicators for reducing killing
of female fetuses
Strategy formation for the empowerment of
women and a strengthening of women’s rights
through campaigning against practices such as
dowry, and ensuring strict implementation of
existing legislation
Prevent…Killing of Female Fetuses
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Inculcating a strong ethical code of conduct
among medical professionals
Simple methods of complaint registration,
accessible to the poorest and most vulnerable
women
Wide polarization in the media of the scale and
seriousness of the practice
Monitoring and resource mobilization strategy
Sensitization mechanism strong remedies to
control killing of female fetuses
Prevent…Killing of Female Fetuses
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Regular assessment of indicators of status of
women in society, such as sex ratio, and female
mortality, literacy, and economic participation
&
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Toll free service will be developed to ensure
prompt support to the needy population for
counseling and motivation
THANKS
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