Campaign to Stop
Female Infanticide and
Sale of Girl Babies
V Rukmini Rao
Gramya Resource Center for Women
Background






Information that Lambada families were killing their girl
babies in Devarkonda Mandal, Nalgonda District, 1997
Responded to emergency call
Data about community generated four years later
through a UNICEF study, “A Community Besieged”
High levels of poverty, lack of employment opportunities,
low literacy, child labor
Dowry and violence against women practiced
High child mortality
Strategies Adopted





Organizing women in the area into SHGs
Alerting the government to the problem and Fact Finding
Committee set up in 1997
Discovering sale of girl babies through interaction with
community
Campaigning around gender issues and creating
awareness to stop sale and infanticide of girl babies
Training traditional birth attendants technically and
creating gender sensitization among them since they are
used to kill the infants.
Strategies Adopted Contd…









Media campaign to pressurize government to act against illegal
adoption agencies buying children
Creating alliances with NGOs and women’s organizations belonging
to political parties
Campaign in 10 districts
Lobbying with officials of tribal welfare and women and child welfare
Lobbying with district officials to implement development
programmes
Lobbying with ministers – Home and Chief Minister
Lobbying with Opposition parties
Legal interventions
Development programmes to support sustainable agriculture taken
up
Strategies that Worked

The strategies were developed keeping in
view emerging conditions in the state. All
of them were necessary to bring about
planned changes.
Changes Brought About









Women Leaders in community took responsibility to stop
middle men from buying children
Management of illegal adoption agencies arrested
More than 200 babies recovered and provided special
health care
Children transferred to government care
Foreign adoptions put on moratorium to stop trafficking
Indian adoptions promoted
Twelve schools started in the 12 thandas, after some
years handed over to the government and mainstreamed
Bridge school for girls continues
Significant change in family attitudes to education
Stake Holders Involved
Women from the lambada community
 Men from the community
 Government officials and Political leaders
 NGOs
 Print and Electronic Media
 Legal system
 Police

Change in the situation of the
children







Girl babies retained by parents
Change in government policy to prevent sale of
babies
Police vigilance increased
Special development officers posted to the area
Due to development interventions, attitudes
towards children changed
Children brought back to school
Currently 95% of children in school