Ten Million n counting-Female Infanticide

[Che -Guevara]

I thought I would share this article...kind disturbing but interesting read about human nature.

 

Indian cultural tradition favours boys!!!

 

More than 10m female births in India may have been lost to abortion and sex selection in the past 20 years, according to medical research.

Researchers in India and Canada for the Lancet journal said prenatal selection and selective abortion was causing the loss of 500,000 girls a year.

 

Their research was based on a national survey of 1.1m households in 1998.

 

The researchers said the "girl deficit" was more common among educated women but did not vary according to religion.

 

The unusual gender balance in India has been known about for some time.

 

In most countries, women slightly outnumber men, but separate research for the year 2001 showed that for every 1,000 male babies born in India, there were just 933 girls.

 

 

The sex ratio is so skewed in some states, men cannot find brides!!!!

 

 

Ultrasound

 

The latest research is by Prabhat Jha of St Michael's Hospital at the University of Toronto, Canada, and Rajesh Kumar of the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Research in Chandigarh, India.

 

They found that there was an increasing tendency to select boys when previous children had been girls.

 

 

The sex ratio is so skewed in some states, men cannot find brides

 

In cases where the preceding child was a girl, the ratio of girls to boys in the next birth was 759 to 1,000.

 

This fell even further when the two preceding children were both girls. Then the ratio for the third child born was just 719 girls to 1,000 boys.

 

However, for a child following the birth of a male child, the gender ratio was roughly equal.

 

Prabhat Jha said conservative estimates in the research suggested half a million girls were being lost each year.

 

"If this practice has been common for most of the past two decades since access to ultrasound became widespread, then a figure of 10m missing female births would not be unreasonable."

 

'Shameful'

 

Sex selective abortions have been banned in India for more than a decade.

 

 

HAVE YOUR SAY

This just means that girls will be far more sought after in future

 

Christian Tiburtius, Reading

 

 

Send us your comments

 

 

Experts in India say female foeticide is mostly linked to socio-economic factors.

 

It is an idea that many say carries over from the time India was a predominantly agrarian society where boys were considered an extra pair of hands on the farm.

 

The girl child has traditionally been considered inferior and a liability - a bride's dowry can cripple a poor family financially.

 

The BBC's Jill McGivering says the problem is complicated by advances in technology. Ultrasound machines must be officially registered but many are now so light and portable, they are hard to monitor.

 

Although doctors in India must not tell couples the sex of a foetus, in practice, some just use coded signals instead, our correspondent says.

 

Last year the well-known religious leader and social activist, Swami Agnivesh, began a campaign across five northern and western states against female foeticide.

 

"There's no other form of violence that's more painful, more abhorrent, more shameful," he said.

 

source: bbc.com

[Baluug]

Originally posted by Che-Guevara:

However, for a child following the birth of a male child, the gender ratio was roughly equal.

So they really don't care as long as the first child is a boy...That's really disgusting.....We should be happy with whatever child we have as it is a blessing from Allah SWT....Who knows if a couple have a boy and he grows up to be useless and doesn't help his parents or doesn't care, whereas a girl might be good and care for them until they die?

[Mowgli]

Sorry...wrong post

[Che -Guevara]

^^^^True a boy can grow up to be useless to his parents. I think what is driving this sad the phenomena is financial burden parents endure when they are marrying off their daughters, and the simple fact that many people in India like most world believe girls are inferior sex. Sadly this deep-rooted cultural bias coupled with the abuse of modern technology is proving to be a deadly combination.

 

 

India 'lost birth' study disputed

 

 

 

India banned gender selection and selective abortion in 1994

A top Indian doctors' association has disputed a report which says more than 10m female births may have been lost over the past two decades.

Researchers in India and Canada said in the Lancet journal prenatal selection and selective abortion was causing the loss of 500,000 girl births a year.

 

 

But the Indian Medical Association said pre-birth gender checks had waned since a Supreme Court crackdown in 2001.

 

There has been no reaction from the Indian government.

 

A spokesman for the Indian Medical Association acknowledged that prenatal selections used to take place, but said they were not as widespread as before and that the Lancet report was exaggerated.

 

"This has not been happening for the past four or five years after strict laws were put in place," the spokesman, Dr Narendra Saini, said.

 

'Sensational

 

The research by Prabhat Jha of St Michael's Hospital at the University of Toronto, Canada, and Rajesh Kumar of the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Research in Chandigarh, India found that there was an increasing tendency to select boys when previous children had been girls.

 

If there were half a million foeticides a year the sex ratio would have been very skewed indeed

 

Prof SC Gulati,

Delhi Institute of Economic Growth

 

Indian experts differed over the findings.

 

"It is a sensational piece of work," Sabu George, who campaigns against female foeticide, told the AFP news agency.

 

"We are very, very concerned about this study."

 

Others say it is impossible that India could have lost 10m females.

 

"If there were half a million foeticides a year, the sex ratio would have been very skewed indeed," said Prof SC Gulati of Delhi's Institute of Economic Growth.

 

In 1994, India banned the use of technology to determine the sex of unborn children and the termination of pregnancies on the basis of gender.

 

However, research for the year 2001 showed that for every 1,000 male babies born in India, there were just 933 girls.

 

Leading campaigners say many of India's fertility clinics continue to offer a seemingly legitimate facade for a multi-billion pound racket and that gender determination is still big business in India.

 

The researchers said the "girl deficit" was more common among educated women but did not vary according to religion.

 

Experts in India say female foeticide is mostly linked to socio-economic factors.

 

It is an idea that many say carries over from the time India was a predominantly agrarian society where boys were considered an extra pair of hands on the farm.

 

The girl child has traditionally been considered inferior and a liability - a bride's dowry can cripple a poor family financially.

[Valenteenah.]

Oh yes, the female has been feared and vilified since Eve. Nothing new. But Allah is fair, it will come back to bite them on the ar$e as is already happening.

 

Ignorance, the most dangerous human ailment. :rolleyes:

[Caano Geel]

yes i heard this on the radio the other morning. What kinda of response could u possibbly have, its tragic.

The worst part is that education just gives them more ways to kill a girl

[Baluug]

They're just using modern technology to keep up their medieval ways.

[Chocolate and Honey]

Worthless and weak-minded beings, uf!

[sheherazade]

In areas of London with a significant Asian community, the hospitals' policy is not to reveal the gender of a foetus to its parents(of any race).