La nascita di una bambina pone seri problemi economici ad una famiglia, obbligata a dare la dote quando in un matrimonio combinato la ragazza sara' destinata ad uscire di casa.
Il problema esiste non solo negli stati rurali.
La situazione della donna in India, nonostante l'impetuoso cambiamento sociale dovuto all'industrializzazione, resta ancora precaria.
Basti pensare che a Delhi, la capitale, la polizia sta pubblicizzando un allarme anti violenza che le donne possono portare addosso e che dovrebbe allertare la piu' vicina stazione dei gendarmi. Figurarsi.
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More girls being born, but fewer surviving
Experts and activists say that the slight increase in sex ratio at birth is not very significant though it is a welcome trend.
There
is good news and bad news on one of the key problems that haunts India -
survival of the girl child. Sex ratio at birth, that is, the number of
girls born for every 1000 boys born, has inched up from 906 to 909
between 2007 and 2013. This suggests that female feticide, the monstrous
practice of killing off the girl baby in the mothers' womb has been
somewhat checked. That's the good news.
The bad news is that child sex ratio, that is, the number of girls in the 0-4 year age group for every 1000 boys in the same age group has declined from 914 to 909 in the same period.
Information on sex ratios is made available by the Census office, based on their sample registration system (SRS) annual surveys over the years. The latest release was last week.
Experts and activists say that the slight increase in sex ratio at birth is not very significant though it is a welcome trend. They feel that laws prohibiting sex selection are not very effective.
"Perhaps, in cities, there is some prevention of sex selection due to laws but there is spread of this heinous practice in rural areas and in regions where earlier it was not there," argues Kirti Singh, lawyer and women's rights activist.
Ravinder Kaur, professor at IIT Delhi who has studied sex ratios and related family issues also said that laws and campaigns have not contributed much in controlling sex selection.
"Sex determination services are still available for those who seek them. The change is due more to complex social changes happening including fertility decline, improvements in socio-economic circumstances, etc." she said
But the slight uptick in sex ratio at birth is negated by what happens to girls who are born and survive. Neglect, discrimination and in extreme cases even killing of very young girls is behind dipping child sex ratio.
"There is a tendency to give the girl less food, or not treat her sickness with the same urgency as a boy's. There are many court cases on deaths of small girls. All this points to deep discrimination against girls," Kirti Singh said.
The increases and decreases are small at the country level but at the state level sharper trends are visible. Again, these are good and bad.
The bad news is that child sex ratio, that is, the number of girls in the 0-4 year age group for every 1000 boys in the same age group has declined from 914 to 909 in the same period.
Information on sex ratios is made available by the Census office, based on their sample registration system (SRS) annual surveys over the years. The latest release was last week.
Experts and activists say that the slight increase in sex ratio at birth is not very significant though it is a welcome trend. They feel that laws prohibiting sex selection are not very effective.
"Perhaps, in cities, there is some prevention of sex selection due to laws but there is spread of this heinous practice in rural areas and in regions where earlier it was not there," argues Kirti Singh, lawyer and women's rights activist.
Ravinder Kaur, professor at IIT Delhi who has studied sex ratios and related family issues also said that laws and campaigns have not contributed much in controlling sex selection.
"Sex determination services are still available for those who seek them. The change is due more to complex social changes happening including fertility decline, improvements in socio-economic circumstances, etc." she said
But the slight uptick in sex ratio at birth is negated by what happens to girls who are born and survive. Neglect, discrimination and in extreme cases even killing of very young girls is behind dipping child sex ratio.
"There is a tendency to give the girl less food, or not treat her sickness with the same urgency as a boy's. There are many court cases on deaths of small girls. All this points to deep discrimination against girls," Kirti Singh said.
The increases and decreases are small at the country level but at the state level sharper trends are visible. Again, these are good and bad.
