Essay on Menace of Female Foeticide

Here is your essay on Menace of Female Foeticide:

Women in our country belong to a class or a group of society, who are in a disadvantaged position from past to present, on account of several social rules, impediments, and have therefore, been easy victims of tyranny at the hands of men, with whom they, unfortunately, under the Constitution enjoy equal status.

Gender-bias is not a new concept for us, as it is widely prevalent throughout our country. Women suffer from inferior status in our society, perhaps, women were treated as inferior and moreover, they treated themselves as inferior. The most painful evidence of the inferior status of female in society is the Amniocentesis test to determine the sex of the foetus and then terminate the pregnancy if the foetus is female.

Such selective sex-determination techniques are increasingly being used in India for selective extermination of female foetuses. This phenomenon is known as female foeticide, which means killing of a female unborn or unhitched offspring, in woman’s embryo which is more than eight weeks after conception, after determination of foetus, if it is female.

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In India, various techniques of sex-determination have been discovered and female foeticide is increasing day-by-day. Such practice of female foeticide is the worst form of aggression towards women. Such incidences are common nowadays. In India such practice is in a sense akin to traditional practice of female infanticide, a systematic form of oppression of women.

Thus there is a misuse of new development in science and medicine for female foeticide in recent years.

Because of female foeticide, there is imbalance in the sex ratio, (of male and female).

The number of males exceeds the number of females.

This system of female foeticide effects largely on the society. As per female/male ratio available from census 2001, shows that there are 927 girls per 1000 boys in India. Hereby we can understand the gravity of the problem. Because of killing of females in womb they are reduced in number as compared to male members of the society and it is an invitation to many future calamities and today it creates dangerous dimension and it is a menace to society. It is well established that ‘the problems of women are the problems of society as a whole’ and so it is said that female foeticide is the burning problem today.

As per census of 2011 sex ratio in Maharashtra is 1000 males 925 females, in Bihar it is 1000 males per 916 females, in Delhi 1000 males per 866 females, in Haryana it is 877 females per 1000 males. Daman and Diu (UT) 618 females per 1000 males, it is the lowest ratio in India and the national sex ratio is 940 females per 1000 males in India as per 2011 census.

It has emerged that the scenario of male female foeticide is improving, but the changes are not yet highly significant and still it is heartening to see some positive growth. It seems to have happened because of efforts taken by Government, social workers and public at large, who seem to have awakened regarding the seriousness of the issue.

Mostly, in our society, from birth female members of the family get inferior treatment as far as food, medication and education is concerned. But the worst form of discrimination of women is female foeticide by using Amniocentesis test. Amniocentesic was originally devised to detect foetal abnormalities like mongolism, haemophilia, retarded muscular growth, Rh incompatibility and other genetic disorders or abnormalities of foetus.

But knowledge about the sex of foetus was additional information obtained from the test and this is now being widely misused to determine the sex of the unborn child. The test is conducted after completion of 16 weeks of pregnancy and within a week the findings are available and if it is detected that foetus is female, it is almost always followed by abortion.

Such prenatal sex determination tests are carried out without fear in Government as well as private hospitals. Though, earlier it was conducted in Government hospitals only to detect abnormalities of foetus, if doctors certify for its performance and thereafter sometime abortion is permitted only when a doctor certifies that the continuing of the pregnancy would endanger the life of the pregnant woman or would affect her physical or mental health seriously or there is a substantial risk of the child being born with physical or mental abnormalities.

But in India, the above given right by Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, is totally misused and abortion performed easily after sex-determination test if the foetus is female. Now it is called as sex selective abortion and it is highly discriminatory against women and it will have very undesirable effects in the long run and nowadays such test has become very popular in India.

The data available shows total decline of sex ratio of female. In India, the child sex ratio (0 to 6 ages) which was 976 girls per every 1,000 boys in 1961 decreased to 927 girls for every 1,000 boys, (as per census). More shocking is that within only ten years from 1991 to 2001 there is a major decline in sex ratio of females (age between 0 to 6) (as per census 2001).

In 1991 it was 945 girls per 1,000 boys and

In 2001 it was 927 girls per 1,000 boys.

Sex determination clinics have mushroomed all over India. Though it is a global problem, but pertaining to the gravity of the problem is Mumbai at the peak of the problem.

According to 2001 Population Census the females per 1,000 males in numbers is 898 and in New Mumbai it is 919 which is very low as to the ratio of males and it is 30% decline from the ratio of 1991.

Because of constant increasing practice of female foeticide, female children are reduced in number and with the males being more in number there will be increased incidences of rape, abduction, and in this way there is havoc in society and women have to suffer a lot of violence.

The society that treats women as mere sex-objects will not treat women in a more human way if they are scarce in supply, on the contrary, there will be increased incidences of forced polyandry.

In some parts of Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab among certain communities, the sex-ratio is extremely adverse for women. There is a wife shared by a set of brothers and sometimes even by Patrilateral Parallel Cousins.

Prenatal sex-determination and selective abortions have highly undesirable effects on women’s health. Some times after sex-determination test abortion is carried out during 16 to 18 weeks and abortion at such a late stage is quite harmful for the mother and sometimes it can result in death of a woman.

Such test can cause damage to the foetus also. It can also result in puncture marks on the foetus and infection of the respiratory tract. So it is true that, female foeticide is very dangerous and effects the whole society and is an invitation for future calamity to eliminate such evil practice our Government is making various efforts.

Our Parliament has enacted. Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) of Act 1994 to prevent people from indulging female foeticide. There are also provisions in our Indian Penal Code for illegal abortion from section 312 to section 318 of the code. In both the Act and code there are provisions for punishment, with imprisonment and fine for selective sex-abortion or illegal abortion against both doctors who perform or parents or for in-laws.

But such Act and provisions of code are too feeble to cope up with the increasing problem of female foeticide and they are inadequate to tackle the increasing popularity of female foeticide. Many reasons are responsible for increasing practice of female foeticide and one of the major reasons is the traditional custom of Dowry in Indian society.

The tradition of dowry has become more oppressive and has assumed the form of continuous demands of the bride-takers causing untold strain to the bride-givers. Modernization and free market consumerism have perpetuated dowry especially amongst the educated classes. And so a girl is treated as economic drain because she crushes her family with marriage and dowry expenses. A female is always undesirable in families.

Another important reason for increasing abortions is social worth, social fear or desire of son. The birth of son is greatly desired in most of the Indian communities and it is believed that only “birth of son” gives social worth to a mother.

And so sometimes women themselves enthusiastically go for amniocentesis test out of their free will.

Another important reason is the greedy doctors who encourage the practice of sex-determination test and of course female foeticide too. Such doctors use the medical advance technology to mint easy money, some doctors in spite of ban on test advertise secretly for performance of such in their clinics. They are the professional deviants who by such test act against their professional ethics only to satisfy their greed and kill a female before she takes her first breath in this world.

Sometimes in some instances it is said that, poverty and illiteracy may be the main cause of fast increasing female foeticide.

It is concluded from above discussion that social prejudices against women have to be overcome by improving her overall status in society. The most urgent need today is to tackle each and every discrimination against women and then only it can be said that the Indian constitution treats every women equal in status to the man as citizen and as an individual partner to democratic system of India.

And so it is recommended that the responsible persons of society such as lawyers, teachers, doctors, woman activists, social researchers actively participate in the movement against such test. There is need to discuss the issue at the social level by such responsible people.

There is also need for state intervention through appropriate, adequate legislations and there is urgent need to enact strict rigorous punishment in the present Act against the doctors who are responsible for performing such test and also the in-laws and on women also who are eager to get such test performed.

And in all efforts the most important work is to be conducted by the Media; with their help we can convey to the people the bad effects of test on women as well as on society and in such way we can easily make the public aware against such test. Only public awareness is the most effective solution for this problem.

Social boycott of such deviant doctors may make other doctors who try to perform such test fearful and it is true that only social attitude can change any situation. If society changes, traditional attitude of “Worth to the only boy” then battle against such test is almost won and so there is urgent need for restructuring the social attitudes through public education and consciousness rising from public awareness.

It is necessary to make the woman aware of her own identity as a woman, and that without any social fear she gives birth to a female child, and female child should also be given her social worth in future.

If we want to change the attitude of the whole society, firstly, it is necessary that parents should give security, education, nutrition and medication to both sons and daughters and not discriminate against her in families.

Household tasks should be shared both by sons and daughters. It is in the home, that correct attitude and action are founded and in this natural environment the child can then develop a sound basis for valuing both the sexes.