Infanticide, Abortion Responsible for 60 Million Girls Missing in Asia
Pastor Dale Morgan
Infanticide, Abortion Responsible for 60 Million Girls Missing in Asia*
June 14, 2007
By Sherry Karabin
There is a little-known battle for survival going in some parts of the
world. Those at risk are baby girls, and the casualties are in the
millions each year. The weapons being used against them are prenatal sex
selection, abortion and female infanticide — the systematic killing of
girls soon after they are born.
According to a recent United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) State of
the World Population Report, these practices, combined with neglect,
have resulted in at least 60 million "missing" girls in Asia, creating
gender imbalances and other serious problems that experts say will have
far reaching consequences for years to come.
"Twenty-five million men in China currently can’t find brides because
there is a shortage of women," said Steven Mosher, president of the
Population Research Institute in Washington, D.C. "The young men
emigrate overseas to find brides."
The imbalances are also giving rise to a commercial sex trade; the 2005
report states that up to 800,000 people being trafficked across borders
each year, and as many as 80 percent are women and girls, most of whom
are exploited.
"Women are trafficked from North Korea, Burma and Vietnam and sold into
sexual slavery or to the highest bidder," Mosher said.
State-Sanctioned Infanticide?
Mosher, the first American social scientist allowed into China, puts
much of the blame on Beijing's one-child policy, which took effect in 1979.
The policy encourages late marrying and late childbearing, and it limits
the majority of urban couples to having one child and most of those
living in rural areas to two. Female infanticide was the result, he said.
"Historically infanticide was something that was practiced in poor
places in China," Mosher said. "But when the one-child policy came into
effect we began to see in the wealthy areas of China, what had never
been done before in history — the killing of little girls."
In recent years, female infanticide has taken a back seat to
sex-selective abortion or female feticide, due to the advent of
amniocentesis and ultrasound technology as well as other prenatal sex
selection techniques, many of which are now readily available in clinics
and doctors’ offices.
"We feel it's a serious problem that everybody should be concerned about
and aware of," said Wanda Franz, president of the National Right to Life
Committee. "This is a form of abortion that, from our point of view is
especially egregious. Abortion is claimed to help women; obviously in
these cases, females are the direct victims, because women in these
cultures are not valued.
"In our family we adopted a Chinese baby," she continued. "There have
been thousands and thousands of them adopted since China’s one-child
policy created this overabundance of baby girls in orphanages."
How bad are the imbalances between males and females in Asia?
Generally, the normal sex ratio at birth (SRB) is between 103 and 105
males per 100 females, and in rare cases 106 or a bit more than that.
Countries that are known to have or have had higher sex ratio at birth
numbers include South Korea, which peaked at 115 in 1994, Singapore
where the SRB registered 109 in 1984 and China, which has seen the
numbers increase over the past two decades.
Published reports in China show the gender ratio for newborns in 2005
was 118 boys for every 100 girls, and in some southern regions like
Guangdong and Hainan, the number has reached 130 boys for every 100 girls.
The 2000 Chinese census put the average sex ratio at 117, with Tibet
having the lowest number at 103 and Hainan registering the highest at 136.
Nicholas Eberstadt, a researcher at the American Enterprise Institute
for Public Policy Research in Washington, D.C., attributes the large
sex-ratio imbalances in places like China to a combination of factors:
an enormous and enduring preference for boys reinforced by the low
socioeconomic status accorded to women; the use of rapidly spreading
prenatal sex determination technology for gender-based abortion; and the
rapid drop in fertility in different populations, making the outcome of
each birth even more important.
"The one-child policy intensifies this problem, but if that policy stops
and fertility levels stay at one or two, the problem won’t entirely go
away," Eberstadt said. "When the average number is down to one or two,
there is an incentive for parents to meddle with the outcome. In places
where fertility levels are high, there are few signs of sex selection."
In his presentation before the World Youth Alliance in New York City
last April, Eberstadt warned that "The Global War Against Baby Girls" is
expanding.
"There are gender imbalances in almost every East Asian country, but
Japan," said Eberstadt, who has also noted alarming irregularities in
Western Asia in places like Cyprus, Qatar and Pakistan, as well as in
some countries on the African continent, including Egypt, Libya and Tunisia.
Indian Girls Bear Dowry Burden
In India, where the child sex ratio is calculated as the number of girls
per 1,000 boys in the 0-6 years age group, the problem is severe. The
2001 Census shows there are only 927 girls per 1,000 boys, representing
a sharp decline from 1961 when that number was 976. In certain parts of
the country there are now fewer than 800 girls for every 1,000 boys.
"India is a very mixed bag," Eberstadt said. "In some parts there are no
signs of any unnatural imbalances; in other parts the numbers are
grotesque."
For instance, 2001 census reports show that Punjab and Haryana reported
fewer than 900 girls per 1,000 boys.
"The problem is more prevalent in the northern and western states, where
prosperity, rapid fertility decline and patriarchal (male heads the
family) mindsets combine to put girls at risk," said Ena Singh, the
assistant representative at UNFPA.
Like China, there is a strong son preference for various socio-economic
reasons, such as the son being responsible for carrying on the family
name and support in old age. Furthermore, in some sections of India it
is believed that only sons can perform the last rites for parents.
In addition to sharing a strong son preference, both India and China
lack a national social-security system. As it is assumed that a daughter
will become a part of her husband’s family, parents must rely on their
sons to take care of them.
Since the 1970s, India’s government has promoted a two-child family as
"ideal." While no formal laws exist, the general fertility decline in
the country has led to smaller families, with couples still preferring
to have at least one son. But the government has done more than just
suggest this number.
"In India it has been done state by state, village by village," Mosher
said. "There have sterilization campaigns and there is enormous
pressure. Villages that won’t comply have been denied fertilizer, access
to irrigation water, etc."
Complicating matters even further in India is the dowry system, where
families pay large sums in order to marry off their daughters. Although
prohibited in 1961, newspaper reports illustrate the continuing
phenomenon. This can be very expensive for families, adding to the
perception that girls can be a financial burden.
Abortion is legal in India under certain conditions, but sex-selective
abortions or female feticide is a crime.
In 1994, the government enacted the Preconception and Prenatal
Diagnostic Techniques Act (PC & PNDT), which prohibited those conducting
such tests from telling or otherwise communicating to the woman or her
family the sex of the fetus. The law was amended in 2003 to prohibit sex
selection before or after conception.
"In recent years, prenatal sex selection and female feticide in India
has increased," Singh said. "Though it is against the law for ultrasound
technologies to be used to detect the sex of the child, it is still done
illegally."
In 2006 a doctor and his assistant in the northern state of Haryana were
sentenced to two years in jail and fined for revealing the sex of a
female fetus and agreeing to abort it. It was the first time medical
professionals were sentenced to jail time under the (PC & PNDT) Act.
Three years earlier, a doctor in Punjab received a fine. Singh estimates
that hundreds more cases are being investigated across the country and
taken to court.
Experts who have analyzed the National Family Health Survey 2 (NFHS2)
estimate that about 300,000 girls go "missing" in India each year. Other
studies have put the number between 150,000 and 500,000.
While many people see this as a problem of the poor, analysts say it is
more prevalent among those in the wealthier and educated segments of
society.
Men in parts of India are also beginning to have difficulties finding
brides, causing some to leave the country to do so.
"Hindu girls are being smuggled and purchased from poor countries like
Nepal and Bhutan to be brides for Indian men," said Bernard Dickens,
professor emeritus of health law and policy at the University of Toronto
Law School.
Combating the Problem
In recent years various Indian state governments and media houses have
launched initiatives to address the gender imbalances, including "Save
the Girl Child" campaigns.
Last February, the Indian government announced its "cradle scheme,"
whereby orphanages would be set up to raise unwanted baby girls. Other
incentives include tax rebates on ownership of properties and reserving
seats for female candidates in villages, districts and at municipal levels.
Community groups, corporations and individuals have also started various
efforts to enhance the status of the girl child. In March 2007,
politician Sonia Gandhi, chairwoman of the United Progressive Alliance,
spoke out against female feticide and the need for gender equality at
the at the International Women’s Day celebrations in New Delhi.
Lara Dutta, UNFPA’s goodwill ambassador, a popular actress and Miss
Universe 2000, has also been working extensively with young people to
raise awareness about the issue.
China too has enacted laws in an effort to meet its goal of lowering the
sex ratio at birth to normal levels by 2010.
In 1994, the Mother and Child Health Law of the Peoples Republic of
China outlawed the practice of sex identification of the fetus and
sex-selective abortions without medical requirements. This was
reaffirmed in the 2002 Population and Family Planning Law.
Officials also started the "Care for Girls" campaign to promote equality
for men and women and economic support is being offered to girl-only
families in the countryside.
"Raising awareness is important," said William Ryan, a Asia and Pacific
regional information advisor for the United Nations Population Fund. "I
think the effort to emphasize equality of the sexes and the value of
women in society will help reduce the problem in the long run."
China Holds On to One Child
However, China has pledged to keep its one-child policy in place until
the year 2050, a policy which it admits is "related" to the large sex
imbalances in the country.
"The implications are potentially disastrous," Mosher said. "The answer
is economic development, not restricting the number of people."
This year, the United States sponsored a resolution at the U.N.’s
Commission on the Status of Women that called for eliminating
infanticide and gender selection. The resolution was withdrawn due to
opposition from several countries, including China and India; however,
the issue of prenatal sex selection was included in the final conference
document.
Interestingly South Korea was one of the countries to support the
resolution. Like China and India, it too has had its own problems with
sex imbalances; however, progress is being made.
If the imbalances continue, Adam Jones, executive director of Gendercide
Watch, sees another possible outcome.
"Because of the disparity, surviving women have greater market value,"
he said. "As a result, it may become more economically viable for
families to have girl children, thus reducing rates of female
infanticide and sex selection."
As China and India work toward solving their problems, Eberstadt points
out that three large European countries are also showing disturbing signs.
"Greece, Macedonia and Yugoslavia betray some hints of prejudicial death
rates for little girls in the post-war period," he said. While the
numbers are very small, he notes they are "nonetheless curious and unusual.
"In the western hemisphere, Venezuela and El Salvador both have
unnatural death rates for little girls and now also display unnatural
sex ratios at birth," he continued.
Published reports point to problems among some immigrant groups in
Canada as well. And even in the United States, Eberstadt said, some
Asian-American populations have begun to "exhibit sex ratios at birth
that could be considered biologically impossible."
"Since the mid-1990s, the issue of female infanticide and sex selection
has been highlighted in several conferences and in several U.N.
documents," said Samantha Singson, chief U.N. liaison for the Catholic
Family and Human Rights Institute. "Unfortunately the issue isn’t
getting as much attention as we feel it deserves."