A double whammy to the girl child’s survival

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A double whammy to the girl child’s survival

Friday, 25 September 2020 | Swapna Majumdar

The rising crime against women has emerged as yet another factor for augmenting the traditional preference for sons

Last week, a six-month pregnant woman in Badaun, Uttar Pradesh (UP), was attacked by her husband with a sharp-edged weapon. Her family alleged that he slit her stomach to find out the gender of the unborn baby. They told the police that the father of five daughters was so desperate for a son that he resorted to this brutal way to check if the foetus was that of a boy or a girl. Although a First Information Report (FIR) has been registered and the husband arrested, this gruesome crime underlines once again the deeply-entrenched preference for sons in our culture. Despite the best efforts of the Union Government, States and non-governmental organisations over the years, there seems to be very little change in attitudes towards the girl child in the country. This is not just deeply worrying but also frightening.

It is not, however, surprising that girls are less valued than boys in UP, a State that has recorded the most crimes against women in the country. The latest 2018 National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data ranked the State as the worst for women’s security with 59, 443 crimes against them. Incidentally, in 2018, the crime rate was the highest for cruelty by husbands and relatives. Although the NCRB data for 2019 has not been released as yet, media reports of crimes against women in UP during the last two years do not inspire confidence in the possibility of any turnaround.

But do the rising crimes against women have any bearing on the preference for a son? Yes, says a new study conducted in UP and Haryana. Its objective was to examine discrimination against the girl child and its linkages with the declining child sex ratio and violence against women. The report states that the responsibility of security and maintaining the chastity of daughters in the context of rising sexual violence in the country has added to the larger concern of wanting a son. In other words, the increasing crime against women has emerged as yet another factor for augmenting the traditional preference for a son.

Supported by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), the study was conducted by Bijaylaxmi Nanda, Nupur Ray and Ritwika Mukherjee. The preliminary findings indicate that perceptions about crime play a pivotal role in the increasing preference for a male child. Thus, as long as women continue to remain insecure in the nation, chances that girls will be unwanted by families will be high.

Further, with three out of every 10 women, who had more daughters than sons, reporting that the husband/family members express dissatisfaction at the birth of a girl child, the study also reinforces the fact that gender inequality remains at the heart of violence against women in UP. The male offspring is preferred because he is culturally perceived as a protector and provider during the old age of the parents. An earlier study to understand the intrinsic relationship between masculinity, son preference and intimate partner violence came to similar conclusions.

The 2014 study by the International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), found that in UP, the two most important reasons for having a son were to carry on the family name and to provide support to parents in their old age. Six years later, as the ICSSR study shows, little seems to have changed on the ground.

The ICRW-UNFPA report found that of the seven States studied, UP had the largest proportion of men reporting high control over their intimate partners and the lowest proportion of men displaying gender equitable attitudes.

Education is a big tool to engender transformation in beliefs, attitudes and practice. It is an equally important predictor of son-preference attitudes. In UP, the ICRW-UNFPA study found that 55 per cent of men with no education had a high preference for sons compared to 39 per cent of men with graduation or higher degrees.

Studies have shown that spouses of men with no or little education are unlikely to have ready access to sexual and reproductive health services. In the Badaun case, the fact that the woman had five children and was pregnant with her sixth child indicates she may have faced barriers in accessing family planning services. The fourth National Family Health Survey (NFHS 2015-16) states that the unmet need in UP was 18 per cent for currently married women aged between 15 and 49 years. This means an estimated 8.2 million women have been denied access to family planning. In Badaun, which has a more than 70 per cent rural population, the total unserviced need is almost 14 per cent. This is higher than the national average of 12.9 per cent.

The preference for sons puts women under so much pressure to produce a male heir that many times they are forced into numerous pregnancies and a series of abortions until they do so. The preference for a son has led to around 4,60,000 girls going missing due to sex selection at birth each year between 2013 and 2017, according to the UNFPA’s 2020 State of the Population Report.

Last month, noted researcher Fengqing Chao of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia, and his colleagues projected an even darker future for girls in India. According to their research published in the journal PLOS ONE, the average annual number of missing female births between 2017 and 2025 was likely to be 4,69,000 per year and would increase to 5,19,000 per year for the time period between 2026 to 2030. This research singles out UP as the Indian State most likely to have the maximum missing female births due to the preference for a boy and accounting for almost a third of the total number projected.

But girls don’t just go missing at birth. India also has the highest rate of excess girl child deaths at 13.5 per 1,000 births. This critical data suggest post-birth sex selection. An estimated one in nine deaths of girls below the age of five may be attributed to post-birth sex selection, says the  UNFPA report. So, while gender-biased sex selection accounts for about two-thirds of the total missing girls, post-birth girl child mortality accounts for about one-third.

 UP lags behind on many indicators of gender equality, including early marriage and crimes against women.

If Yogi Adityanath really wants development, the Chief Minister must make greater investments in improving gender indicators. Prejudice against girls can be countered by programmes that focus on engaging boys and instilling values of gender equality in them at an early age. Comprehensive sex education in schools could help redefine notions of masculinity and foster respect for women. 

(The writer is a senior journalist)

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