JEREMY COPELAND:
Female feticide
CBC News Viewpoint | May 12, 2004 | More from Jeremy Copeland
A proverb sums up the way girls in India are seen as an economic burden on their parents. It says: "Raising a girl is like watering the neighbour's garden."
The unfortunate truth in this saying has led to a problem labelled female feticide. Although it's illegal in India, expecting couples are using ultrasound tests to determine the sex of their fetus. The preference for boys is so strong that many women choose to abort rather than give birth to a girl.
The extent of the problem is evident in the latest national census results. Only 927 girls are born for every 1,000 boys. In some parts of the country there are fewer than eight girls for every 10 boys. India's health minister described the drop in the ratio of female to male births as "alarming."
I visited a women's shelter in South Delhi to meet women who have suffered because of the prejudice against female babies. The shelter often suffers from power cuts and when I visited was no exception. The two rooms were dimly lit by sunlight that shone through a small window. About 10 women played with their baby girls in the waiting room while I spoke to 19-year-old Susheela in the office.
Susheela is barely five feet tall. With her long, straight black hair and smooth, light-brown skin she looks like someone who should be studying for a test in high school, not fighting against prejudices that date back thousands of years.
In a country where sons have far more status than daughters, Susheela did what many Indian women are too afraid to do: she gave birth to a baby girl. Twelve weeks into her pregnancy she went for an ultrasound test and the doctor accepted a bribe to reveal the sex of her fetus. When he announced Susheela was carrying a girl, her husband and mother-in-law tried to force her to have an abortion.
"They didn't let me eat food. There were times when I went hungry for as many as two to three days," Susheela says.
"They used to beat me. On two or three occasions my husband kicked me very hard in the stomach. My mother-in-law was also very unsupportive. If I complained to her she would blame and accuse me."
At the time of their daughter's marriage, parents in India usually have to pay for the wedding and give a large dowry to the groom's family. Parents are often forced to take out huge loans to cover the costs. After the wedding the girl usually goes to live with her husband's family.
There are also religious reasons parents want a son. More than 800 million Indians are Hindu and their faith says only male children can perform the last rights for their parents.
An older woman I met at the women's shelter suffered for years as she gave birth to six girls before she finally had a son. "Other women used to shout at me if I came close to their sons. They would say I'm unclean or will bring bad luck because I only give birth to girls," Jamila told me.
Jamila comes from a poor village and could not afford ultrasound tests. She says each time a girl was born her family was dejected and quietly left the hospital. "When I had my son my husband's family had a big celebration at the hospital and everyone came with presents and money."
The prejudice against girls is nothing new but many people had hoped that as more Indians were educated and as the middle class grew, the problem would gradually disappear. The opposite seems to be happening. The rate of girls to boys is lowest in the wealthiest states and neighbourhoods. In the Punjab, one of the richest states in India, there are only 793 young girls for every 1,000 boys.
Dr. Sharda Jain is a gynecologist in an affluent part of East Delhi. She's campaigned for years to raise awareness about female feticide. Like many other clinics and hospitals in India, there's a sign outside her office that says: "Here pre-natal sex determination is not done. It is punishable act."
Seven years ago India passed a law that made it illegal for doctors to tell patients the sex of their fetus but Dr. Jain says many doctors ignore the law even though they could lose their medical licence. Only the parents and a doctor or technician are in the room when an ultrasound is done so there's almost no risk of being caught.
Getting a test is cheap and easy. One clinic I visited had a sign offering ultrasound tests for 250 rupees (less than $8). Abortions are legal in India so once the sex of the fetus is determined, it's easy to obtain one. Dr. Jain says her patients have no problem finding clinics that will tell them if they're carrying a boy or a girl.
"I know this because if a woman whose first child is a girl goes through with her second pregnancy, then 95 per cent of the time she will have a boy."
As India strives to become a developed country, it seems unable to let go of its old prejudices. Activists say for women to protect their unborn daughters and granddaughters they will have to change not only their husbands' attitudes but also their own.
Susheela and her three-month-old baby show how deeply rooted prejudices are against girls. She says her husband and her mother-in-law wanted nothing to do with her daughter after she was born.
"His response was not like a father should react to his daughter," she explained as she sipped sweet milky tea and nibbled on crackers.
"He did not pick up the child or show any affection, he just looked at her coldly. His mother was also very indifferent towards the baby. Even when my husband tried to show a hint of affection my mother-in-law would discourage him, saying, 'girls are not good.' She literally ordered him to stay away from the child."
Susheela has been thrown out of her husband's home and is now living with her parents.
She's getting divorced and may have to live the rest of her life as a single woman. In India it's hard enough to find a man who would marry a woman who carries the stigma of being divorced, let alone one who has a baby girl.
But Susheela's daughter is healthy and the baby girl has at least one parent willing to go to extreme measures to protect her.
^TOP
|
|
 |
 MENU |
|
|
| ABOUT VIEWPOINT: |
Viewpoint is CBC.ca's place for informed opinion and commentary. Our goal is to provide a range of informed perspectives from around the world and here at home on issues of interest to Canadians. All material published in the Viewpoint section is subject to CBC’s journalistic policy, standards and practices.
Writing for Viewpoint
We accept queries from people with significant expertise in their field and previous writing experience. We are interested in domestic and international contributions. We do not accept unsolicited finished pieces.
If you want to contribute to Viewpoint, please send your query to letters@cbc.ca with VIEWPOINT in the subject line and please include three samples of your published work. Columns are typically 800 words in length and focus on timely issues, events or personal stories with wide appeal. Please familiarize yourself with our content before submitting your ideas. Only those accepted will be contacted.
|
|
| FEEDBACK: |
|
|
| BIOGRAPHY: |
JEREMY COPELAND
FREELANCE WRITER
Jeremy Copeland is the CBC's videojournalist in India. From New Delhi he
also writes for the Globe and Mail and does news and documentaries for CBC
and BBC Radio. He joined the CBC in 1998 and worked as a senior writer at
Newsworld before moving to London in 2000. He joined BBC World Television
and worked as a senior broadcast journalist on the hourly newscasts until
moving to India in 2003.
|
|
| MORE: |
|
|
|
