914 girls for every 1,000 boys... India's disturbing trend

[tomm2thumbs]

Disturbing 2011 census report in India

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/eo20110425gb.html

excerpt:

There are only 914 girls, 6 years old and under, for every 1,000 boys­ — not shocking if one considers that as many as 60,000 girls go missing every year. To use the word missing is a misnomer: The girls are killed often as soon as they are born in a society obsessed with boys. Many are aborted in the womb.

Social activist Sabu George, who has been working on gender issues for a quarter century, says that the murder of girls is nothing but "gendercide." More than 8 million girls have been killed in the last decade alone, pulling the sex ratio from 927 in 2001 to 914 in 2011.

"We will soon have the dubious distinction of being the nation eliminating the largest number of girls every year — along with being a place that has the largest number of starving children and the highest maternal mortality," George said. "In the coming decade, over 10 million girls will be killed if something is not done immediately to stop this massacre."

______

article is worth a read

[niyad]

1. k and r for the horrifying reality of the hatred and war against women.

[Atypical Liberal]

15. The double-edged sword of choice.

If you support the right of women to choose to abort fetuses for any reason, as I do, then this is a logical consequence. As in utero diagnostics become better, people will abort for a whole host of reasons. It will be an era of designer babies based on intentional selection.

Pro-choice means pro-choices you may not like.

[ParkieDem]

18. I know ... this worries me too.

There are so many promising developments in pre-natal genetic therapy ... like the potential ability to eliminate cancer-prone genes and other life-saving treatments. The ethical dilemma arises when, say the doctor is going in to alter some genes that could predispose someone to heart disease, and the parents say "well, can you go ahead and give him/her blonde hair and blue eyes, too?"

Or even worse, what about genetic indications of homosexuality? I hate to quote this guy on here, but Rush Limbaugh once said that if a "gay gene" were ever discovered and isolated, the GLBT community would become pro-life in a heartbeat, for fear that parents would abort fetuses discovered to have the "gay gene." I'm not sure I agree with him completely, but that is a disturbing thought to consider.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

21. indian women are not legally allowed to choose abortion based on gender

technically doctors are not allowed to tell you the gender of your child.

[Atypical Liberal]

22. They should be.

Women should have the right to choose to have an abortion for any reason whatsoever.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

28. well no, their abortion right really remains, they just dont get told

the gender of the fetus to prevent selecting abortion on that criterion alone

[snagglepuss]

31. Its done all the time. India is rift with corruption and graft.

[PassingFair]

2. Religious tradition.

They need to dump the dowry system.

[tomm2thumbs]

3. 'economically well-off states... in the forefront'

more than money issues for sure

[SoCalDem]

4. And a nasty surprise when all those boys grow up & cannot find a bride

This is a problem in China too where females were not the choice when a 1-child policy was so strictly enforced..

Women are the caretakers of the elderly, and with one son, there are many villages with scads of poor old people with no one to care for them, because the young men cannot find anyone to marry in their villages and there are no jobs either, so they head for the cities. The problem there is that when they get to the cities, the few women available are quite picky, and they can afford to be, so many younger uneducated men will never marry..

Countries with an overabundance of young men can use them in armies though..:(

[Hestia]

8. NG Explorer with Lisa Ling had a show about it - first thing my husband

said, if the Chinese men cannot find a woman to kidnap (in the country - the girl is let go as soon as she produces a boy), is the entire country will more than likely be homosexual.

The two countries with the most population hates women/girls, something doesn't add up there, does it? Of course in India there is no limit on how many children can be produced.

[SoCalDem]

10. except that in India, a daughter costs a lot to get "married off", and if sons are preferred

& they keep doing away with the girls, they end up with a lot of frustrated angry sons.. nature knows best..always has..

[Atypical Liberal]

19. That tide will turn.

With enough shortage of women, you'll end up with reverse dowries. Men will be paying for brides, instead of vice versa.

[Atypical Liberal]

16. This assumes you can choose your sexual orientation.

if the Chinese men cannot find a woman to kidnap (in the country - the girl is let go as soon as she produces a boy), is the entire country will more than likely be homosexual.

This assumes you can choose your sexual orientation, which most people, including gay people, I have asked online and in person deny.

[Johonny]

29. it doesn't assume bin thinking

that a person is either in the straight bin or the homosexual bin. Most studies of actual people shows people have a spectrum of actual sexual behavior. Since China is a rather closed society I doubt very much many males will be inclined to be openly gay. Without any females to express othersides of their personality I imagine in both India and China that the Japanese society where virtual girlfriends and such are the rage.

[no_hypocrisy]

5. Many pregnant parents have been requesting sonograms for years now,

not to confirm the health and vitality of their unborn child, but to decide whether to continue the pregnancy or to abort the female fetus.

[houstonintc]

6. Their culture isn't our issue...

If that is what their society does and works there really isn't much we (Non-Indian) Americans can do vis a vis their practice of infanticide.

[Kurska]

9. Being of a different culture doesn't excuse barbarity and murder.

The concept behind human rights is that they are universal, no matter what god you follow, what language you speak or what holidays you celebrate.

A breach of them anywhere is something worth speaking against.

[houstonintc]

11. Speak against, actively coercing... No

First the idea that each Individual has rights is not a universal concept shared by every society on the planet. Government and International organizations aside, not every society has this idea within itself.

Certainly infanticide is something we should advocate against. But what exactly does one propose we do? And remember I'd prefer not to annihilate their entire society so it can be remade in our image.

[BOG PERSON]

7. 8 million girls killed in ten years??

how is this not perceived as a humanitarian crisis by the "international community"??

[spinbaby]

12. Normally 105 boys are born for every 100 girls

It's normal for about 5% more boys to be born, but it looks like India's ratio is skewed to about 109 boys for every 100 girls.

[Atypical Liberal]

13. The good news is...

The good news is that this will be a self-correcting problem. If you ever really want to see policy changes, just fuck with men's ability to fuck. You saw how fast Viagra got covered by insurance, right?

Of course, the bad news is there's nothing like an abundance of sexually-frustrated young men to fuel extremism.

[Motown_Johnny]

14. and in China....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5953508

^snip^

‘Missing girls’

From a relatively normal ratio of 108.5 boys to 100 girls in the early 80s, the male surplus progressively rose to 111 in 1990, 116 in 2000, and now is close to 120 boys for each 100 girls at the present time, according to a Chinese think-tank report.

[Broderick]

23. I was wondering about that.

Thanks for that information.

[Liberal_in_LA]

34. I posted an article about this a few weeks ago. Chinese females now control marriage

males having a hard time getting married. Have to have lots of money and own a home.

[TlalocW]

17. I read a book once

Nonfiction - about a Pakistan man, who was mainly raised in England, becoming obsessed with learning magic (sleight-of-hand, trickery, etc. - not the supposedly real kind) and being especially interested in the kind of fakery done in India (that a friend of the family from India had once demonstrated) so he took a leave of absence from his respected, well-paying job and toured India. During his travels, he came across "doctors" who went from village to village with a dilapidated x-ray machine, performing abortions at the request of couples who learned they were having girls. Somewhat shocking to say the least.

TlalocW

[LetTimmySmoke]

20. Society cannot afford sexism anymore.

[thereismore]

24. Traditions and superstition is responsible. Maybe religion too. nt

[JI7]

25. Kerala which is more socialist with high literacy rate has more females than males

again, it comes back to equality and education.

in areas like education, health care etc their system is socialist than other states.

the worst states are places like Punjab where the culture is all about the macho man being in charge shit.

Kerala also has a low birthrate which is another thing that usually comes with higher education.

[houstonintc]

26. Isn't that still a problem?

More women the men... isn't that also a sexism thing if the reasons are similar to the reasons for the inverse effect in other parts of India?

[JI7]

27. the percentage is like 51 women 49 men

it's just how the numbers end up without selecting for sex.

that's different from those other states where the numbers are due to their targeting females to get rid of.

so it's not a problem and not as bad as those other states.

my point was that the system which is more socialistic and promotes equality and education is why they are more equal than the other states.

[snagglepuss]

30. Please cite your source because I have read (I believe in the Guardian)

that sex selection is done regardless of educational level.

[JI7]

32. not just education level but equality which Kerala has more of than other places

Kerala is a State in India. Punjab i belive has the highest difference in birth of males and females.

Kerala tends to be more socialist than other states.


http://www.deepthi.com/kerala/about-kerala/kerala-demographics.html

[La Lioness Priyanka]

35. the less diff in male-female income the less likely that female fetus's are aborted

[Quantess]

33. If they all survived, the overpopulation would be careening out of control that much faster.

But of course this is a shameful way to go about population control.

Instead of such tasteless means of selective "family planning", how about giving them all the contraceptives services they need? That would help reduce the number of starving children. But the Pope wouldn't approve.

[tomm2thumbs]

36. the parallels with China made were interesting /nt