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Female Foeticide by Sudhir
Female Foeticide by Sudhir
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Female Foeticide
[A Legal Helplessness & Remedial Measures for Mitigation of Female Foeticide]
2009
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Preface
The plight of the girl child is a subject of great socio-legal significance. Female foeticide is not
only a social issue but also a social problem. Female foeticide is violation of rights to life basic human rights and guaranteed under the constitution. The matter is highly sensitive as it relates to the issue of gender justice. A glance at newspaper of any day would bring to light the fact that the female foeticide, infanticide, child prostitution, sexual abuse, dowry deaths, eve-teasing, and abduction rampant in our society. Welfare measure like empowerment of women, reservation in parliament, free education to girl child and a whole lot of other progressive initiatives do not make sense when we look at case of female foeticide. This reminds us social, ethical and moral insensitivity prevalent in our society. Law alone cannot affect change in society especially which is complex and multilayered as ours. We require a massive social reorientation and gender sensitization. The gravity of problem demands immediate measures to combat female foeticide. But the complexity and deep rooted ness of the issue necessitates a long term intervention framework. Days are not so far, when there may be emergence of the situation where brides will not be available for the marriage of the sons to maintain lineage and continue the human race of even those people who believe on long standing tradition of son preference, that only sons can offer pyre Pindadana, Mukhagni and not the daughters. Therefore it is felt that the mindsets of the people should be changed right from now towards the importance of girl child in the family. You can tell the condition of a nation by looking at the status of its women said Jawaharlal Nehru. So my Respective & my friends only you can stop this social problem and only you can save the daughters, sisters and mothers of India.
Sudhir Verma
(Trainee social worker)
Sudhir Verma & Meenu Nagpal (Jain Vishva Bharati University, Ladnun. Nagaur, RAJ.)
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Acknowledgement
Every child comes into this world with the message that God is not yet disappointed with
man. said the great Noble Laureate Rabindernath Tagore. But alias! The girl child she is hated even before her birth. Girls & women face inequality everywhere but in India very often they do not even get a fighting chance to lead healthy and productive lives. I Presented this paper on Female Foeticide: A Legal Helplessness & Remedial Measures for Mitigation of Female Foeticide with my co-partner Meenu Nagpal at National Seminar on New Dimension of Law: Growth & Relevance (22-23 Oct. 2009) at University Institute of Law, Punjab University Regional Centre, Ludhiana (Punjab). First and foremost, I owe thanks to Dr. Pratibha J. Mishra, Asst. Professor & Directorate of Extension Department, and J.V.B.U for entrusting this presentation to me and providing reading material at different stages of the preparation of presentation. I express my gratitude to Mr. Asutosh Pradhan, Asst. Professor, Dept. of social work J.V.B.U for his guidance and cooperation. The presentation would not have come in its present shape without the active assistance of Meenu Nagpal. She has been of immense help at every stage of the presentation. I express my special thanks for her tireless contribution in logical completion of the presentation. I express my sincere thanks to all the faculty members, Dept. of social work J.V.B.U Ladnun. I express my special thanks to my friends and my class fellows for their hidden support. Last but not the least, I am thankful to Dr. J.P.N. Mishra sir, Registrar, J.V.B.U, Ladnun for his overwhelming support and gave permission.
Sudhir Verma
(Trainee Social Worker) Sudhir Verma & Meenu Nagpal (Jain Vishva Bharati University, Ladnun. Nagaur, RAJ.)
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Content
S.N.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Topic
Female foeticide: A Legal Helplessness Is Female foeticide is Legal or illegal? The terrible impact of Sex Selection Sex Selection abortion: Legal vs. Social Justice Statistical data of recent Researchers Legislation for Female Foeticide PCPNDT ACT : A Review Some Important fact finding after the implementation of the Act Loophole in the Act Sex Selection: A Big Question in front of Legislation (Ban against sex selection & Is total Ban necessary?)
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6 6-7 7 7-8 8-12 13 14 14-15 15 16-17
11 12 13 14
Remedial Measures for Mitigation of Female Foeticide Some Photographs (Related to condition of Girl Child) References About Writers & Department of Social Work, J.V.B.U.
Sudhir Verma & Meenu Nagpal (Jain Vishva Bharati University, Ladnun. Nagaur, RAJ.)
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Sudhir Verma & Meenu Nagpal (Jain Vishva Bharati University, Ladnun. Nagaur, RAJ.)
6|Page have a say in the decisions that involve them or their body. They are not practicing their freedom of choice when aborting their child. Majority of them are pressured into doing so covertly. The terrible impact of sex selection The 2001 Census data and other studies illustrate the terrible impact of sex selection in India over the last decade-and-a-half. A machine just of Rupees one lack causes the sex selection possible for first time in human species. The child sex ratio (0-5 years) declined from 945 girls to 1,000 boys in 1991 to 927 in the 2001 census. In the 1991 census, there was one district with a sex ratio below 850:1,000. There were 45 such districts in the 2001 census. The sharpest declines in sex ratio were in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Uttaranchal, Maharashtra (with 4,345 registered ultrasound clinics or centers out of a total 28,000 or so nationwide) and Chandigarh, where sex selection technology was widely available. The 10 districts with the worst sex ratios in the country all below 800 are all in Haryana and Punjab. Nine lack girls are being eliminated every year before the take birth.
7|Page felt. Owners of the hospital, Dr. APS Gambhir and Dr. Jatinder Gambhir have changed the name of the hospital from Jatinder Gambhir Hospital to Angat Superspecialty Hospital. Is this a sign that being identified as a kudimaar carries a threat of social stigma in that society? If we thus interpret it, then it asks for the offenders to be spotlighted more often. Understandably, determining whether an abortion is genuinely sex-selective will not be straightforward and will have to run its course to ensure that legal justice is served. However, social boycott of those businesses (hospitals and ultrasound clinics are businesses) that practice or abet KUDIMAARI will be a good example of free-market retribution. So it conclused that banning sex selective abortion could not be a perfect solution for reducing the female forticide as there is a threate to women Rights of abortion rather other approaches such as Education, Awareness, Empowerment of women, women could be used as powerful equipments to cursue a women to fight sex selective abortion as a social evil.
Sudhir Verma & Meenu Nagpal (Jain Vishva Bharati University, Ladnun. Nagaur, RAJ.)
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Year wise sex Ratio Females per 1,000 males S.N. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Year 1901 1911 1921 1931 1941 1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 Rural 979 975 970 966 965 965 963 951 954 938 Urban 910 872 946 838 831 859 845 947 880 894 Total 972 964 955 950 945 946 941 930 935 927
Sudhir Verma & Meenu Nagpal (Jain Vishva Bharati University, Ladnun. Nagaur, RAJ.)
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State Haryana Sikkim Punjab Jammu& Kashmir Arunachal Pradesh U.P. Nagaland M.P. Bihar Gujarat Rajasthan Maharashtra W. Bengol Mizoram
Sex Ratio 801 875 876 892 893 898 900 919 919 920 921 922 934 935
State Assam Jharkhand Tripura Goa Uttaranchal Karnataka Himachal Pradesh Orrissa Meghalaya Manipur AandhraPradesh Tamilnadu C.G. Kerala
Sex Ratio 935 941 948 961 962 965 968 972 972 978 978 987 989 1058
Sex Ratio of Important cities in INDIA S.N. 1 2 3 Pune Mumbai Badodra City 1991 943 942 934 200 1 906 898 873
Sudhir Verma & Meenu Nagpal (Jain Vishva Bharati University, Ladnun. Nagaur, RAJ.)
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4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Jaipur Rajkot Delhi Ahmadabad Ambala Faridabad Gurgaon Patiala Kurkshetra Amritsar
925 914 904 896 886 884 875 971 868 861
897 844 850 814 784 856 863 770 770 783
Districts Rating the lowest Child Sex Ratio in INDIA (2001) Child Sex Ratio of 0-6 Year S.N. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 District Fatihgrahsaheb (Punjab) Kurkshetra (Haryana) Patiala (Punjab) Ambala (Haryana) Mansa (Punjab) Kapurthala (Punjab) Bhatinda (Punjab) Sangrur (Punjab) Sonipat (Haryana) Sex Ratio 766 771 777 782 782 785 785 786 788
Sudhir Verma & Meenu Nagpal (Jain Vishva Bharati University, Ladnun. Nagaur, RAJ.)
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10 S.N. 1 2 3
Gurdaspur (Punjab) Child Sex Ratio Year 1981 1991 2001 Rural 963 948 934 Urban 931 935 906
12 | P a g e Only registered genetic clinics can use PNDT. It Prohibition of sex selection.
4 The 10th five year plan wills iniciate action to enforce effectively both IPC 1860 and
PNDT (Regulation & Prevention of misuse) Act 1994. The control/eradicates the female foeticide and infenticide, respectively with a very close vigil and surve along with seviour panishment for the guilty.
Sudhir Verma & Meenu Nagpal (Jain Vishva Bharati University, Ladnun. Nagaur, RAJ.)
13 | P a g e Though India has a history of skewed female sex ratio, what the country is witnessing today is the systematic extermination of the female child, with the ultrasound machine serving as an instrument of murder. Though the government enacted the Pre- Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act in 1994, which came into force in 1996, situation far from improving, further worsened. A concomitant rise in the number of private clinics providing sex determination test was seen as a result of banning such practices in government hospitals. Before the Act was amended in 2003, the technology had already reached even in areas which do not have potable water. As a result, the sex ratio recorded in India in 2001 in children was 927 females per 1000 males as compared to 1961 when it is 976 females per 1000 males. UN reports reveal that between 35 to 40 million girls missing from the Indian population. This type of selection in done for having a Boy or a shake of the head or a grimace for a Girl, as if she is an incoming catastrophe. It is ironic to see that maximum sex selective abortion are performed by a lady doctor (totally against of PCPNDT Act). Women herself agree to undergo a sex selective abortion completely knowing that it would a contribution to depletion of their own sex
Sudhir Verma & Meenu Nagpal (Jain Vishva Bharati University, Ladnun. Nagaur, RAJ.)
14 | P a g e Hundreds of clinics in the lanes and by-lanes of the capital carry out sex
determination tests illegally though a board outside the clinic reads No Sex determination tests done here.(violation of PCPNDT Act) Appropriate authorities did a poor job of monitoring registered clinics, even going through their documentation for accuracy: report of PNDT Monitoring Committee. The appropriate authorities dont know their functions and responsibilities. Last but most important is limited or negligible role of media in the publicity And when theyre trained in their work, they get transferred. of the Act to aware the illiterate mass of INDIA.
Is total Ban necessary? With the blanket prohibition of sex selection under the PCPNDT
Act, it is not possible in India to use pre-natal diagnostic techniques to abort foetuses whose sex (and the family history) indicate a high risk of certain sex-linked diseases or to choose a foetus whose sex is less susceptible to certain sex-linked diseases. This contradicts the MTP
Sudhir Verma & Meenu Nagpal (Jain Vishva Bharati University, Ladnun. Nagaur, RAJ.)
15 | P a g e Act which permits abortion of a foetus that is at a risk of being born with serious physical or mental disabilities. While it is legally permissible to abort a foetus at risk of serious physical or mental disabilities, it is not permissible to select foetus of a sex which is less likely to suffer from a sex-linked disease. Legal and ethical questions involved in sex selection for elimination of sex-linked diseases are open for debate. The two laws related to abortion create ethical dilemmas for doctors as well as pregnant women. The MTP Act contains general provisions but also restricts abortion due to contraceptive failure to married women alone. This effectively gives doctors the power to provide or refuse abortions depending on their personal views. While the MTP Act permits abortion of a foetus with serious abnormalities, the PCPNDT Act does not permit the identification of the sex of the foetus for the purpose of eliminating sex-linked disorders.
16 | P a g e Micro level monitoring of sonography and auditing of form F, completion of its 24 Colums must be done at regular intervels. Sting operation must be performed in order to cheak the implementation of laws. Monitoring and auditing of the sonography centre. Continous monitoring of pragnent women with the help of A.N.M and Aanganwadi workers (they should be provided with toll free number to provide immediate information such an Act if going to happen in their village) Awareness through workshop, Seminars, Discussion group at local community centers, media, etc. with the remedial measures at NGOs level must be done. Compliant registration facility: At micro level such a facility should be provided that a woman who want to speak against such an evil happening can register her complain without threat of disclosing her identity (for the threat of boycott from the society). Should be stopped at family level. Widow and Adult women should be given respect and facilitate to lake participation in social programmes. Women should be involved in decision making process at family level. Social worker must work with social gender discrimination in community and social programme. Child marriage must be stopped. NGO should involve in formation, functioning and capacity building of mahila mandal and self help group (S.H.G) to facilitate them for a systematic protest against female foeticide. NGO should employee, the worker at district /block level and in working to monitor the clinics (conducting abortion) for their registration and trained professionals, the registration is legally approved or not?
Sudhir Verma & Meenu Nagpal (Jain Vishva Bharati University, Ladnun. Nagaur, RAJ.)
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Some Photographs
(Related to condition of Girl Childs in India)
Sudhir Verma & Meenu Nagpal (Jain Vishva Bharati University, Ladnun. Nagaur, RAJ.)
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Sudhir Verma & Meenu Nagpal (Jain Vishva Bharati University, Ladnun. Nagaur, RAJ.)
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Sudhir Verma & Meenu Nagpal (Jain Vishva Bharati University, Ladnun. Nagaur, RAJ.)
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Sudhir Verma & Meenu Nagpal (Jain Vishva Bharati University, Ladnun. Nagaur, RAJ.)
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Sudhir Verma & Meenu Nagpal (Jain Vishva Bharati University, Ladnun. Nagaur, RAJ.)
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Sudhir Verma & Meenu Nagpal (Jain Vishva Bharati University, Ladnun. Nagaur, RAJ.)
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References
1. Government of India. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971. 2. Thomas J M, Ryniker BM, Kaplan M. Indian abortion law revision and population policy: an overview J Indian Law Inst 1973 3. Government of India. The Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Amendment Act, 2002. 4. Census 2001 5. NFHS-3 6. Journals, magazines, Newspaper & Internet
Sudhir Verma & Meenu Nagpal (Jain Vishva Bharati University, Ladnun. Nagaur, RAJ.)
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About Writers
SUDHIR VERMA
(Trainee Social Worker)
Jain Vishva Bharati University Ladnun, Dist. Nagaur Rajasthan Mobile No:- +91-9024687305, +91-9887831363 E mail- sudhirvermaldn@gmail.com & always.verma21@gmail.com
MEENU NAGPAL
(Trainee Social Worker)
Jain Vishva Bharati University Ladnun, Dist. Nagaur Rajasthan Email- meenuravindernagpal@gmail.com
Sudhir Verma & Meenu Nagpal (Jain Vishva Bharati University, Ladnun. Nagaur, RAJ.)
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Asst. Professors of Social Work Department in Jain Vishva Bharati University 1. Mr. P.C. Behera, HOD/IC, Dept. of Social Work, J.V.B.U. Email- pcbehera@gmail.com 2. Dr. Pratibha J. Mishra, Asst. Professor, Dept. of Social Work, J.V.B.U. Email- pjmldn@gmail.com
3. Mr. Asutosh Pradhan, Asst. Professor, Dept. of Social Work, J.V.B.U.
Sudhir Verma & Meenu Nagpal (Jain Vishva Bharati University, Ladnun. Nagaur, RAJ.)
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Sudhir Verma & Meenu Nagpal (Jain Vishva Bharati University, Ladnun. Nagaur, RAJ.)