Citation

Thomson A. Midwifery 1993; 9(4): 181-182.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1993, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8283950

Abstract

The persistence of traditional practices that provide disincentives to having daughters is giving rise to widespread infanticide in India. In a survey conducted in Madras in 1993, over half of the mothers interviewed acknowledged having killed an infant girl. The infanticide rate is believed to be even higher in India's rural areas. Families who can afford ultrasound to determine the fetal sex are reportedly using selective abortion to avert the birth of a daughter. Of 8000 abortions induced in a Bombay clinic, 7999 involved a female fetus. Families cite the financial burden inherent in providing a dowry as the primary reason for female infanticide. Also cited is the need for a son to both provide financial support to parents in old age and to light their funeral pyre. There are reports of mothers who refuse to kill female infants being abandoned or physically battered by their husbands. At present, there are 116 males to every 100 females in India--an imbalance that is likely to increase in the future and make it impossible for many men to form families. Just as television has been implicated in creating a demand for large dowries that would enable husbands' families to purchase Western luxury items, the mass media should use its influence to alter the attitudes that perpetuate the low status of women in India.

Language: en