Female Foeticide

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FEMALE FOETICIDE

Group No: 3 Group Members: 133 134 142 146 159 163 Chopra Harsh Ratan Chudiwal Rachana Gautam Gunthey Supriya Pramod Jain Prachi Sunil Puri Kalpana Sabnis Swaroop Ramesh

INTRODUCTION

Prabhuji mein tori binti karoon Paiyan Paroon bar bar Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Na Dije Narak Dije Chahe Dar...

Oh, God, I beg of you, I touch your feet time and again, Next birth don't give me a daughter, Give me Hell instead...

-- Folk Song from Uttar Pradesh

Every year, as millions of women marry, they dream of starting a family, of having their homes filled with tiny cries and the happy laughter of gurgling babies. In India however, pregnancy is too often followed by the question of whether the unborn child is a girl or a boy. "Chhore Pe Baje Thali, Chhori Pe Thekere Phoren" is an old sentiment in the Indian state of Haryana which means "announce the birth of a son by beating of brass plates but at the birth of a daughter break earthen pots." Marriage in the Hindu fold of life is still traditionally considered essential for procreation and the continuation of the „vansh‟ (lineage). Blessings showered on the bride during a wedding, consist of the line "Ashta Putra Sowbhagyavati Bhave" meaning "May you be blessed with eight sons." Thereafter on conception, mantras from the Atharva Veda, one of four most sacred books of Hinduism, are prescribed for chanting so that if the foetus is female it will be transformed into a male. The traditional joint family is patriarchal. Even though migration and increasing urbanisation has led to more nuclear families, the patriarchal ways are still embedded in the psyche of the Indian man. Despite the legal emancipation of women in India, their education and employment in modern occupations, the traditional bias regarding female children has not undergone a change. In most parts of the country son is a major obsession. One son is a cause for joy while two are seen as a lifetime for celebration, the traditional thinking being that if one dies, at least the other will live to take care of the parents. In the bargain, pressures on the woman to produce a son are unending. The girl child is seen as an economic drain as her marriage and dowry crushes her family under huge burden of debts.

Objective
The aim of this study is to analyse the aspects of infanticide and foeticide in India, their causes, the stakeholders, intervention steps taken by the government and to recommend remedial measures to eliminate the menace.

THE PROBLEM
Women who constitute half a human population have been discriminated, harassed and exploited irrespective of the country to which they belong, unmindful of the religion which they profess and oblivious of the timeframe in which they live. Everywhere women are confronted with many challenges. Female foeticide is perhaps one of the worst forms of violence against women where a woman is denied her most basic and fundamental right i.e. “the right to life”. The phenomenon of female foeticide in India is not new, where female embryos or foetuses are selectively eliminated after pre-natal sex determination, thus eliminating girl child even before they are born. It has been six long decades since India gained independence but many Indians are still trapped in age-old traditional beliefs. Here, „old beliefs‟ imply the mindset of people who still find themselves in the trap of girl-boy inequality. The „liberal‟ Indian society has failed to transform the other orthodox India. No doubt India is advancing at a fast pace in the field of science and technology, and also in aping of the western culture, but if we look at the grass root level, the picture is not so rosy; it is rather a dark, especially when it comes to how we treat the fairer sex. The status of females in India aptly symbolizes India‟s status of being a developing nation – miles away from becoming a developed state. Of course, India deserves to be in this list because here, in this 21st century, the girl child continues to be murdered before she is born. Female foeticide is still prevalent in the Indian society; in fact, it has been a practice for hundreds of years. Narrow-minded people do not mind murdering their unborn daughters for the fear of giving huge amounts of dowry at the time of her marriage. Such people, whenever they discover they are going to have a girl child (through illegal sex selection tests), get the foetus aborted. Else they would continue to reproduce till they get a male heir. When price rise is already taking a toll on the standard of living, is it necessary to go in for more than two children irrespective of their gender? Many families put pressure on women to give birth to boy so that he can take family‟s name forward, light the funeral pyre and be the bread earner of the family. But these days, are girls less competent than boys? Just look at the results of Board exams or any other competitive exams, girls mostly outshine boys. Women empowerment has led to inundation of females excelling in the corporate world, engineering and medical professions. Sadly, there have been numerous incidents of the foetus being found lying in farms, floating in rivers, wrapped up in jute bags etc. India‟s major social problem is the intentional killing of the girl child. The struggle for a girl child starts the day her existence is known in her mother‟s womb. The fear and struggle to survive swallow most of the girl‟s life even if she is „allowed‟ to live in this cruel world. In India, the girl child is considered a burden as huge amounts of money, gold and other items need to be given in the form of dowry when she gets married. Dowry is not the only reason for poor couple to abort their girl child. The ages old traditions, customs and beliefs of the Indian society are largely responsible for creating a negative mindset among the couples. More shocking is the fact that the sinful crime of female foeticide is not only common in rural areas where social discrimination against women, lack of proper education etc. can be considered as reasons behind carrying out such acts, but also the ultra modern, so-called „educated‟ people living in urban areas and metropolitan cities who are a step ahead in killing the girl child in the womb.

The life transition from a female foetus to a school going girl to a caring woman is never an easy task for the fairer sex. She has to face challenges at every step of her life. Daily, there is news related to rape, sexual harassment, molestation, verbal abuse, torture, exploitation. She has to fight against gender indiscrimination, inequality, and hundreds of social norms are tagged with her the day she puts her steps outside her home. The truth behind this crime of female foeticide and infanticide has been brought into light several times by the print and electronic media. But, it has failed to melt the hearts and minds of those who remain unaffected by the consequences of the grave sin they are committing. This matter was discussed in length and breadth in the inaugural episode of the show „Satyamave Jayate‟ anchored by Bollywood actor Aamir Khan. The show has once again ignited the spirited discussion on the female foeticide in the country. That episode had mothers from different parts of rural and urban India talking about the pressure and the problems they faced for delivering a girl child. Although the show did really well and had garnered positive reviews from the audiences, the question which arises is that was the emotional connect which the show had successfully created strong enough to stop the killing of the girl child before being born? In most of the cases, women abort their female child involuntarily when they succumb to family pressures. The in-laws‟ illogical demand/ desire for a boy preference makes the life of women hell. Sometimes, she is left by her husband if she is unable to give birth to a child and worse happens when she conceives a girl child. Ironically, it all happens in a country where the girl is seen as an incarnation of Goddess „Laxmi‟. True, many families are out of bounds in joy when a girl child is born in their family. They think she will bring luck, harmony, happiness and peace in their family. They even touch her feet to seek her blessings. Many childless couples even adopt a girl child irrespective of the worries of her future (mainly marriage). According to the statistics, nearly 10 million female fetuses have been aborted in our country over the past two decades. Of the 12 million girls born in India, one million do not see their first birthdays. As a result, human trafficking has become common in various states of India where teenage girls are being sold for cheap money by poor families. These girls are treated as sex objects and more than half of such cases go unreported. The Demography of Missing Women The United Nations‟ World Population Fund indicated that India has one of the highest sex imbalances in the world. Not surprisingly, demographers warn that there will be a shortage of brides in the next 20 years because of the adverse juvenile sex ratio, combined with an overall decline in fertility. As per calculations, Female Foeticide was started in the Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu and several other cities. Later it spread to Manipur, Orissa, Goa, Karnataka, Uttaranchal, and Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir. Census figures reveal that while the number of children is rising, their proportion to the total population is falling. Further analysis reveals that there is a gender dimension to the visible decline in children being born. In nearly every society, about 105 live males are born for every 100 live females, that is, the international sex ratio is 105. Demographers explain that this is so, because mortality is higher for male babies. Biologically, girl babies are stronger.

In India this ratio was 104.7 in 1921, 107.5 in 1971 thereafter further dipping to 107.9 in the last census of 1991. There has thus been a progressive deficit in the women's sex ratio from four million in 1901 to 32 million in 1991. This can also be seen from the increase in the masculine ratio from 1029 males to 1000 females in 1901 to 1079 males per 1000 females in 1991.Gender inequality manifests and accentuates in a declining adult sex ratio measured as the number of females to 1000 males. Current Status is that India is facing a severe problem of declining percentage of the girl child in the 0-6 year‟s age group. As per 2001 census, there are only 913 females against 1000 males. Given below is the map which indicates the sex ratio in 2011.

Figure 1

In India, Child Sex ratio between 1981 and 2011 is getting dissemblance. Girl‟s ratio is decreasing at very rapidly. The graph below clearly shows the state of girl child being born in India.

Figure 2

Government of India Intervention The Government of India has taken action for incorporating the law called as PCPNDT Act since 1994, but its implementation is far from expected. The fact that there has not been a single conviction since the law came into force in 1994 is one indicator of its loopholes. There are certain rules and regulations formed under this law for the genetic centres but implementation & monitoring is far from expected. There is no such system in place for the Government agencies to monitor and take actions. As per the law, every pregnant Ultrasound Sonography (USG) needs to be recorded and reported to the Government appropriate authorities in the F form as prescribed in the law. But the responsibility of such record generation lies with doctors and radiologists, and especially in cases of sex selection, such records were either not generated or falsely reported. There was no mechanism to record any sort of proof for the appropriate authorities to take any actions. Some NGOs have started doing sting operations, but till date no such large effect has been seen and the problem is still out of control.Recently, incidences of female foeticide were reported from Beed district in Maharashtra where women used to go to a doctor‟s clinic to get their female child aborted for Rs 2000. Just think for a moment about the doctor‟s connivance in this illegal act. A doctor, whose aim is to save the lives of people, happily kills the foetus for a meager two thousand rupees! And what is more heart wrenching is the fact that the aborted foetuses were very often fed to dogs. What is even depressing is the fact that this is not the only case of such heart wrenching heinous crimes. There are thousands of such clinics where illegal activities are carried out on a daily basis and in some cases, in connivance with politicians and police men. In such a grim scenario, it‟s really difficult to digest the harsh reality of the differences between a boy and a girl. India has a deeply rooted patriarchal attitude to which even the doctors and the women, who in spite of being the victims, unthinkingly subscribe. There is an urgent need of undoing the historical and traditional wrongs of a gendered society; only then the hope of abolition of female infanticide and boy preference can positively adjust the figures in favour of the girl child in future. The skewed sex ratio has to find a balance in order to maintain the progress of the country. Through this report on female foeticide we try to bring to light the psyche that prevails among the citizens with respect to girl child and also propose certain solutions that may be adopted to curb such massacre happening globally.

STAKEHOLDERS
The stakeholders are the groups which affect or are affected when the act of female foeticide occurs. Hence, the involvement of stakeholders is a key part while going forward with the Eradication of Female Foeticide initiative. The primary stakeholders are:   Woman i.e. the pregnant mother and the unborn girl child Family members

The secondary stakeholders are:                Media Government Health workers Women and Child development departments Planning Commission and the National Commission for Women Lawyers Doctors and Civil Society Organizations Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) Community Based Organizations (CBOs) Women‟s Groups and Networks Academia i.e. Students District Advisory Committee (DAC) Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Youth Society

KEY FINDINGS AND GAP ANALYSIS
After analyzing the current scenario, we identified the critical factors in the existing system in India and did a GAP Analysis to compare the current conditions and practices in the society and the areas in need of improvement for the enhancement of Women Empowerment. The analysis indicated that the gender bias against the female foetus is the main reason behind the declining trend of the child sex ratio in the country. Even today g ender biasing and discrimination exists in all parts of the nation at various levels. People still have the mentality that a boy – child is going to be the sole earner of the bread for the family and that he is the only one who will be taking care of his parents in their old age. Due to this, the birth of a girl child is a cause of sorrow as opposed to the celebration when birth is given to a boy. Consequently there is a need to challenge and eliminate all forms of gender based discrimination. To address the issue, the Women Power Connect (WPC) had implemented a three-year campaign in 11 states, urging communities to prevent sex selection of an unborn child and arresting the decline in the child sex ratio with support from the UNFPA in 2009. The campaign has revealed that even though the PCPNDT Act of 1994 exists, and measures were taken so that the doctors do not mention the sex of the child, still malpractices occur.

Hence the systems and institutions of justice and governance should be made more accountable and transparent against sex selection. It was seen that the current district level monitoring mechanisms are not at par and these should be strengthened and support, direction and guidance should be provided to cluster teams. Also there is a lack of common platform for development and implementation of pertinent policies. Hence the need of the hour is to provide a common platform to a wide range of stakeholders in districts and through them develop new and relevant policies. In addition to this, there is a lack of awareness of the policies in rural areas and hence strategies should be made on using learning as a tool for Policy Advocacy at the State level. It was observed that the patriarchal mindset of the society towards girl child or women is still prevalent in India. Until and unless, we change the mindset of the society, the status of women will not improve. The attitudinal changes for pro-female preferences among families have to be brought about along with establishing cluster teams of community level stakeholders who are able to put a brake on female foeticide cases in communities. Even today women feel that they do not have the power in their household and hence are afraid to raise their voices against their husband or in – laws. To truly overcome this issue, there should be empowerment of women to reject and counter violence within the home and in society. Domestic Violence is still rampant in the Indian society and women fall prey to it and succumb under the pressure and get the pre-natal tests leading to female foeticide. We have to make families, communities and the state responsible for and responsive to the growing violence against women. Also the issue of domestic violence is not only prevalent in rural cities but also exists in urban cities. Hence we have to draw in all sections of society to strive towards a nation free from all forms of violence and conflicts of female Childs. The essential explanation of female foeticide and infanticide in India is also the reluctance of many in the expanding middle class to pay out a greater portion of their expanding wealth for dowries. This finding shatters the misconception that aborting female foetuses is largely a practice limited to India's poor and rural population who has traditionally favoured boys. To get rid of this kind of thinking, we need to create alternative spaces and forum for public debate and dialogue to bring about attitudinal and institutional changes in our society. The advent of technology is another reason for the increased female foeticide. This is because the Obstetric Ultrasonography used to visualize the embryo in its mother‟s uterus for getting the information regarding the health of the mother and the baby also yields the information of the sex of the baby. This misuse of technology in sex determination thus leads to female foeticide.

SOLUTIONS TO FEMALE FOETICIDE
Everywhere women are confronted with many challenges. In Indian society, female foeticide has emerged as a burning social problem during the last few years. The preference for a son continues to be a prevalent norm in the traditional Indian household. The girl child in India is treated right from her birth as an additional burden an extra mouth to feed, a liability and another man‟s property. This is evident from the declining sex ratio which has dropped to alarming levels. This issue has been mainly prevalent as families perceive daughters as an economic burden and does not provide any social advantages. Also we have the generations of bias that favours a male child. The proliferation and abuse of advanced technologies coupled with social factors contributing to the low status of women such as dowry, concerns with family name and looking up to the son as a breadwinner has made the evil practice of female feticide to become common in the middle and higher socioeconomic households, especially in the northern states. Therefore, measures must be taken to change this perception and also improve the status of women in society, make the existing laws against sex determination and selective abortion more effective, create awareness about the ill effects of female foeticide. Some of the solutions currently in place include Mission Arogya proposed to build an SMS-enabled web application, “iSaveAGirl”, on Facebook development platform that will enable crowd sourced philanthropy to stop Female Foeticide in India. “iSaveAgirl” will specifically enable Government & NGOs that are working in female foeticide area. They intend to register and train social networking users as volunteers to create a virally growing “iSaveAGirl Volunteer Community”. As well as receive reports via SMS/Email/App from any expectant mother or well-wisher, who will, irrespective of their social and economical status, be able to report anonymously and easily their suspicion of possibility/threat of “child sex determination”, “girl foetus abortion”, they also aim to provide personalized follow-up & assignment of a suitable volunteer for each case and finally, to provide tools/information and other supports to the volunteer, while keeping mother‟s privacy intact, so that she can effectively monitor and ensure that the mother gives birth to her child and doesn‟t succumb to any pressure. The Indian Govt has also taken several steps to improve the status of women in society. The steps primarily intend to provide them with greater opportunities for education, employment and greater say in the matters of governance. They have included steps to correct the bias in terms of inheritance rights. To improve sex ratio, Indian Government has adopted multi-pronged strategy including legislative measures, awareness programs, advocacy, and programs for the women's socioeconomic empowerment. The successive Indian governments have also taken several steps to improve the status of women in the society.

It has also passed the Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) Act. It bans sex selection before and after conception, and further regulates the use of prenatal diagnostic techniques for strictly medical purposes. In particular, the law restricts the use of diagnostic techniques to registered institutions and operators, which have to maintain detailed records. Violations of the PNDT Act carry a three-year jail term and a fine of about Rs 10000 for the first offence and a five-year jail term and a fine of Rs 50000 for the second offence. So far, there have been only two successful convictions under the law: a, fine of Rs 300 and another fine of Rs 4000 from over 400 cases lodged under the PNDT Act. Despite the existence of the Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques Act, there is a dire need to strengthen this law since the number of convictions is despairingly low as compared to the burden posed by this crime. An act passed in 1994 has made sex-selective abortions had been made a punishable offense. Foeticide is also penalized under IPC section 315. But the law has not been very effective as it is difficult to regulate all clinics that use ultrasound for sex determination as well as for a host of other purposes including detection of genetic abnormalities in the foetus. So to improvise on it, registration procedures should be made tougher and clinics run by technicians and unqualified personnel should be registered and better regulated. Use of ingenious ways to convey the sex of the foetus should also be curbed through greater use of surprise checks and dummy patients. The Government has also recently launched a "Save the Girl Child Campaign". One of its main objectives is to lessen the biasness towards preferring a male child by highlighting the achievements of young girls. To achieve the long-term vision, efforts are afloat to create an environment where sons and daughters are equally valued. Boys need to be educated at an early level with regard to giving respect and equal regard to girls. The mass media must be involved in promoting a positive image of women. School and college girls should be the target audience. However, this should be combined with highlighting the issue and dangers of female foeticide and skewed gender ratio. Despite efforts of Government and NGOs, girl child sex ratio has gone down in the last decade. This just means that there is still a lot more that needs to be done and more action to be taken. Moreover, it is necessary to gear efforts against the cultural, economic and religious roots of this social malady by woman empowerment and intensive Information, Education and Communication campaigns. The medical colleges and professional bodies have a vital role to play by sensitizing medical students who are the doctors of tomorrow. The killing of unborn girls, or female foeticide, is an alarming reality. Party to the crime are families, some unscrupulous doctors and a social structure that encourages the desire for a boy child – at any cost. The frightening result has been the snuffing out of the lives of more than three crore unborn girls since Independence. Greater measures need to be taken to eradicate such nasty practices in our country could includeIntensive Information, Education and Communication (IEC) campaigns for raising awareness: To achieve the long-term vision, efforts are afloat to create an environment where sons and daughters are equally valued. Boys need to be educated at an early level with regard to giving respect and equal regard to girls. The mass media must be involved in promoting a

positive image of women. School and college girls should be the target audience. However, this should be combined with highlighting the issue and dangers of female foeticide and skewed gender ratio. Analysis of content of information provided regarding abortion and sex determination showed that the message emphasized upon the illegality of sex-selective abortion instead of describing the difference between sex-selective abortion and other abortions. However, the root causes of gender bias need to be tackled first and steps towards woman empowerment must be strengthened. Women empowerment through NGO‟s- Education of women is a powerful tool for improving nutrition levels, raising the age at marriage, acceptance of family planning, improvement in self-image, and their empowerment. NGOs may be encouraged to promote formation of self-help groups, organize non-formal education for adult females and school dropouts, create employment opportunities for women as well as provide counselling and support services to newly married and pregnant women to discourage them from undergoing sex-selective abortion. Role of medical colleges and professional bodies- While many medical practitioners have joined campaigns against the misuse of these technologies with the support of professional associations, some have been strong supporters of sex-selective abortion emphasizing that it is the family's personal decision to determine the sex of their children. Hence the role of medical colleges and professional bodies such as Indian Medical Association (IMA), Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI) and association of radiologists, in countering this burning issue needs to be given due importance. This may include   Sensitizing medical students regarding the adverse sex ratio while stressing upon the ethical issues involved in female feticide. Cancellation/permanent termination of the doctor‟s license who partakes in fulfilling a client‟s demand to do away with her girl child. Conduct regular workshops/ Continuing Medical Education sessions which would greatly help to reiterate the importance of this problem in the country. Private practitioners should also be encouraged to participate in such programs. Widespread campaigns and seminars for young adults and potential parents to enlighten them about the ill effects of female feticide. Ignorance is one of the major causes for the increase in the selective sex abortion cases. Spreading awareness can go a long way in saving our future sisters, mothers, girlfriends and wives.





Orthodox Rural Behaviour - Female foeticide can only be stopped only when the thinking and the behaviour of orthodox rural people are changed. Educating people that females are equally important as males would help in reducing the number of cases. We have developed almost in all areas and we cannot let such age old malpractices to run, causing malign to the

society, and nations demographics. This can be done only by changing their age old mind sets of gender bias, When you invest in son, it will give you return but when you invest in daughter, it will give return to others in future. This mindset need to change. First thing, parents must be independent from both, Boys as well as Girls. Parent‟s expectation that son will take care of them in old age and daughter-inlaw will perform the family responsibility is wrong. It is a different case that when parents are in need and children go and support them but it should not be a traditions. Secondly, as boy's parents are responsibility of both guy and his wife, similarly girl's parent's responsibility is also on both. If girl's parents need financial support that girls must be allowed to support them even after marriage. Then parents will give the importance to girl‟s education also. Media - Media - both print and electronic - plays a very significant role in removing gender bias and developing a positive image of the girl child in the society. To reach the remotest backward rural and tribal areas, a mix of mass media with various traditional forms of communication may provide a more effective alternative to influence the illiterate and the poor. Also advertising of sex determination techniques should be banned and stringent measures should be taken against the offenders. School and Educational Institutions -School education system and the curriculum design should focus on inculcating a positive self image amongst girls and to break the gender stereotypes. It should also focus on Empowerment of rural marginalized women and education to improve their lot so as to heighten their status in the society. Eradication of Dowry System - The act of female foeticide is intrinsically linked to the 'Dowry system' as due to the prevalence of dowry system, girls are being considered as a huge economic burden to families and so parents tend to opt for female foeticide to prevent all the economic burdens right from the raising of the girl child to paying huge „dowry‟ during her marriage. Therefore, to bring an end to abortions of female foetuses it is essential for Indian communities to bring an end to the ritual of Dowry. Following measures can be taken to eradicate the dowry system: Preventive Measures • Awareness Building: A massive movement to create awareness among adolescents, youth and parents need to be initiated and sustained by all involved in the eradication of dowry. Networking with other systems: There should be strong network amongst the police, legal system, the media, the health system and women‟s organizations; Other Measures: There should be on-going training programmes for the police, lawyers, judiciary, media personnel, the doctors and paramedical staff.

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Remedial Measures

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Reporting of cases: Dowry harassment or death cases should be reported without delay. Registration of cases: The delay in registering cases at the Police station and in the Medical examination at the hospitals should be drastically reduced, as it can be fatal. Court procedures: As far as possible, the culprit should not be granted bail as this gives him ample opportunities to destroy all evidence to threaten the witness. Community Action: Social boycott of families which have harassed bride for dowry is a string weapon to effect social change.

Law and Legislation- The law is in place but implementation is lacking. The solution lies in changing the system, changing official and social attitudes, and in taking individual action. Adoption of villages by government officials: Government officials 5 contagious villages. Simultaneously they should be given other related responsibilities in the villages like inspection of school education, veterinary hospitals, drinking water supply, power supply etc. In 2005, there were just 785 girls for every 1000 boys, and the new district deputy commissioner, Krishna Kumar, organised a seminar for doctors, midwives and educationists, to warn against female foeticide. Action was taken against transgressors, and a phone helpline was set up for expectant mothers. This is an example of how female foeticide can be stopped, and the sex ratio can be corrected by the sheer will of the people. Through rallies, public meetings and street plays, awareness was generated and the sex ratio changed by 71 points from 2001 to 2012. The deaths of 10 lakh girls in the womb every year is not merely a statistic, it shows us a shameful facet of our thinking, and raises a very fundamental question about our sense of identity. Other Solutions Of the numerous steps taken to curb the matter, the prominent ones are:  Heavy penalty imposed on companies like GE, that specialize in marketing medical equipments used for illegal sex determination and abortion in unlicensed clinics and hospitals. High fines and judicial action against „parents‟ who knowingly try to kill their unborn baby.



A cohesive and concerted effort by everyone can prove to be the requisite baby step in the right direction. We may not support the notion of women rising above men, or them becoming the dominant sex, or conquering the world. However, the basic humane consideration to let an innocent child live and see the world she was conceived to grow in is not too much to ask. Let‟s not be murderers of our own flesh and blood.

PROJECT PLAN
For the effective implementation of the solutions proposed by us, it is important that there is a well structured project plan in place. 1) Women Empowerment and Education In order to bring about women empowerment and greater education for the society at large, we can tie up with NGO‟s to organize large scale awareness campaigns and sessions, to illustrate the importance of the girl child, the ill effects of female foeticide. Awareness campaigns can also be organised to teach women first level of self defence so that they can protect themselves and their children. Women who haven‟t had the opportunity or access to primary education can be given this chance by conducting small scale classes by student volunteers. These steps would enable them to become largely self sufficient and support themselves financially by obtaining decent jobs. This would help them to become independent and not succumb under family pressure and can make their own decisions. To bring about awareness amongst the urban population it is important that we focus on educating school children for which we will have to visit various schools. We will also have to discuss with school heads and education board members to incorporate such awareness aspects in the curriculum itself in the form of subjects such as moral science and student social responsibility. We could also ask for these students participation to spread awareness and change the perception of the stakeholders towards the girl child. 2) Changing of Orthodox Rural Behaviour We can tie up with various media and drama companies to organise and arrange street plays and flash mobs, to enable easy understanding of the major issues by the society members and also create a long lasting impact. Because it is always better to see than just hear. This would be strong tool to change the wrong mindsets that majority of the older generation of people hold today regarding the girl child and the importance of sons. Breaking the mental models is the best way to eradicate the root cause and bring about the required movement towards the change. 3) Say NO to dowry. As mentioned, Dowry System is intrinsically linked to the issue of female foeticide, the age old system of dowry needs to be removed from its roots. Following measures can be taken to eradicate dowry system from the society: With the help of NGO‟s, we can organize awareness campaigns to make people aware of the ill effects of dowry system and its effect on female foeticide. Also people need to be made aware of the existing laws against dowry system. For this, we also need to create a strong network amongst the police, legal system, women organisations.

Also the dowry harassment or death cases should be reported without delay. The culprit should not be granted bail as this will give him the ample opportunities to destroy all evidence to threaten the witness. The cases should be tried at fast track courts. The delay in the dowry cases right from its registration at police station till the judgement should be drastically reduced. The laws and punishments against the dowry culprits should be made stringent so that families do not ask for dowry and at the same time, the girl‟s family do not succumb to these pressures. Also, the families which accept dowries and also harass the brides should be boycotted socially to bring about a social effect. 4) Law and regulations. Most of the people and specially females are not aware of certain laws that are already in place that they can use to save themselves. We could approach college to urge them to incorporate subjects like laws so society at large could be made aware of the laws that are in place and should be used by the citizens because they were formulated to protect the citizens.

SOCIAL IMPACT
Once these solutions are developed & adopted to prevent female foeticide, it should have a significant impact by solving issues identified above, such as: shortage of volunteers, proactive-anonymous reporting & individual follow-ups. Using the various tools, we hope to reach >90% of the population. Primary volunteer target group comprises of adult Internet users, who want to give back to society but have “Little time”, “Financial constraints” & are “Not sure about right causes”. Our approach solves these dilemmas & involves people in philanthropic work with respect to financial commitment, offering convenient work time & satisfaction of positive outcome. Primary recipient group is any pregnant woman, who suspects a sex-determination test leading to an illegal abortion if foetus turns out to be girl, but cannot report due to lack of privacy and fear of reprisal.

CONCLUSION
India has yet a long way to go in her fight against pre-birth elimination of females. Time is quickly ticking away. A shortage of girls would lead to a shortage of eligible brides thus making the girl a "scarce commodity". According to UNFPA projection, by the year 2025 a significant share of men above 30 would still be single, and that many will never be able to marry at all. Men in the states of Haryana and Punjab are already experiencing a nearly 20% deficit of marriageable women. A concerted effort by the medical fraternity, the law, political leaders, NGOs, media, teachers and the community itself is the need of the hour. It is possible for each one of us to do something, right now, to ensure that India does not become the mother of only boys that India‟s daughters are not denied the right to live. Change is possible, change is in our hands.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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