Gender issues
Sex-selective abortions exist despite modernization
A billboard sponsored by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare at the Chandni Chowk metro station in New Delhi promotes gender equality. | Photo by Carly Shinn
Story by Carly Shinn
Women throughout the world can learn the sex of their unborn child from a black and white sonogram photo.
For Indian women, it’s not that simple. Laws are in place to make sure sex determination does not happen because if it does, some may choose to have an abortion.
Sex-selective abortion is increasing in India, where patriarchal traditions have made having boys more desirable than girls. According to the 2011 Indian census, 914 girls were born for every 1,000 boys. That number is worse than 2001, when the ratio was 927 to 1,000.
This statistic, the worst child sex ratio in modern Indian history, adds fuel to the already heated debate over the sex-selective abortion practice and gender inequality. India, the largest democracy in the world, is moving toward a 21st Century economy and becoming a global power while this gender issue trend suggests otherwise.
Village women take control of their futures
Story by Hailey Konnath
Pooja likes embroidering, watching TV and doing arts and crafts in her free time. But she also likes driving change in gender roles in her rural village of Rampur-Mathura.
The 20-year-old wants to make a difference.
Pooja teaches girls at the Rani Saraswati Vidya Mandir School. She and her friends – Vineeta, Siya and Sheela – teach core subjects to girls in grades one through five.
Times are changing, the women said.
Most of the village’s girls now attend school, unlike when Vineeta, Siya and Sheela were children.
Education for women is important, they said. When women get married they become the head of the household. They should be active and informed in and out of the house, they said.
None of the teachers is married yet and all are the first women in their families to have a career. Each wants to continue her career after marriage, depending on the expectations of their future in-laws, they said. In other words, the husband’s family can ask them to leave their jobs and extinguish any career dreams.
Keeping women from work is not fair, the women said, and wastes their education. But it is a reality, one which they would like to change.
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