It seems that skewed sex ratios are common in nations that are still heavily burdened by patriarchy and yet have come to enjoy the benefits of new technology -- an uneven and combined development:
***** MANUSHI/Issue 124
Has The Sex Ratio Really Improved? Alarming Ramifications of Population Trends
Malini Karkal
Preliminary figures from the 2001 census were recently released by the Census Commissioner of India, who is also the Registrar General (RG) of India. Newspapers reports on the findings of the census count have reacted favourably to the information about the rise in literacy level of the population and the sex ratio. The Indian Express said: "First news is good news: literacy and sex ratio are up." The sex ratio, which was 927 females per thousand males in the 1991 census, went up to a corresponding 933 in 2001. However, a small increase in the deficit of females is not very significant in the context of the continuing enormous deficit of females, and the information about the sex ratio among children gives an ominous indication of vast increases in the deficit in future.
35 Million Females Missing
The press release reports that the number of males in the 2001 census count was 531,277,078 and that of females, 495,738,169. This actually indicates that there are over 35 million fewer females than males. During the last decade, the absolute deficit of females increased by about three million. In most other nations there are more females than males.
More significant is the report on the sex ratio for children below six years of age. The Registrar General (RG) reports that the sex ratio for this age group has gone down from 945 in 1991 to 927 in 2001- a large decadal difference. The sharpest declines in sex ratio for these children are reported from Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Uttaranchal, Maharashtra and Chandigarh -- areas where abortions of female foetuses after sex determination test are known to be widely practiced. In addition to the foeticides, the practice of female infanticide is apparently increasing, as reported from districts like Salem in Tamil Nadu, a state where the status of women was believed to be better than in the northern states.
Greater neglect of female babies in terms of provision of food and medical attention also decreases their chances of survival. UNICEF reported that, of the 402 districts, the number of deaths of females up to age five is higher than males in over half (224) the districts. This, in spite of the fact that biologically speaking, female babies have better chances of survival than male babies. Amartya Sen reports that the sex ratio is about 105 women per 100 men in the populations of nations where women are not discriminated against.
Total fertility rate (TFR) went down to 3.3 by 1997, while the birth rate was 26.4 in 1998. However, in India, the maternal mortality rate (MMR) -- or the chances of dying from pregnancy related causes-continues to be among the highest in the world. MMR in India was 408 per 100,000 mothers, while it was 115 in China and 30 in Sri Lanka. Similarly, the chances of dying of children born to mothers whose health is not satisfactory-the infant mortality rate (IMR) -- in India were 72 per 1,000 births-high compared to 31 in China, 46 in Indonesia and 22 in Thailand.
One can therefore conclude that the rise in the sex ratio of the Indian population is due to the improvement in survival chances of older women, those who have survived the hazards of younger ages and are able to express their biological advantage, and not because of the improvement in the status of women or in their living conditions....
<http://free.freespeech.org/manushi/124/sexratio.html> *****
***** New Technologies, Old Prejudices Blamed For India's Vanishing Girls By Sudha Ramachandran
BANGALORE, INDIA (PANOS) - An alarming drop in the number of girls born in India is being blamed on a strong cultural preference for sons - coupled with cheap and widely available medical tests that can tell parents the sex of their unborn child.
Data from India's 2001 census shows the sex ratio for 0-6 year-olds fell from 945 females per 1,000 males in 1991 to 927 in 2001. The new figures give India one of the world's lowest ratios for women to men; the statistical norm is 1,050 females for every 1,000 males.
The drop is largely due to the widespread but illegal practice of using ultrasound scans to identify female foetuses and then aborting them.
In 1994, the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Technologies (PNDT) Act banned the practice. But it has proved toothless - seven years after enactment, not a single conviction has taken place.
Data from states such as Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat - the first to ban the use of sex determination tests - point to the PNDT failure. "It is precisely in these states that the ratio of baby girls has declined dramatically," says noted feminist Madhu Kishwar.
In 1991 two states had child sex ratios below 880; today there are five states and union territories in this category: Punjab (793), Haryana (820), Chandigarh (845) Delhi (865) and Gujarat (878). The Punjab-Haryana-Himachal Pradesh belt in the north is called by some 'India's Bermuda Triangle' - where girls vanish without a trace.
Even states with better socio-economic indicators, like Karnataka, have shown a dip in the child sex ratio - from 960 in 1991 to 949 in 2001.
A pronounced skew in sex ratios has long been a feature in India. Girls and women routinely suffer from poorer health and nutrition, infanticide and high rates of death from pregnancy and childbirth. And experts say that ultrasound technology simply compounds an age-old prejudice.
"India is catching up with other sexist, modern societies like South Korea and China in sex selective abortions," Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen has said. "It's a technological revolution of a reactionary kind."...
<http://www.panos.org.uk/news/September2001/India_census.htm> ***** -- Yoshie
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