26/10/2011
- The state of Mizoram has achieved the best sex ratio in India, but
still struggles with issues related to discrimination against the
girl-child, including child abandonment, infanticide and sex-selective
abortion.
India’s
Mizoram state, according to the 2011 census, boasts the best
male-female population ratio, an indication of gender equality. But,
overall, India is missing 44 million women and girls. This gender bias
is the product of different socio-cultural forces.
"In India, there is a confluence of factors leading to passive infanticide, active infanticide or sex selective abortion," said Valerie Hudson to the Al Jazeera news network this week. Ms. Hudson is a political science professor at Brigham Young University.
Despite Mizoram’s progress, the rising number of “unwanted” babies has been a worry to child rights activists.
Only a few weeks ago, an eight-month old baby girl was abandoned on the road near the Ramhlun vicinity. Aborted fetuses have also been found abandoned. Last week, the body of another newborn was discovered on a road near the state border with Manipur.
According to one social worker, increases in infanticide and foeticide could be attributed to such demographic factors as increases in populations from Myanmar and Manipur. Ruatfela Nu, of the state Child Welfare Committee (CWC), says that abortion among unmarried women is prevalent and that commercial sex workers who were drug or alcohol users were also “not serious” about raising children.
Dr. C. Lalhrekima, who has counselled women carrying unwanted babies, has called infanticide and foeticide a state “social problem.”
Over the past six years, the CWC has dealt with 1,100 cases of children without parental care in need of protection and a real home. Most of the cases have had to do with finding care for abandoned children in orphanages and children’s homes. Finding family-based care for all orphaned and abandoned children can be difficult, even with the option of international adoption. In one case that ended up in India’s Bombay High Court, two abandoned children were adopted by US parents in 2006. However, one of the girls exhibited behavioural problems, said her adopted parents. Rejecting guardianship of her, they allowed her to be repatriated in 2008.
India is home to about 31 million orphaned children, according to data by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Both the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and India’s national laws governing children’s rights advocate the raising of children within their families in the best interests of the child. Orphanages and children’s homes are to be last resorts, as it is important for children to have normal family lives.
As part of a campaign to improve gender equality and the value of girls, India has started a “Save Our Girls Campaign.” Full-page colour advertisements appeared in major newspapers reminding Indian families that, like sons, "daughters bring joy to life.” Previous campaigns, including cash incentives for expecting parents, have failed to dislodge the societal notion that girls are burden (given expensive dowry expectations).
"In India, there is a confluence of factors leading to passive infanticide, active infanticide or sex selective abortion," said Valerie Hudson to the Al Jazeera news network this week. Ms. Hudson is a political science professor at Brigham Young University.
Despite Mizoram’s progress, the rising number of “unwanted” babies has been a worry to child rights activists.
Only a few weeks ago, an eight-month old baby girl was abandoned on the road near the Ramhlun vicinity. Aborted fetuses have also been found abandoned. Last week, the body of another newborn was discovered on a road near the state border with Manipur.
According to one social worker, increases in infanticide and foeticide could be attributed to such demographic factors as increases in populations from Myanmar and Manipur. Ruatfela Nu, of the state Child Welfare Committee (CWC), says that abortion among unmarried women is prevalent and that commercial sex workers who were drug or alcohol users were also “not serious” about raising children.
Dr. C. Lalhrekima, who has counselled women carrying unwanted babies, has called infanticide and foeticide a state “social problem.”
Over the past six years, the CWC has dealt with 1,100 cases of children without parental care in need of protection and a real home. Most of the cases have had to do with finding care for abandoned children in orphanages and children’s homes. Finding family-based care for all orphaned and abandoned children can be difficult, even with the option of international adoption. In one case that ended up in India’s Bombay High Court, two abandoned children were adopted by US parents in 2006. However, one of the girls exhibited behavioural problems, said her adopted parents. Rejecting guardianship of her, they allowed her to be repatriated in 2008.
India is home to about 31 million orphaned children, according to data by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Both the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and India’s national laws governing children’s rights advocate the raising of children within their families in the best interests of the child. Orphanages and children’s homes are to be last resorts, as it is important for children to have normal family lives.
As part of a campaign to improve gender equality and the value of girls, India has started a “Save Our Girls Campaign.” Full-page colour advertisements appeared in major newspapers reminding Indian families that, like sons, "daughters bring joy to life.” Previous campaigns, including cash incentives for expecting parents, have failed to dislodge the societal notion that girls are burden (given expensive dowry expectations).