Gender inequality means inequality based on gender of an
individual and usually refers to the discrimination made against women. The
practice has been prevalent in almost all over the world though some exceptions
could be cited here and there. The practice had started quite early in the
course of human history although its severity fluctuated from time to time. The
differences were not so evident when the human beings were at the stage of
hunters and food gatherers. However, slowly with agriculture becoming the
mainstay of the economy led menfolk abandoning hunting and taking up full time
agriculture. Introduction of heavy iron ploughshare, which increased
agricultural output, also restricted participation of women in agriculture and
slowly she was pushed in the four walls of the household. Economic activities
in the prehistoric and early historical period were highly labour intensive
requiring a steady supply of labour. It made economic sense to get this labour
from the family. Women were expected to maintain this supply by giving birth to
more and more sons. Socio-religious systems were accordingly moulded to achieve
this objective and woman was made more and more subservient to the males. It
was said in the texts that a virtuous women lived under control of her father
in her childhood, her husband in her youth and her son in the old age.
With the passage of time, this preference for male child
continued to grow and in some areas developed into hatred for the girl child
resulting in the inhuman and barbaric practice of female infanticide or killing
of a girl child immediately after her birth. The problem has been amply
documented during the colonial rule. The British detected the problem in 1789
when one of their officers, Jonathan Duncan, Resident of Benares, discovered
that some families were practicing female infanticide. Soon it was noticed that
the practice was prevalent in many areas of North and West India. Initially the
British tried to solve the problem through social and religious manifestations,
but when these methods failed to control the situation, “Female Infanticide
Prevention Act” was brought in 1870 to prevent such killings. However, the evil
practice could not be eradicated and the bias against the girl child has
continued up to this day.
Economic
and Social factors
Social structure in our country has grown in a way which
is discriminatory to the female. In the traditional Indian society, a daughter
is not groomed to become financially independent and hence her capacity to make
financial contributions to her parental family becomes severely restricted as
compared to the son who is expected to provide support to the family. Daughter
has to be married off after which she leaves her parental house and is in no
position to make any contribution to her parental family. Apart from this the
practice of dowry has made the financial burden heavier. Due to these reasons,
many parents consider their daughters as burden which they may want to avoid.
At the social plane, in a patriarchal and feudal society
like ours, more value is attached to a son, who is supposed to continue family
lineage. Only he can conduct the last rites of parents and only he can offer
prayers to ancestors. On the other hand, a girl has no such religious or social
utility. When the girl grows up, she has to be given off in marriage. As per traditional
social practice, the groom’s family is considered superior and the girl’s
family has to unwillingly accept their ritualistic superiority. The practice
prevails even now but was more deep rooted in the medieval period. This hurt
the pride of many people, including many tribes in Punjab and led them to
consider girls as a potential source of their indignation which they avoided by
resorting to female infanticide.
Present
situation
In the later decades of the 20th century,
Aminocentesis test, which was supposed to be used for detecting genetic
disorders, came to be used to determining foetal sex. Determination of foetal
sex was further facilitated by the increase in use of sonography. Easy
availability of these facilities coupled with unethical attitude of a number of
professionals from the medical fraternity resulted in large number of sex
selective abortions. Many of those people, who were earlier not resorting to
female infanticide due to not being able to kill their own children or out of
the fear of punishment for doing a murder, were now indulging in female
foeticide. Socio-economic conditions as well as lack of appropriate legal
provisions and poor implementation of existing laws has further aggravated the
problem.
Declining Sex Ratio
Most important impact of this practice has been witnessed
in the decline in sex ratio i.e. the number of females per thousand males. Some people have argued that decline in sex
ratio is not only due to sex selective abortions but also due to the fact that infant mortality rates and child mortality rates are
higher for female child than the male child. The argument could be true. As per
SRS Statistical Report 2011, Infant
Mortality Rate i.e. infant deaths (within one year of birth) per thousand
live births, is 46 for females and 43 for males. Similarly Child Death Rate i.e death rate of children between age 0-4 is 13
for females and 11.5 for males. However, this again is a due to discrimination
between a boy and a girl in providing nutrition, healthcare etc.
Sex
ratio in India has steadily declined since the beginning of 20th
century. As per census of 1901 the sex ratio was 972 which declined to 933 in
the year 2001. As per 2011 census the ratio is 940 females per thousand males
which though a marginal improvement from 2001 is still much lower than the
global average of 984. It is all the more alarming as some of the most populous
states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have sex ratios much lower than the
national average, the figures being 908 and 916 respectively. Surprisingly,
Delhi which is the national capital and has better facilities in terms of
education and medical infrastructure has a very low sex ratio of 866, less than
even that of Haryana, which is notorious for gender inequality and has a sex
ratio of 877.
Impact
of declining sex ratio
This is an alarming situation having profound social
impacts. In the long run, low sex ratio would lead to changes in the marriage
patterns and family systems. Men are likely to suffer as there will be fewer
brides to marry which would mean that men will have to delay their marriage and
some of them will have to forego their marriage altogether. The families of
those who marry late will have higher requirements as they will have less
number of years to fulfill their responsibilities. Those who do not marry at
all will have to be adjusted in their parental families which will affect the
family patterns.
Women
also do not stand to gain in this scenario, as they will face greater pressure
for marrying and having a family at an early age which will affect their career
prospects and hence their financial independence. Masculinization of society may
also lead to more violence and crime against women. An undesirable aspect is
the trafficking of women from poorer backgrounds for purpose of marriage with
men in more areas which are economically more prosperous but have lesser number
of females. Thus the situation will not benefit anyone but will result in loss
for all.
Steps
for prevention
Female foeticide is a discrimination based on gender and
is also the denial of Right to Life to the girl child. Section 312 to 315 of
the Indian Penal Code relate to such kind of offences and provide for
imprisonment and penalty for the offenders. However, the magnitude of the
problem led the Government to enact the Pre Conception and Pre Natal
Diagnostics Technology (PCPNDT) Act, 1994, which lays elaborate guidelines for
doctors running ultrasound or other diagnostic centres capable of pre-natal sex
determination. The Act also provides for imprisonment and fines for persons
involved in sex determination. The Act is implemented by the Appropriate
Authorities and Advisory Committees and Boards constituted under the Act.
However,
punishments under the Act are few and rare, primary reason being the poor
implementation of the Act. Although the Act was made in the year 1994, the
corresponding rules were notified in the year 1996, after a delay of about two
years. Even after this, the Act was not implemented properly. The Appropriate
Authorities, Advisory Committees and Boards were not timely constituted in all
the states due to which no action could be taken. This was noted by the Supreme
Court in its judgment passed in the year 2003 in the case of Centre for Enquiry
into Health and Allied Themes (CEHAT) & Others Vs Union of India. In the
judgment, the Court directed the Government to implement the Act with zeal and
vigour.
Present
situation is that requisite authorities have been notified in the states; this
has no doubt provided a legal framework for implementation of the Act. However,
the punishments under the Act are rare, although, one of the reasons could be
that the act of sex selection is done with the consent of all concerned leaving
no quarter for complaint from any side. As such, the legal provisions do not
appear to be have made a dent in the problem.
Simultaneously, it
has also been realized that the problem is essentially a social one and only
legal provisions may not suffice. Considering this aspect, the government as
well as some non government organizations, have been creating awareness on this
subject through media and other campaigns. Some specific schemes are also being
run by the Government in which various incentives are given to the girl child
and her parents. The objective of these campaigns and schemes is to make people
aware that girls do not bring a higher liability than boys and if given a
chance, can rise to same heights as the boys.
Future
Sex ratio as per census of 2011 is 940 which is a slight
improvement from 932 as per census of 2001. However, this should not be a cause
for happiness or complacency as sex ratio in the child population in age group
of 0-6 years has declined from 927 in the year 2001 to 914 in the year 2011.
This would mean that despite all the aforesaid efforts, problem has persisted
and needs much stricter measures. One such measure could be enacting laws for
putting this crime in the category of “murder” and dealt accordingly. Apart
from this, we also need to remove gender bias from the society as only this
will encourage parents to desist from this practice.
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