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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Disturbing finding: When first born is female, sex ratio of second child falls -Anahita Mukherji

Disturbing finding: When first born is female, sex ratio of second child falls -Anahita Mukherji

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published Published on Dec 27, 2014   modified Modified on Dec 27, 2014
-The Times of India

How does a preference for boys over girls skew the child sex ratio? Does the neglect of a girl child result in a dip in the sex ratio? How does one quantify neglect? These are some of the issues explored in a recently released report, 'World of Indian Girls-2014', authored by academicians from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences for the NGO Save the Children.

The report, which draws from the latest available data, focuses on the girl child, a category that is rarely studied on its own, and is often lost in the general literature on either women or on children.

The report looks at some insidious trends that point to a lowering of India's child sex ratio. For instance, a Lancet study on trends in sex-selective abortion in India shows that when the first child in a family is male, there is no fall in the sex ratio for the second child, but when the first child is female, there is a decline in the sex ratio of the second child. The National Family Health Survey-3 also shows a dip in the child sex ratio along the birth order. The sex ratio for the last birth in a family was seen to be 26% lower than for all births in the family. The figure was 19% for NFHS-2 and 14% for NFHS-1. The data suggests that the last girl to be conceived is more vulnerable to sex-selective abortion than the first.

Research on India's disappearing daughters finds that higher levels of wealth and education do not result in a better child sex ratio, with wealthy parts of the country availing of sex-determination. However, India's Muslim population, which belongs largely to lower socio-economic strata, has a higher female sex ratio.

While India has outlawed the use of technology to determine the sex of a foetus, the report points to a study by the Public Health Foundation of India, which shows that the law is poorly implemented. The study looked at 15 case records and spoke of the difficulty involved in convicting a doctor for a crime that involved uttering a word or making a gesture to indicate the sex of a child.

After birth, too, neglect can severely affect a girl's chances of survival. While data shows the mortality rate (deaths per 1,000 live births) at the neo-natal stage (1-28 days) is lower for girls than boys as girls are biologically hardier than boys, the trend is reversed at the post-neonatal stage. Mortality under the age of five is found to be 69.7 for boys and 79.2 for girls. "There are studies which show the biological advantage of the girl child," says TISS professor P Bindulakshmi, one of the authors of the report, adding that the increase in mortality in the post-neonatal period suggests non-biological factors.

While India has outlawed the use of technology to determine the sex of a foetus, the report points to a study by the Public Health Foundation of India, which shows that the law is poorly implemented.

Further evidence of neglect is seen in the fact that, for the same ailments, treatment is sought for a greater proportion of boys than girls. In case of acute respiratory infections, treatment was sought for 6% more boys than girls. In cases of diarrhoea, boys are 7% more likely than girls to be taken to a health facility. Worse still, the proportion of male children who are fully immunized is 4% higher than female children.

Bindulakshmi rues the fact that in the year 2014, there remains a preference for a male child in India, one that manifests itself in various ways. Despite a number of government schemes and policies addressing the needs of the girl child, she points to the fact that patriarchal norms have remained intact.


The Times of India, 27 December, 2014, http://m.timesofindia.com/india/Disturbing-finding-When-first-born-is-female-sex-ratio-of-second-child-falls/articleshow/45655384.cms


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