Female Foeticide is an immoral and illegal practice performed in India. Female foeticide is the practice of aborting a foetus outside of a legal method when one finds out that the foetus is female after undergoing a sex determination test. Mainly it is a practice by the family who is despairing for a baby boy. It is a depressing and shameful practice that is still happening in many parts of the world. There are many reasons behind this. One of the many reasons behind this is the frivolous thinking of the people that the son will earn and the girls will only consume. Nowadays it has been the most important topic for social awareness and one must know about it.

CAUSES OF FEMALE FOETICIDE

Female Foeticide has been in practice for many years and especially in families who are despairing for a male child. Various reasons for female foeticide like religion, social, emotional, and financial. Time has changed a lot but still, these beliefs are ongoing in some families. Some main reasons for female foeticide are-

• There is the belief that the son carries forward the name of the family however Girls take forward her husband’s family.
• It is a matter of great pride to have a son in the family despite the daughter.
• Generally, parents don’t want to have a girl child because they have to give a big amount of dowry in their marriage.
• Illiteracy, Insecurity, and poverty of people in the society are the many reasons for this act.

CONSEQUENCES OF FEMALE FOETICIDE

The misconception of the Indian patriarchal society to have a male child, particularly in the family. This leads to the enhancement of this crime. Some of the adverse effects of this practice are as follows-

• It decreases the female population, which imbalances the sex ratio. The number of girls per 1000 boys is reducing with each passing decade.
• Due to the decline in sex ratio, women are kidnapped, brought, and sold for marriage.
• This leads to increased sexual violence and abuse against women and children and increased maternal deaths due to forced abortions and early marriages.
• Also, there is an adverse effect on women’s health physically mentally, and emotionally.

GOVERNMENT SLOGANS AND SCHEMES

It is said that God cannot be everywhere so he created the mother. But it is very surprising and unbelievable that God’s representative is killing someone even before she comes out. The government made many slogans to stop female foeticide- 

• BETI BACHAO BETI PADHAO!
• SAVE THE GIRL SAVE THE NATION!
• SAY NO TO FEMALE FOETICIDE!
• CBSE UDAAN SCHEME
• BALIKA SAMRIDDHI  YOJANA
• LADLI SCHEME OF HARYANA
• KARNATAKA BHAGYASHREE SCHEME

LAWS THAT MAKE FEMALE FOETICIDE ILLEGAL

India passed its first abortion-related law in 1971 the so-called Medical Termination of pregnancy act, which made abortion legit in almost all states of the country, but it was particularly made for the cases of medical risk to mother and child conceived by rape. But the government has not considered the possibility of female foeticide based on technological advances. Due to this reason, this law proved to be highly ineffective.

The Indian Government has passed the PRENATAL DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES ACT (PNDT) in 1994. This law was again amended due to many reasons and it became the PRECONCEPTION AND PRENATAL DIAGNOSTICS TECHNIQUES (PCPNDT) ACT in 2004. Its main goal was the prevention and punishment of parental screening and female foeticide.

SUGGESTIONS

Following are some suggestions  –

• There is a need to properly implement the laws and one should be punished if found guilty.
• Campaigns and seminars should be done regularly to aware one of the same.
• Women should be made aware of their rights and the ill effects of abortion.
• Government should come up with new ideas and initiate schemes focusing on the well-off strata of the society.

CONCLUSION

Through many mediums and awareness about female foeticide is being spread across the nation. Despite all the efforts, the sex ratio of the country is not improving. In 2020, the sex ratio of the total population in India is 108.18 males per 100 females. There are 717.10 million males and 662.90 females in India. With about 110 boys for every 100 girls, India has the most skewed sex ratio at birth.

We can blame the government for this because that’s easy but till the time common man will not understand the value of a girl child, the problem is not going to be solved at any cost. People of this country must understand the importance of women. They should also be given the same importance and respect which a male gets in society. This is the reality that NO PAST NO PRESENT NO FUTURE without a girl child.

SAVE THE GIRL CHILD AND SECURE THE FUTURE.

Aishwarya Says:

I have always been against Glorifying Over Work and therefore, in the year 2021, I have decided to launch this campaign “Balancing Life”and talk about this wrong practice, that we have been following since last few years. I will be talking to and interviewing around 1 lakh people in the coming 2021 and publish their interview regarding their opinion on glamourising Over Work.

If you are interested in participating in the same, do let me know.

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