-- Folk Song From Uttar Pradesh
the birth of son is regarded as essential in india. many prayers and lavish offerings are made to god in the hope of having a son....
the above few lines are enough to prove social status of a woman in indian society...a mother herself chose hell over giving birth to her daughter is gruesome.
a son is considered the support system of family..he is suppose to take care of his family when his parents grow old...he is their way to attend 'moksha'.
with such religious beliefs, other cultural and economic factors acts like catalyst in the process of lowering the status of women.
a poor father has no money to give away as dowry...
i have come across posters endorsing sex determination tests put up by private clinics that read 'it is better pay 500 rs now (to get rid of female foetus) than 50000rs (as dowry) later...
so many women are getting molested every minute...and thus it is said 'jawan beti baap ke sine pe ek boz hoti hai'
so what is the solution...kill the cause to all these problems...Female foetuses are selectively aborted after pre-natal sex determination, thus avoiding the birth of girls.
medical procedures such as Amniocentesis,ultrasounds which were meant for detecting medical problems related to pregnancy has evolved as preferred sex determination procedures....
Women and Developments in Reproductive Technology Abortion was legalized in India in 1971 (Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act) to strengthen humanitarian values (pregnancy can be aborted if it is a result of sexual assault, contraceptive failure, if the baby would be severely handicapped, or if the mother is incapable of bearing a healthy child).
but whats happening right now is so far from the reality...loopholes are found in above mentioned laws and female foetuses are killed.....
methods like ultrasound detection or amniocentesis do not involve manipulation of genetic material to select the sex of a baby. but as medical science has evolved further, Recent preconception gender selection (PGS) is possible which includes flow cytometry, preimplantation gender determination of the embryo, and in vitro fertilization (test tube baby)to ensure the birth of a baby of the desired sex without undergoing abortion.
so where are we heading from here???
The pregnant woman, though often equally anxious to have a boy, is frequently pressurized to undergo such procedures. Many women suffer from psychological trauma as a result of forcibly undergoing repeated abortions.
the number of marriageable women declines, men would tend to marry younger women, leading to a rise in fertility rates and thus a high rate of population growth.
A society with a majority of unmarried young men is prone to particular dangers. More women are likely to be exploited as sex workers. Increases in molestations and rape are an obvious result. The sharp rise in sex crimes in Delhi have been attributed to the unequal sex ratio.
In 1994, the Government of India passed the Pre- conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act with the aim of preventing female foeticide. The implementation of this Act was slow. It was later amended and replaced in 2002 by the Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act without ever having been properly implemented.
so what do u think about this issue???
what according to you are the different ways to deal with this ever growing problem...???
on a different side...there are families giving birth to 5-6 girls 'waiting' for a boy to come their way...and when he comes at last...these girls are treated differently and as if they brought misfortune for the family....do u think in such matter its better to kill females when they are in wombs than giving them birth and treated like scums....????
your opinions are highly awaited....
Anupamaa
