FEMALE INFANTICIDE :-SOLUTIONS
The incidence of sex selective abortions is the worst form of gender based discrimination against women. The causes for elimination of girl child indicate that the reasons are similar and different depending upon the geographical location in which female infanticide is practiced.
· An exorbitant dowry demand is one of the main reasons for female infanticide and foeticide.
· Some of the other reasons are the belief that it is only the son who can perform the last rites, lineage and inheritance runs through the male line, sons will look after parents in old age, men are bread winners etc.
Strong male preference and consequent elimination of female has continued to increase rather than decline with the spread of education.
The recent technological developments in medical practice combined with a vigorous pursuit of growth of the private health sectors have led to the mushrooming of a variety of sex-selective services. The increase in female foeticide has been seen proportionate decrease in female sex ratio which has hit an all time low especially in the 0-6 age group and if the decline is not checked the very delicate equilibrium of nature can be permanently destroyed.
In order to stop this evil practice, the legislature has enacted certain laws which are the Indian Penal Code, 1860; the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 and the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection Act) 1994.
The Indian Penal Code is the first law which contained provisions under sections 312 to 316 for prohibiting miscarriage. These sections penalise violent or forced abortions. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 liberalised law and allowed termination of pregnancy on medical grounds, humanitarian grounds and eugenic grounds. The real efforts on behalf of legislature to curb the evil practice of female foeticide started with the passing of the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994. The Act was amended in 2002 and renamed as the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994. In order to prevent female foeticide, the PC & PNDT Act, 1994 provide provisions under which Supervisory Board, appropriate authorities and advisory committees are to be constituted by the Central Government as well as by the State Government.
The extent and effect of enforcement of laws can be seen from the fact that the first women who lodged a complaint five years ago, against her in-laws for pre-natal sex determination still awaits for Justice. Despite all the hue and cry about missing daughters, till the end of January 2006, just 308 persons had been prosecuted, but not a single person had been convicted under the PNDT Act.
Inspite of all the laws in place, the sex ratio is declining at a very high speed. Confronted with this situation, it is high time to take preventive measures against female foeticide. We have to stop looking for quick fixes and instead face the problem squarely. Female foeticide cannot be addressed in isolation, so a holistic approach is necessary to stop female foeticide.
Following are some suggestions to combat the evil of female foeticide:
(1) The related social malaises such as dowry, poverty, women’s unemployment and exploitation, lack of proper education to girl child and their dropouts early marriage etc. are to be dealt with sternly by enacting proper laws and implementing them in true spirit.
(2) Affirmative action on part of the government and the corporate sector by providing security for parents and granting financial aid to the girl child can help in changing the mindset of the society of treating the girl as a burden.
Corporate initiatives, such as “Beti Ek Anmol Ratan” scheme in which the donations are invested in mutual funds, Kisan Vikas Patras & National Savings Certificates in the name of new born girls and on maturity (Age of 21 years) to be utilised for higher education or marriage; has found favour with the parents and the scheme is yielding positive results.
Government schemes like “LADLI” have created gender revolution in national capital, and impacted sex ratio in favour of the girl child. Banks need to be encouraged to give loans for female child’s higher education at lower rates of interest. Old age pension should be given to parents with no sons and having only daughters.
(3) Awareness programmes should be launched to make the woman aware about their rights and about the ill effects of abortions. Women should know their rights regarding adoption, maintenance, marriage, property, employment, education etc.
(4) In order to make the females independent, women should be imparted skill and training through various vocational programmes. Free and compulsory education should be provided to female children so that they can support themselves during exigency. Also it would remove the attitude that investing in girls is unnecessary.
(5) As dowry is considered to be an important cause of female foeticide, the Dowry Prohibition Act should be made more stringent by proper amendments and should be implemented strictly.
(6) Medical termination of pregnancy should only be permitted after approval of PNDT authority/committee/gazetted female officer/Mahila Panchayat members/NGOs on proof of the existence of medical condition necessitating such termination.
(7) The foetus should enjoy the right to life and should enjoy distinct legal rights which should be recognized from the conception, because failure to recognize the right to life on the foetus will amount to discrimination violating Article 14 of the Constitution of India. Regarding the Unborn Child’s rights in the realm of torts, the Congenital Disabilities (Liability) Act, 1976, was passed by the British Parliament providing for action that may lie against a person or authority whose breach of duty to a parent results in a child being born disabled, abnormal and unhealthy. Similarly the Nuclear Installation Act of 1965 (U.K.), recognizes liability for compensation in respect of injury or damage caused to an unborn child by occurrences involving nuclear matter or emission of ionizing radiation. The Indian Parliament should enact laws on similar lines so as to ensure healthy growth and safe birth of an unborn child.
(8) Village level committees should be set up to watch the pregnant women besides setting up the Appropriate Authorities and Advisory committees at the District and Sub-District levels.
(9) There is need for social awareness that girls can grow up to be as good as boys. They can be good citizens, good earners, good providers for their family and for their parents. That woman need not be sold for dowry or burnt for it, that her education can make her self-sufficient and economically blessed as a man. A clear and strong social preference for the girl child is required to be created which can be done by generating awareness.
(10) In society, the members of the medical community enjoy a powerful position. Medical professionals should counsel their patients and their families on the importance of the girl child and impact of the skewed sex ratio on the society.
The Indian Medical Association, a professional body of practicing doctors, should come forward and implement a ‘No Sex Determination Code’ for Doctors. The Doctors need to be reminded of their sacred duty of protecting human life in any form rather than becoming a party in destruction of human foetus in the womb. Licence to practice medicine of those doctors, who are found guilty under the PNDT Act, 1994 or MTP Act, 1971 should be cancelled and they should be debarred from practicing medicine for life. Step taken by the Indian Medical Association constituting a special cadre of 50 doctors to self police and make doctors understand their moral and legal responsibility to ensure a healthy sex ratio, is a step in the right direction.
(11) Although section 27 of the PNDT Act, 1994 makes the offences cognizable, non-bailable and non-compoundable, the Police cannot take action in view of section 28 of the Act. This difficulty in initiation of criminal proceedings against offender should be removed.
(12) The members of Appropriate Authority are mainly doctors and they are reluctant to launch criminal proceedings against fellow doctors. Therefore, the enforcement agency should be a different body of professionals consisting of police, social workers and doctors.
(13) Effective implementation of the PNDT Act needs to be assured through, ensuring registration, curbing the spread of mobile ultrasound, regulating sale of new machines, ensuring compliance of the Act like keeping records and submitting them to the Authorities in time, preferably online like the birth records are being done now; monitoring the functioning of these ultrasound clinics, complete audit of all pregnancy ultra sounds across the country (audit all F forms submitted).
(14) Laws prohibiting sex selective abortions should be strictly implemented and the violators should be punished.
(15) As most of the decisions are made by men in the families, they need to be sensitized about the practice of female foeticide and consequences thereof. The education curriculum should be made gender sensitive, leading to gradual formation of a changed value system in coming generation.
(16) A social audit of all documents received from sonography clinics and making the data regarding sale of ultrasound machines, which are used for illegal sex determination tests, should be made available online. Information received will help governmental and non-governmental organisation in estimating the targets for proper implementation of the Acts and for suggesting remedial measures to combat the problem. By involving all the stakeholders, a comprehensive social audit can be conducted to launch a crusade against female foeticide.
(17) Determining the sex of the foetus as female and killing her subsequently amounts to murder. So the punishment should be life imprisonment or death sentence as in the case of intentional causing of death under section 300 of IPC.
(18) A major hurdle in the endeavour to prohibit sex-determination and regulation of PNDT techniques is that there is no proper duty laid upon any of the authorities in the Act. Therefore, penalty must be imposed for non-performance of duties or acts of commission or omission by the Authorities.
(19) All abortions must be registered. In cases where a healthy female foetus is aborted, both the doctor and the family should be brought to book.
Unless social action is supplemented with prompt implementation of regulations under the law meant to stop female foeticides, such practices will continue to flourish and sex selective abortions will make women endangered species. Time has arrived to declare a crusade against female foeticide both on individual and collective level to stop elimination of daughters only because of their sex.
