FEMALE FOETICIDE
Prepared by
Mrs. Reshma A
Lecturer
KIMS CON, TVPM
DEFINITION
• Female foeticide is the practice of aborting a foetus
when a person finds out that the foetus is female after
undergoing a sex determination test known as prenatal
diagnostics tests .
CAUSES OF FEMALE FOETICIDE
• DOWRY SYSTEM : A number of girls are killed inside the womb due to fear
of dowry by many poor class families .
• FINANCIAL OBLIGATION : Girls are considered as financial obligation by
many parents .They conceive that money spent on a girl will be total waste as
she will go to her in laws.
• RISE IN INFLATION : Due to rise in inflation parents think hundred times
before giving birth to a girl child . They worry about educating and marrying
their daughter.
CAUSES OF FEMALE FOETICIDE
• ADVANCEMENT IN TECHNOLOGY :
• The advancement in technology is the major cause of female foeticide.
Nowadays parent determines the sex of a child before birth and kill if its not
according to their choice.
• BETTER INVESTMENT : The idea that the male offspring will better
support the family financially leads to female foeticide.
• CORRUPTION : It is another major factor in the rise of female foeticide .
Some of the doctors do this heinous act to fulfill their money desire.
CONTROL MECHANISM
• 1. There should be registration of all the nursing homes and rigorous action
should be taken against the defaulters.
• 2. Government must deploy national wide campaign to spread cognizance
among the people. They should aware the people about the importance of girls
and should not consider them as stigma to their families.
• 3. More reservation should be given to the girls in education. Government
should provide financial support to those families who are not able to educate
their children.
CONTROL MECHANISM
• 4. Proper measures should be taken to implement anti dowry law and
culprits should be punished. Government should provide financial
support for the marriage of girls belonging to poor families.
• 5. There is a need to remove the myth of son preference from our society
only then this problem can be tackled.
• 6. Emphasis should be given to women empowerment. Women
education will help in eradicating this problem. As the women will
become independent, they can take decision according to their volition.
LAWS IN INDIA TO STOP FEMALE FOETICIDE
• The Pre-Conception And Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques
(Regulation And Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994:
– To combat the practice of female foeticide in the country through
misuse of technology, done surreptitiously with the active
connivance of the service providers and the persons seeking such
service, the Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and
Prevention of Misuse) Act was enacted on September 20, 1994.
• The Act was amended in 2003 to improve regulation of
technology capable of sex selection and to arrest the decline
in the child sex ratio as revealed by the Census 2001 and
with effect from 14.02.2003, due to the amendments, the Act
is known as the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic
Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act,1994.
Purposes of the Act
• The main purpose of enacting the PC&PNDT (prohibition of Sex
Selection) Act, 1994 has been to:
– Ban the use of sex selection techniques before or after conception.
– Prevent the misuse of pre-natal diagnostic techniques for sex selective
abortions.
– Stringent punishments have been prescribed under the Act for using pre-
conception and pre-natal diagnostic techniques to illegally determine the
sex of the foetus.
Other control mechanisms
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 :
– Sections 312-316 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) deal
with miscarriage and death of an unborn child and
depending on the severity and intention with which the
crime is committed, the penalties range from seven years
of imprisonment and fine to life imprisonment.
• Government Action-Plan And Policy Framework:
– National Plan of Action exclusively for the girl child was
formulated in 1992 for the "Survival, Protection and
Development of the Girl Children".
– The Plan recognized the rights of the girl child to equal
opportunity, to be free from hunger, illiteracy, ignorance and
exploitation. Towards ensuring survival of the girl child.
The objectives of action plan
• Prevent cases of female feticide and infanticide and ban the practice of
amniocentesis for sex determination.
• End gender disparity in infant mortality rate; eliminate gender disparities in
feeding practices, expand nutritional interventions to reduce severe
malnourishment by half and provide supplementary nutrition to adolescent
girls indeed.
• Reduce deaths due to diarrhea by 50% among girl children under 5 years
and ensure immunization against all forms of serious illnesses; and provide
safe drinking water and ensure access to fodder and drinking water nearer
home.
• Balika Samriddhi Yojana:
– 1. To change the negative attitude of family and
community.
– 2. To improve enrolment and retention of children in
schools.
– 3. To raise the marriage age of girls.
– 4. To facilitate income opportunities to girl child.
• Other specific legislation and policy proclamations
– Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961(Amended in1986)
– Immoral Traffic Prevention Act,1986
– Equal Remuneration Act,1976.
