Fears over increasing female foeticide

By M. Dinesh Varma

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, DEC. 24. In spite of an Act banning prenatal sex determination tests, the abuse of medical technology in perpetuating a social bias for sons over daughters is an emerging concern in the State.

Though the issue may not be as worrisome here as in some of the northern States, social activists warn that the instances of selective abortion of female foetuses based on prenatal tests can hardly be dismissed as a marginal phenomenon.

It is pointed out that current ratios of both sex may not suggest the impending crisis as it would be at least a few decades before instances of female foeticide add up to the dimensions of a demographic catastrophe. The issue could, in fact, have an ominous bearing on a State which has done exceptionally well in population control measures and confining family size to a two- child norm, they feel.

Dr. Sabu George, social activist and researcher who has studied female foeticide in various States, cites the scenario in East Asian countries (South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong), to illustrate how as fertility declined sharply, selective abortion of female foetuses increased spawning rising sex ratios at birth (male/female) over a decade. The experience of these countries is indicative of the high imbalances that could entail if selective abortion were to be undertaken here on the same scale.

According to Dr. George, pregnancies are planned by resorting to `differential contraception'-where contraception is adopted based on the number of surviving sons and irrespective of the family size. Following conception, foetal sex is determined by prenatal diagnostic techniques after which female foetuses are aborted.

``While we are not implying that the rate of female foeticide here is as high as, say, in Haryana, we are convinced that this is the ideal time for a State like Kerala to intervene to prevent the shaping up of a seriously imbalanced society. And in the absence of data relating to female foeticides, what we have to work with are indirect evidence as in the mushrooming of clinics offering ultrasound scan facilities even in rural areas,'' said Dr. George.

Recently, Mr. Alexander Jacob, Joint Director of the Kerala Police Academy, was quoted in the media as estimating the incidence of female foeticides, along with female infant deaths in the State, at around 50,000 cases annually. According to Mr. Jacob, the male:female ratio in the State had dropped from 1000:1056 in the 1961 Census to 1000:1034 in 1991 and it was very likely that the next Census would bring more bad news on this front.

Mr. Jacob noted that the State was gradually losing its status of registering the least female infant deaths in the country with the increase in female foeticides over the past few years.

Using diagnostic tests for gender identification is banned under the Pre Natal Diagnostics Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994. In Kerala, the said Act took effect from January 1996 with the issuance of a Government notification. However, activists say that the Act remains on paper in the absence of systematic and affirmative follow-up action.

Though the Government has constituted district-level monitoring committees, the mechanism is hardly effective. Health activists also point out that the Government is yet to implement the important first step of making registration mandatory for private diagnostic clinics.

According to Special Secretary, Health, Mr. Rajeev Sadanandan more initiative from the NGOs are called for in assisting the State in dealing with the issue, especially given the dearth of authentic data on female foeticides.

What is, meanwhile, worrying health activists most is that female foeticide had become popular practice even in south India, where historically women have enjoyed a relatively better status. Female foeticide, it is pointed out, is only one of the many ways that patriarchy demeans and discriminates against women. Social evils such as dowry only serve to aggravate the high costs of being a girl, said Dr. George.

Though there is no reliable data for incidence of female foeticide in India, Dr. George points that the Central Committee on Sex Determination had described it as an epidemic across the length and breadth of the country. It is also pointed out that the issue of female foeticide has as much to do with ethical practices in the medical profession as with legislative action.

Medical education, activists say, has to inculcate gender sensitivity in students and the focus of the Health Department has to shift from forcing contraception on women to enhancing women's health and reducing disparities at birth and child survival. Other corrective measures suggested include reducing existing gender disparities in education, economic opportunities, inheritance laws, property rights and political power.

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