Priscilla
INTRODUCTION
Female foeticide/infanticide is a grave issue with a long past and what is causing dismay is that, it is continuing in these present days even after several efforts in the form of awareness were taken to put an end to it. Nothing less can be said of the Government with regard to the laws legislated and the several schemes introduced by it to end female foeticide/infanticide. Despite all the efforts this issue still seems to be looming large.
MEANING OF FEMALE FOETICIDE/INFANTICIDE
Female foeticide is, “a gender selective abortion where a female foetus is illegally terminated solely based on the reason that the foetus is a girl”
Female infanticide is, “the deliberate killing of girl babies”.
It is also described as ‘gender-selective killing’ or ‘gendercide’. (Similar words like 'gynocide' and 'femicide' are used to describe the killing of females of any age.)
CAUSES
The causes of female foeticide/infanticde are many. In fact, the main cause is the “higher patriarchal influence” which was prevalent in ancient India (which is still prevalent in the present days, but in quite lesser magnitude) which led people to prefer male children to females.
The several other causes include :-
The prevalence of dowry (where parents, fearing the financial burden which they have to incur for the girl’s marriage and owing to their poor economic status may attempt female foeticide)
The idea that the ‘girl child is a liability’,
The safety issues pertaining to girl children (dangers which girl children are likely to face in the society).
Deformed and malnourished infants.
Lack of proper facilities and access to medical treatments.
Premature weaning of female infants on the pretext of son-preference.
Also, the availability and access to technology has proved to be a bane, in cases where it has facilitated female foeticide, as parents are able to determine the sex of the child before its bith and in a drive to beget a male child are likely to end the pregnancy if found to be a female child.
STATISTICS AND REPORTS
According to the Population Research Institute (PRI), around 15.8 million girls went missing in India due to prenatal sex selection between 1990 and 2018. The PRI said, “approximately 550,000 girls went missing in 2018 alone.”
Also, according to the PRI, at least 12,771,043 sex-selective abortions had taken place in India between 2000 and 2014. It takes the daily average of sex-selective abortion to 2,332.
CONSEQUENCES
Skewed sex-ratio is the major outcome of female foeticide /infanticide as, with the killing of female foetuses and infants there is an imbalance in the sex-ratio, resulting in less number of girls for a certain number of boys.
Detrimental effects on the health of the women undergoing abortions.
Increase in trafficking of women to compensate the lack arising from a skewed sex-ratio.
Unhealthy population decline will also be an inevitable result as there will be fewer births on account of lesser women. This is a morally wrong manner of fighting population explosion.
LAWS ENACTED TO BATTLE THIS EVIL
Constitution of India, 1950
Our Indian Constitution enshrines the ‘Right to equality’ in Article 14 and the ‘Right to life and personal liberty’ in Article 21. The girl child is protected under these constitutional provisions and hence, endangering her life or terminating her life is against the very Law of the land.
Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC)
Sections 312- 316 deals with miscarriage and death of an unborn child. Under these sections, depending on the severity and intention with which the crime is committed, the penalties have been determined, which includes imprisonment and fine.
The provisions of the IPC were the only legal provisions which criminalised offences against female foeticide. Hence, the Indian Government legislated specific legislations to deal with this issue.
The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971
This enactment was the first of its kind to enable termination of pregnancy legally on reasonable grounds. This Act was conceived as a tool to let pregnant women decide on the number and frequency of children and further gave them the right to decide on having or not having the child. However, this good intentioned step was being used to force women to abort the female child. Because of this major defect in the Act, The Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994 was enacted.
The Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994
This Act was previously known as ‘The Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994’and aimed at combating the practice of female foeticide in the country through misuse of technology, done undercover, with the active connivance of the service providers and the persons seeking such service.
Later, amendments were brought about in the Act in 2002, which came into force in 2003 to improve the regulation of technology which was capable of sex selection and to arrest the decline in the child sex ratio. Hence, the Act came to be known as “The Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994 (PCPNDT).” Hence, the Act strives to prohibit prenatal diagnostic techniques for determination of the sex of the fetus leading to female foeticide. Chapter VII of the Act imposes punishments including imprisonment and fine for offences committed under the purview of the Act.
The Government has also introduced several schemes with the pretext of ending female foeticide/infanticide.
Besides having specific legislation and policy proclamations to deal with this menace, the precipitating factors such as dowry, poverty, and woman’s economic dependence etc., leading to the problem of foeticide and infanticide have been addressed by enacting various other legislations such as:
Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 (Amended in 1986);
Hindu Marriage Act, 1955;
Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956;
Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, 1986
Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 etc.
CHALLENGES IN CURBING FEMALE FOETICIDE/ INFANTICIDE
The main challenge is the effective implementation of the provisions of the Act. If strict measures are taken to ensure implementation, surely the fruits of this legislation can be realised. Public awareness also poses as a major challenge as most people are not aware of the ill-effects of female foeticide/infanticide.
CONCLUSION
A girl child of today is the wife, mother and grandmother of tomorrow. Save her!
Efforts for prevention need to be taken parallelly along with prosecution of cases of female foeticide/infanticide as ‘prevention is better than cure’. Awareness and education on this subject is the need of the hour as even if there are laws in force to tackle this grave danger to girl children, many instances of female foeticide/infanticide may be taking place, in the dark, totally hidden from the outside world.
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