(a) Female Foeticide
Female foeticide is the selective abortion / elimination of the girl in the womb, done deliberately by the mother, after the detection of the child‟s gender through medical means. This is usually done under family pressure from the husband or the in-laws or even the woman‟s parents.
(b) Effects:
(a) Skewed sex ratio: In India, the number of girls per 1000 boys is declining with each passing decade. From 962 for every 1000 boys in the year 1981, the sex ratio has plummeted to an all-time low of only 914 girls for 1000 boys in 2011.
(b) Female trafficking: The steep decline in the number of girls makes them scarce for the number of males eligible for marriage. As a solution to this issue, illegal trafficking of women has become commonplace in many regions. Women, often young girls who‟ve just crossed the threshold of puberty, are compelled to marry for a price fixed by the groom-to be.
(c) Increase in rape and assault: Once women become an endangered species, it is only a matter of time before the instances of rape, assault and violence become widespread. The legal system may offer protection, but as is the situation today, many cases might not even surface for fear of isolation and humiliation on the girl‟s part.
(d) Population decline: With no mothers or wombs to bear a child (male or female), there would be fewer births, leading to a decline in the country‟s overall population.
