The Root Causes of India’s Skewed Gender Ratio: Female Feticide and Flawed Beliefs

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India has long been called “a country of missing women”-- a phrase first coined by Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen in 1990, a time when the gender ratio had hit rock bottom at 927 women for every 1,000 men. In comparison, the ideal gender ratio, according to the World Health Organization, is 952 women for every 1,000 men.

For a country with over 1.43 billion people, this may not seem like such a bad thing, but experts say that for a healthy population growth, India must address its skewed gender ratio.

Sons as an Investment, Daughters as a Liability

According to the latest figures from India’s National Family Health Survey, nearly 80% of those surveyed said they wanted at least one son in their lifetime.

The preference for sons over daughters is deep rooted in traditional beliefs. Many parents believe that a son would support them during their old age, while a daughter would leave them for her matrimonial home and only cost them dowry. Meanwhile, in the context of India’s patriarchal system, having a son is seen as imperative to carry forward the family name. Furthermore, according to Hindu tradition, sons are needed to kindle the funeral pyre of their deceased parents and help in the salvation of their souls.

Female Feticide– Sex-Selective Abortion

In the United States, finding out the gender of the baby is simply another milestone that parents undergo during pregnancy, but that is not the case for women in India. In the 1970s, ultrasounds grew readily available to determine the sex of a fetus during pregnancy. However, this tool meant to help families prepare for a new life only exacerbated India’s existing gender discrimination issue. Since sex determination technology became available in the 1970s, India is estimated to have about 63 million fewer women.

The Government’s Partly Successful Solution

In an attempt to curb female feticide, the Indian Government enacted the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Technique Act of 1994 (PCPNDT), which made it illegal to determine the sex of a fetus unless it was necessary for urgent medical reasons. The act was successful in areas where the legislation was implemented effectively– according to a study published by the Lancet in 2018, the sex ratio at birth improved in areas strictly enforcing the PCPNDT Act. The study found that the sex ratio at birth in areas where the PCPNDT Act was implemented effectively was 943 females per 1,000 males, compared to 895 females per 1,000 males in areas where the law was not implemented effectively.

A Major Flaw in the PCPNDT Act

A critical challenge presented with the PCPNDT Act is enforcement. Many ultrasound machines are not registered, and there are several instances of healthcare providers continuing to engage in sex-selective abortions despite the law. In fact, illegal abortions currently outnumber legal abortions, because most abortions are solely based on the fetal sex preference for boys. Almost ten women die each day of unsafe, illegal abortions in India. According to India’s health ministry, nearly half of abortions are conducted in hazardous and unhygienic conditions and are often performed by untrained physicians.

The Dangerous Myth That Gender Can Be Changed After Fertilization

Since sex determination tests are illegal in India, many women have started to resort to diagnostic testing conducted illegally by gangs, Sex Selection Drugs (SSDs), or “old-wives tale” remedies to alter the sex of the fetus after conception.

However, numerous women are unaware that the sex of the fetus is determined during fertilization and cannot be changed afterward; therefore, they voluntarily take harmful drugs containing synthetic chemicals and heavy metals that often result in congenital disabilities and stillbirths.

Flawed Beliefs Impacting the Lives of the Daughters of India

Many Indian American teens (like myself) have long-term career aspirations like following our passion– whether that be medicine, engineering, law, business, etc.— and breaking down societal norms and cultural barriers. We don’t want to be housewives; we want to be independent career girls. We don’t think about settling down until years later. And we aren’t pressured to.

Yet the daughters of India face very different expectations. As Sangeeta Pillai explains, “A good Indian woman is obedient and lives the life her parents and society tell her to live. A good Indian woman gets ‘married off’ early and becomes a mother quickly because that is her primary purpose. A good Indian woman doesn’t reveal any part of her body or her sexual desires. A good Indian woman ignores her own needs and lives her life serving others.”

A survey shows that an astounding 70% of girls desire to pursue higher education, yet many end up giving in to societal pressure (like their family’s definition of a good Indian woman), as they are expected to drop their education and quickly adjust to the life of a housewife and a mother.

So in fact, Indian American teens have similar dreams to the daughters of India– majority of both populations aspire to pursue higher education before marriage and pregnancy. However, expectations for the girls in both countries differ. India’s long time sex-selective discriminatory beliefs that portray women as servants of their husbands compromise the futures of girls in India, often forcing them to abandon their dreams, while they watch their Indian American counterparts break barriers and follow their passions.

There is Still Hope for India to Fix its Skewed Gender Ratio

There are some signs of a turnaround. India’s National Family Health Survey for 2019 to 2021 estimated that the sex ratio at birth had marginally improved to 929 girls per 1,000 boys from 919 in the period from 2015 to 2016.

Furthermore, South Korea, which also faced a severely skewed sex-ratio, implemented solutions that have shown promising results. They improved, enacted, and strictly enforced laws that prohibited female feticide, encouraged and provided opportunities for more women to enter the labor force, and used the media to mobilize support for their initiatives. If Indian government officials can emulate their approach, India may start seeing similar results.

To correct the flawed, discriminatory beliefs of many Indians, health and population experts are advocating for better female education and sensitization campaigns. “Incentivizing education and roping in real parents and celebrities to raise awareness about the importance of [female children] and respect for women can bring about positive and sustainable change,” suggests Priyanka Adhikary, a social scientist at the Center for Health Research and Development at the Society for Applied Studies in New Delhi.

There is still hope to prevent the 6.8 million female feticides estimated to occur by 2030… but India must direct a strict enforcement of its policies for the drastic improvement needed.