The three deadliest words in the world-“It’s a girl.”
According to the filmmakers of the “It’s a girl” movie, those three words are the ones that are the most fatal. Around the world, there are reportedly 200 million girls “missing.” Why? Because of the cultural preference for males.
WHAT is female feticide?
Female Feticide occurs when a fetus is intentionally aborted exclusively because the sex of the fetus is female. According to the Global Girl Power website, Female feticide has eliminated over 50 million girls from India alone in the last century.
WHAT is female infanticide?
Female Infanticide occurs when a girl child is intentionally killed merely because they are female.
HOW does female feticide happen?
Before the seventh week of pregnancy, a DNA test can be performed to determine the sex of the baby.
There are a few different processes to successfully “kill” the female fetus.
#1-Surgical Abortion: One way to abort the fetus is to do it surgically. However, abortion can only be performed when the fetus is 3 to 4 months old.
#2-Injection: A fetus that is older and cannot be aborted can instead be induced by a chemical injection. These injections are more expensive so only certain financially well off families have this privilege. But the scary thing is, according to “Global Girl Power,” as developing countries grow richer, sex-selective abortion rises.
#3-OTC Drugs- OTC drugs are used by the underprivileged who don’t have the benefit of having an injection or surgical abortion, to try to miscarry the fetus. Unfortunately, sometimes it is unsuccessful and the baby is born deformed or with a disability.
WHERE is this happening?
The problem of female feticide and infanticide is definitely more prevalent in developing countries such as India and China, but it is happening elsewhere-even in Canada. Here are a few countries where this is happening:
India: Based on statistics, India is one of the countries where gendercide is a big problem. In fact, sex-selective abortions have killed over 50 million girls from India in the last century. That is an extremely large number that must be lowered. One statistic that I found completely sickening is from the Global Girl Power website. It said “In western parts of India sex ratio goes as low as 491 women to 1000 men.” This is mainly because of female feticide and infanticide. Because of the extreme difference in sex ratios, the competition between men for women has greatly increased. Therefore, sexual violence has also increased.
China: Like India, China is also a country where female feticide and infanticide is happening. According to the director of the “It’s A Girl” movie, in China, there are 37 million more men than women. Also, China’s former one-child policy supposedly increased the rate of female feticide, since parents wanted their one child to be a male.
Canada: When I first started researching where this is happening, I was astonished that this is happening in Canada. The articles that I read suggested that is happening in some Indo-Canadian communities. Indian communities are usually where gender discrimination is more common. In February of last year, there was a National Post article with the title “Rise in sex-based abortions prompts doctors to call for end to ultrasounds that only determine gender of fetus.” The reason for this was because of concerns for rising abortions of female fetuses.
WHY is this happening?
The reason for this whole “gendercide” is simply because of the cultural preference for male children. I think that this is absolutely heart-breaking and that it needs to stop, and soon.
WHAT are we doing to help?
Really, the only thing we can do is to really just raise awareness about the issue and to continue to break down cultural norms and barriers. To raise awareness, you can speak at your school, you can tell people simply by word of mouth, and you can write to your local member of parliament about the issue. Also, to help you can support charities like Because I am a Girl.
Recently, I saw that there is a movie called “It’s a Girl” that discusses the issue.
Here is the trailer for the It’s A Girl movie:
Here is a video of the director of the movie giving a talk about the issue:
Together, we can break down cultural norms and barriers, making gendercide a thing of the past.
Thanks for joining me on my journey to change the world!
-Diviya
SOURCES:http://www. itsagirlmovie.com/ http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/02/19/rise-in-sex-based-abortions-prompts-doctors-to-call-for-end-to-ultrasounds-that-only-determine-gender-of-fetus/ http://globalgirlpower.org/what-is-female-feticide/
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