Saving the Girl Child
There has been increasing international news coverage of the excess of young boys in India resulting from the abortion of female fetuses. The strong preference for sons is especially evident in some Indian states, but the practice of sex-selective abortion to ensure a male child has been documented in many parts of India and among Indians living abroad.
The girls have not vanished overnight. Decades of sex determination tests and female foeticide that has acquired genocide proportions are finally catching up with states in India. “Eligible Jat boys from Haryana travel 3,000 km across the country to find themselves a bride. With increasingly fewer girls in Haryana, they are seeking brides from as far away as Kerala as the only way to change their single status.” says Alka Gupta (unicef.org)
Here’s a comic strip highlighting the plight of girls in India.
