Published On: Fri, Dec 27th, 2013

What is Female Foeticide?

The term female foeticide is too common to deserve an explanation in detail, still there are many aspects of this which we may not be familiar with. This is a practice that is common in many countries especially in the Asian subcontinent where a female is killed before even being born due to many social and economic factors.

Needless to say it is a crime as well as a social evil and should be abolished entirely anywhere in the world, but before that let us find out what reasons are there which make human beings so cruel that they kill a girl child in the womb itself. Some of the most common reasons for female foeticide are as follows.

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  1. Dowry – In countries like India women need to pay a heavy dowry at the time of marriage. For a poor family it may be difficult to arrange all this money as a result they chose not to have a female baby.
  2. Family name – It is believed that men take the family name forward so there should be at least one boy in the family. So parents who are about to have a second girl child prefer to abort the baby as they only want sons and not daughters.
  3. Women are considered as a burden- In the society today women are considered as a burden. It is belived that they can never be equal to a boy and they will not take care of the parents in old age. This is why the female child is aborted for a boy.
  4. The medical practices – the doctors must be given the first blame for the female foeticide. They are the ones who do these abortions and also tell the patient about the sex of the unborn child. The abortion of the unborn child has become quite easy and economical today as a result more and more men and women are opting for the same. The doctors must think twice that for a small sum of money is it reasonable to play with the life of a child who is yet to be born. The ultrasounds are also cheaper today as a result more and more people are opting for the female foeticide.
  5. The female foeticide is becoming a common problem all across the world. Women who have travelled from the South- East Asian countries to USA and UK have taken this concept with them as a result the cases of female foeticide can be heard from across the world nowadays. The female foeticide has lead to many social problems.
  6. In many parts of India where the female foeticide is very high there is no women and the number of men are huge. This can be a case in many parts of India and in other parts of the world if the female foeticide is still not controlled.
  7. The severe reduction in number of women has lead to the illegal trafficking of women all across the world. As a result the nations where the female foeticide is not common the women are in danger as they may become victim of human trafficking.
  8. We all know that rape and sexual assault is becoming more and more common all across the world. One reason for this can be the female foeticide. The women are reducing rapidly as a result the men do not have much options to get themselves physically satisfied so they get frustrated and take to these heinous crimes.
  9. If you look more into the future as there will hardly be women to give birth with female foeticide on the rise. There will be a time in the future that the countries promoting female foeticide will suffer from lack of birth and their population will cease to grow.

How female foeticide is carried out?

The doctors use ultrasound and determine the sex of the unborn child. They inform the parents and accordingly the child is aborted forcibly. Sometimes aborting the female child can be a big threat to the life of the mother too. Female foeticide is a crime as you are killing a life. If the pregnancy is less than twenty weeks then an abortion pill is given to kill the child. If the pregnancy is over twenty one weeks then an injection is given. This injection contains potassium chloride and it is strong enough to stop the heart beat of the child. The dead foetus is later removed using surgery. The process of female foeticide can be both mentally and physically very painful for the mother.

Some effects of female foeticide on the health of the mother are:

  1. It can be fatal for the mother if the pregnancy is in the last trimester.
  2. Sometimes due to female foeticide it may become difficult for the mother to conceive again.
  3. It has been seen that some women opt for female foeticide multiple times which is extremely dangerous for their health.

Some steps that we can take to ensure that the practice of female foeticide is stopped forever are:

  1. Educate the women and make them aware of their rights.
  2. The women should be made financially independent so that they can fight against the injustice.
  3. Strict rules should be made against dowry system so that people do not ask for dowry and the female child is not killed.
  4. The people must be made more educated and they must be told that women too can be as good as men in all the fields of life and can take care of their parents. Examples of women achievers can be quoted. There is a need to work on the grass root level to change the way people look at women.
  5. The consequences of female foeticide must be communicated to the people so that they understand how their actions can affect the future of the country and the world. They must also be told of the crimes that can happen due to the female foeticide on the rise.
  6. The doctors who are involved in female foeticide must be banned for life and their licences should be taken back.
  7. Sex determination must be made illegal so that people do not get to know the sex of the unborn child and they do not take to such crimes.
  8. Strict laws must be made against those who are doing these crimes against the unborn.
  9. The religious bodies and associations must take up the cause of the female foeticide and ensure that the awareness is spread.
  10. The educated men and women must ensure that they report of female foeticide to the police and the government so that they can take the necessary actions on time and save the life of the unborn.

The female foeticide is a crime and it must be stopped. We as a society must ensure that we make this world a much safer place for the women. There are many associations that are working for this cause and we at BetiBeta try to contribute in our own small way in this cause

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