female foeticide, a social evil ( essay for SSC CHSL and SSC CGL )

Female foeticide

Female foeticide takes place when a foetus is aborted after it is determined to be female. Under thid illegal practice, the sex of the unborn child is determined by using ultrasound and if it happened to be a female foetus, it is aborted through medicine or surgery. It is one of the most rampant social evils in the country rooted in the patriarchal mindset where boys are preferred over girls for various irrational reasons, not only in rural but in urban areas too. To carry forward the generation, families in general prefer the birth of sons over daughters. The male child id also desired by a Hindu family to perform the last rites of the father. In the absence of whom, it is believed the father would not attain salvation after death. In most traditional conservative families, a girl child is more or less considered a liability or a burden due to the frequent demands of huge sum of money in the form of dowry at the time of marriage.

 To stop this evil practice of female foeticide, stringent punishment in the form of fine and jail to the person requiring abortion of the girl child is prescribed under Prenatal Diagnostics Technic (PNDT) Act. The practitioner who helps in sex determination for the perpose is also required to be punished equally. But law has been unable to curb the misuse of the ultrasound machines by unscrupulous operators. However, the winds of change have now started blowing in the society with girls doing well in diverse professions which were considered male-bastions up until now, such as boxing, wrestling, armed forces etc.

‘Beti Bachao, Beti padhao ‘has become a countrywide movement. Fortunately, a growing number of medical practitioner have now railed themselves against the sex selective abortions. These positive changes are very encouraging for the development of the nation and will also help in correcting the skewed male- female ratio in many states of the country as the society is now beginning to realize the importance of the girl child with the result that equal opportunities of nutrition, health, education and employment are now available to women.