50 Million Missing
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I have written before about the strong anti-girl gender bias prevalent throughout India. It manifests itself in many ways: selective abortion of female fetuses, abandonment or murder of girl children after birth, neglect and discrimination against girl children, and dowry deaths that are the result of the girl's inability to meet exorbitant dowry demands (an amount of money that a girl's family must pay to the groom). Yes, it is still going on. And no, it is not just happening in remote rural areas. In fact, studies suggest that the prevalance is higher among the well-to-do and the educated.
It has been estimated that these practices have, over the decades, resulted in 50 million females being "missing" from the Indian population.
The government has tried various methods to address the practice, with little success. For example, the offer of a payment of 500r (about $10.00) to families who have girl children did little to change attitudes, given that it was but a drop in the bucket compared to the 100,000r ($2,000) dowry the girl's family may be expected to pay to get her married.
Personally, all of the measures I've heard about so far seem cosmetic. Nothing will change until there is a major paradigm shift away from the culturally-ingrained "Boys Are Best" notion.
Journalist/photographer Rita Banerji is waging an international campaign to increase awareness of this unspeakable issue. To put a human face on the numbers, she has started a Flickr photo pool which is attempting to gather together 50 million photos of Indian women and girls going about their daily lives. There are contributions from photographers all over the world, and some of the photographs are stunning. (For those of you not familiar with Flickr pools, they allow anyone with a Flickr account to pool together their photographs on a topic of interest.)
Check out the 50 Million Missing Flickr pool here, help spread awareness, and just maybe help change an attitude. Not only is it for a great cause, but some of the pictures are exquisite. Check out my contributions to the pool here.
Click here for a list of hundreds of research articles on the subject, compiled by Rita.
"A whole gender is getting exterminated. It is happening while we, as a nation, slumber. |
Wow. I knew about the situation in China, but was unaware of this. Thanks
for bringing it to attention, and I hope Rita Banerji succeeds in
documenting this.
Hi again,Basia. Changing this inequality to women is one of the main
thrusts of our rural development programme. Through equal opportunity of
education, support for Women's Self Help Groups and through social
education re dowry, caste etc, we are seeing a steady but significant
change in attitudes. I would love you to visit, perhaps when Rosie and I go
again next January? Your input would be very welcome.
It is nice to see that someone has taken the initiative to bring awareness
that men and women are equal. I know a few families where there is
inequality exists between son and daughter. I hope the campaign is a huge
success.
Kevin: Yes, unfortunately the practice is also prevalent in China,
as well as in some other parts of Asia.
Hi again Basia, India has much that is beautiful, not the least of which is
its women. But the horror that we visit on them through dowry and related
violence, is barbaric. Even education seems to have made limited inroads on
dowry death numbers. Fifty years after Independance, it still happens on a
daily basis throughout the country. I know all kinds of people will jump
down my throat, citing my lack of understanding of the magnitude of the
problem. But to me, that makes no difference. This is a shameful practice
that should be dealt with swiftly and mercilessly, with no recourse to
lengthy trials and possible acquitals for lack of "live" statements. The
dead can't give "live" statements and the perps get away, free to do the
same to other woman. And that has happened too. I say, if you catch these
bastards, lock them up and throw away the key. If the families of these men
are involved, lock them up too, men AND women. And I care two hoots about
getting into lawyerly debates over process of law, etc. Anyway, enough of
my ranting. Here is a link to something I created on the subject. This song
'Brides' was part of my album, 'Brides and Bandits', which was released by
HMV in 1994. The video was carried by MTV Asia and Channel V.
http://www.youtube.com
/watch?v=7vwb3eUBcNo. Cheers.
Gender inequality and discrimination is one thing...we can work together to
eliminate these outdated practices and empower people to move forward
...but physical elimination of a human being...extermination of a
gender....it's murder and its criminal. And until it is prosecuted as such
(the idea that it isn't boggles the mind!)...Are there no murder laws in
India or do they only apply to the murder of men? Obviously they can't
speak from the dead either...unless their entire gender has become ghost
whisperers...or is the murder of women and/or girls considered justifiable
homicide? It is such a contradiction to see the cutting edge of
technological industries and education in India and investment, and realize
barbaric practices co-exist against the female population. How can this be?
And the more economic power the country achieves as a world player...does
that bode well for women (since wealth and education doesn't appear to
matter) or does it just give more and more power to men and less chance of
any leverage from the international community....as in Saudi Arabia's
treatment of women...but the men control the oil...how do we hold these
societies accountable without hurting the women in the process? I recently
saw photos of schools and sewing rooms etc all built with
donations....empty...because the Taliban still operates in rural areas as
well as tribal leaders...and threaten violence...so it all stands empty and
useless. It is a question for this century...it is hard enough to elicit
changes in impoverished countries, now we have to fight in technically
advanced and economically thriving countries as well. It's so upsetting
that CNN here has been covering Paris Hilton, and these issues "50 Million
Missing" are not an international scandal. AAAAAAh...Sharon
Jeet: Thanks for the link, that's a very moving video. Hope it helps
to spread the word...
Thank you for helping to share this information Basia. It is astounding, as
Sharon mentioned, how India appears to be developing (though predominately
in the economic sector) yet these practices continue. It's the rise of the
economy that is driving dowry demands and foeticide of the girl child.
There are many of us trying to raise awareness on this issue. I've just
launched my blog on a book i am writing on this subject ~ please feel free
to visit and leave comments.