The number of girls born and surviving in India has hit an all time low compared to boys.
A report by the UK charity Action Aid says increasing numbers of female foetuses were being aborted and baby girls deliberately neglected and left to die. ActionAid teamed up with Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC) to produce the Disappearing Daughters report
In one site in the Punjab state, there are just 300 girls to every 1,000 boys among higher caste families. Under "normal" circumstances, there should be about 950 girls for every 1,000 boys, the charity said. But it said that in three of the five sites looked at, that number was below 800.
The research also found that ratios of girls to boys were declining fastest in relatively well-off urban areas. ActionAid suggested the increasing use of ultrasound technology is a likely factor in the trend. Indian woman are put under intense pressure to produce sons as daughetrs tended to be regarded as burdens rather than assets.
It says many families now use ultrasound scans and abort female foetuses, despite the existence of the 1994 law banning gender selection and selective abortion. The charity also blames other illegal practices - such as allowing the umbilical cord to become infected - for the growing gender imbalance.
Laura Turquet, women's rights policy official at ActionAid said.
"In the long term, cultural attitudes need to change. India must address economic and social barriers including property rights, marriage dowries and gender roles that condemn girls before they are even born. If we don't act now the future looks bleak."
Some 10 million female foetuses have been aborted in India in the past 20 years, the British medical journal the Lancet has said.
June 2008
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