As John-Thor Dahlburg points out, "in rural India, the centuries-old practice of female infanticide can still be considered a wise course of action." (Dahlburg, "Where killing baby girls 'is no big sin'," The Los Angeles Times [in The Toronto Star, February 28, 1994.]) According to census statistics, "From 972 females for every 1,000 males in 1901 ... the gender imbalance has tilted to 929 females per 1,000 males. ... In the nearly 300 poor hamlets of the Usilampatti area of Tamil Nadu [state], as many as 196 girls died under suspicious circumstances [in 1993] ... Some were fed dry, unhulled rice that punctured their windpipes, or were made to swallow poisonous powdered fertilizer. Others were smothered with a wet towel, strangled or allowed to starve to death." Dahlburg profiles one disturbing case from Tamil Nadu:
Lakshmi already had one daughter, so when she gave birth to a second girl, she killed her. For the three days of her second child's short life, Lakshmi admits, she refused to nurse her. To silence the infant's famished cries, the impoverished village woman squeezed the milky sap from an oleander shrub, mixed it with castor oil, and forced the poisonous potion down the newborn's throat. The baby bled from the nose, then died soon afterward. Female neighbors buried her in a small hole near Lakshmi's square thatched hut of sunbaked mud. They sympathized with Lakshmi, and in the same circumstances, some would probably have done what she did. For despite the risk of execution by hanging and about 16 months of a much-ballyhooed government scheme to assist families with daughters, in some hamlets of ... Tamil Nadu, murdering girls is still sometimes believed to be a wiser course than raising them. "A daughter is always liabilities. How can I bring up a second?" Lakshmi, 28, answered firmly when asked by a visitor how she could have taken her own child's life eight years ago. "Instead of her suffering the way I do, I thought it was better to get rid of her." (All quotes from Dahlburg, "Where killing baby girls 'is no big sin'.")
A study of Tamil Nadu by the Community Service Guild of Madras similarly found that "female infanticide is rampant" in the state, though only among Hindu (rather than Moslem or Christian) families. "Of the 1,250 families covered by the study, 740 had only one girl child and 249 agreed directly that they had done away with the unwanted girl child. More than 213 of the families had more than one male child whereas half the respondents had only one daughter." (Malavika Karlekar, "The girl child in India: does she have any rights?," Canadian Woman Studies, March 1995.)
The bias against females in India is related to the fact that "Sons are called upon to provide the income; they are the ones who do most of the work in the fields. In this way sons are looked to as a type of insurance. With this perspective, it becomes clearer that the high value given to males decreases the value given to females." (Marina Porras, "Female Infanticide and Foeticide".) The problem is also intimately tied to the institution of dowry, in which the family of a prospective bride must pay enormous sums of money to the family in which the woman will live after marriage. Though formally outlawed, the institution is still pervasive. "The combination of dowry and wedding expenses usually add up to more than a million rupees ([US] $35,000). In India the average civil servant earns about 100,000 rupees ($3,500) a year. Given these figures combined with the low status of women, it seems not so illogical that the poorer Indian families would want only male children." (Porras, "Female Infanticide and Foeticide".) Murders of women whose families are deemed to have paid insufficient dowry have become increasingly common, and receive separate case-study treatment on this site.
India is also the heartland of sex-selective abortion. Amniocentesis was introduced in 1974 "to ascertain birth defects in a sample population," but "was quickly appropriated by medical entrepreneurs. A spate of sex-selective abortions followed." (Karlekar, "The girl child in India.") Karlekar points out that "those women who undergo sex determination tests and abort on knowing that the foetus is female are actively taking a decision against equality and the right to life for girls. In many cases, of course, the women are not independent agents but merely victims of a dominant family ideology based on preference for male children."
Dahlburg notes that "In Jaipur, capital of the western state of Rajasthan, prenatal sex determination tests result in an estimated 3,500 abortions of female fetuses annually," according to a medical-college study. (Dahlburg, "Where killing baby girls 'is no big sin'.") Most strikingly, according to UNICEF, "A report from Bombay in 1984 on abortions after prenatal sex determination stated that 7,999 out of 8,000 of the aborted fetuses were females. Sex determination has become a lucrative business." (Zeng Yi et al., "Causes and Implications of the Recent Increase in the Reported Sex Ratio at Birth in China," Population and Development Review, 19: 2 [June 1993], p. 297.)
Deficits in nutrition and health-care also overwhelmingly target female children. Karlekar cites research
indicat[ing] a definite bias in feeding boys milk and milk products and eggs ... In Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh [states], it is usual for girls and women to eat less than men and boys and to have their meal after the men and boys had finished eating. Greater mobility outside the home provides boys with the opportunity to eat sweets and fruit from saved-up pocket money or from money given to buy articles for food consumption. In case of illness, it is usually boys who have preference in health care. ... More is spent on clothing for boys than for girls[,] which also affects morbidity. (Karlekar, "The girl child in India.")
Sunita Kishor reports "another disturbing finding," namely "that, despite the increased ability to command essential food and medical resources associated with development, female children [in India] do not improve their survival chances relative to male children with gains in development. Relatively high levels of agricultural development decrease the life chances of females while leaving males' life chances unaffected; urbanization increases the life chances of males more than females. ... Clearly, gender-based discrimination in the allocation of resources persists and even increases, even when availability of resources is not a constraint." (Kishor, "'May God Give Sons to All': Gender and Child Mortality in India," American Sociological Review, 58: 2 [April 1993], p. 262.)
Indian state governments have sometimes taken measures to diminish the slaughter of infant girls and abortions of female fetuses. "The leaders of Tamil Nadu are holding out a tempting carrot to couples in the state with one or two daughters and no sons: if one parent undergoes sterilization, the government will give the family [U.S.] \\$160 in aid per child. The money will be paid in instalments as the girl goes through school. She will also get a small gold ring and on her 20th birthday, a lump sum of $650 to serve as her dowry or defray the expenses of higher education. Four thousand families enrolled in the first year," with 6,000 to 8,000 expected to join annually (as of 1994) (Dahlburg, "Where killing baby girls 'is no big sin'.") Such programs have, however, barely begun to address the scale of the catastrophe.
Showing posts with label Gender discrimination. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gender discrimination. Show all posts
Girl prostitution in India
According to Human Rights Watch, there are approximately 15 million prostitutes in India. There are more than 100,000 women in prostitution in Bombay, Asia's largest sex industry center. Girls in prostitution in India, Pakistan and the Middle East are tortured, held in virtual imprisonment, sexually abused, and raped. Girl prostitutes are primarily located in low-middle income areas and business districts and are known by officials. Brothel keepers regularly recruit young girls. Girl prostitutes are grouped as common prostitutes, singers and dancers, call girls, religious prostitutes or devdasi, and caged brothel prostitutes. Districts bordering Maharashtra and Karnataka, known as the "devadasi belt," have trafficking structures operating at various levels. The women here are in prostitution either because their husbands deserted them, or they are trafficked through coercion and deception. Many are devadasi dedicated into prostitution for the goddess Yellamma.
An oft-repeated cause of prostitution is poverty. But poverty is only one of the reasons. The helplessness of women forces them to sell their bodies. Many girls from villages are trapped for the trade in the pretext of love and elope from home only to find themselves sold in the city to pimps who take money from the women as commission. The other causes of prostitution include ill treatment by parents, bad company, family prostitutes, social customs, inability to arrange marriage, lack of sex education, media, prior incest and rape, early marriage and desertion, lack of recreational facilities, ignorance, and acceptance of prostitution. Economic causes include poverty and economic distress. Psychological causes include desire for physical pleasure, greed, and dejection.
Most enter involuntarily. India, along with Thailand and the Philippines, has 1.3 million children in its sex-trade centers. The children come from relatively poorer areas and are trafficked to relatively richer ones. India and Pakistan are the main destinations for children under 16 who are trafficked in south Asia. What is causing alarm both in governmental and NGO circles is the escalation in trafficking of young girls in the last decade. NGOs like STOP and MAITI in Nepal report that most trafficking in India (both trans-border and in-country) is for prostitution. And 60 per cent of those trafficked into prostitution are adolescent girls in the age group of 12 to 16 years. These figures are corroborated by a study done by the Department of Women and Children in 13 sensitive districts of Uttar Pradesh. It reveals that all sex workers who formed a part of this survey had entered the profession as young girls. Many transsexuals, called hijiras, are sex workers. The families of hijiras reject them. They face opposition from the public, and with the denial of employment they take to begging and then enter the sex market.
Globalization, professionalisation of trafficking syndicates, feminization of poverty and rise in sex tourism - all have contributed to an increase in trafficking. This problem is further compounded because of two factors: linkages of trafficking with the spread of HIV/AIDS and the clandestine nature of the activity. Studies now show that while women of all ages are more vulnerable to the infection than men, young girls are even more at risk because their genital tracts are immature. In addition, they have absolutely no control over sexual relations and sexual health. So a physical vulnerability is compounded by gender vulnerability. The study done in 13 districts of Uttar Pradesh shows that in a sample of 1,341 sex workers, brothel-based prostitution was 793 and family-based prostitution came close at 548.Since prostitution is not legal, the police can arrest sex workers at any time.
The police, whose main function is to protect and serve, turn out to be robbers stealing the little money that these workers "earn." Interventions are increasingly based on issues like combating stigma related to HIV/AIDS, developing empowering strategies for victims and involving communities in the rehabilitation of rescued women and girls. But there is a lot that still needs to be done. Involvement of communities is of the greatest significance here since it has been seen that their families and communities do not accept rescued women and girls. The situation becomes worse if someone tests positive for HIV because she is immediately labeled a prostitute - a perception that creates a complex situation in the rehabilitation programmes. Even if trafficked returnees can avoid such treatment, they have few options for survival. What is needed is a multi-pronged strategy which can help in curbing trafficking and empowering communities and which also has scope for rescue and rehabilitation processes. The task is not just daunting; given the political priorities of most governments it is not given the importance it deserves.
An oft-repeated cause of prostitution is poverty. But poverty is only one of the reasons. The helplessness of women forces them to sell their bodies. Many girls from villages are trapped for the trade in the pretext of love and elope from home only to find themselves sold in the city to pimps who take money from the women as commission. The other causes of prostitution include ill treatment by parents, bad company, family prostitutes, social customs, inability to arrange marriage, lack of sex education, media, prior incest and rape, early marriage and desertion, lack of recreational facilities, ignorance, and acceptance of prostitution. Economic causes include poverty and economic distress. Psychological causes include desire for physical pleasure, greed, and dejection.
Most enter involuntarily. India, along with Thailand and the Philippines, has 1.3 million children in its sex-trade centers. The children come from relatively poorer areas and are trafficked to relatively richer ones. India and Pakistan are the main destinations for children under 16 who are trafficked in south Asia. What is causing alarm both in governmental and NGO circles is the escalation in trafficking of young girls in the last decade. NGOs like STOP and MAITI in Nepal report that most trafficking in India (both trans-border and in-country) is for prostitution. And 60 per cent of those trafficked into prostitution are adolescent girls in the age group of 12 to 16 years. These figures are corroborated by a study done by the Department of Women and Children in 13 sensitive districts of Uttar Pradesh. It reveals that all sex workers who formed a part of this survey had entered the profession as young girls. Many transsexuals, called hijiras, are sex workers. The families of hijiras reject them. They face opposition from the public, and with the denial of employment they take to begging and then enter the sex market.
Globalization, professionalisation of trafficking syndicates, feminization of poverty and rise in sex tourism - all have contributed to an increase in trafficking. This problem is further compounded because of two factors: linkages of trafficking with the spread of HIV/AIDS and the clandestine nature of the activity. Studies now show that while women of all ages are more vulnerable to the infection than men, young girls are even more at risk because their genital tracts are immature. In addition, they have absolutely no control over sexual relations and sexual health. So a physical vulnerability is compounded by gender vulnerability. The study done in 13 districts of Uttar Pradesh shows that in a sample of 1,341 sex workers, brothel-based prostitution was 793 and family-based prostitution came close at 548.Since prostitution is not legal, the police can arrest sex workers at any time.
The police, whose main function is to protect and serve, turn out to be robbers stealing the little money that these workers "earn." Interventions are increasingly based on issues like combating stigma related to HIV/AIDS, developing empowering strategies for victims and involving communities in the rehabilitation of rescued women and girls. But there is a lot that still needs to be done. Involvement of communities is of the greatest significance here since it has been seen that their families and communities do not accept rescued women and girls. The situation becomes worse if someone tests positive for HIV because she is immediately labeled a prostitute - a perception that creates a complex situation in the rehabilitation programmes. Even if trafficked returnees can avoid such treatment, they have few options for survival. What is needed is a multi-pronged strategy which can help in curbing trafficking and empowering communities and which also has scope for rescue and rehabilitation processes. The task is not just daunting; given the political priorities of most governments it is not given the importance it deserves.
Marrying Uncles
I have spent nearly 15 years growing up in Tamilnadu though I am basically from Delhi and found this practice odd too. Upon inquiry I was told that like today finding a match for a girl was often considered tedious or difficult.
Moreover having married a Tamilian, I have a respect and regard for their culture and so wish to highlight why this practice evolved though most families don’t follow it now!
There was the dowry issue, the caste that had to be matched and God forbid if the girl was “Manglik” she would have a hard time finding a groom. So in such circumstances it was considered a security that the maternal Uncle or cousin would marry the girl. Of course the south Indian beloved metal gold would stay in the family and the land too.
One must understand that dowry was and is still a very real problem in southern states, so this practice was actually was a relief to the parents in many ways. Moreover ancient middle eastern societies too followed this practice and they all gave birth to healthy children, so southern India is not an exceptional case!
The custom of marrying an uncle or first cousin is not a stone writ as some believe it is just that the uncle has the first right with the girls’ consent of course followed by the first cousin and then any outsider if the suitor doesn’t please the girl!
One might think this custom odd but I have done my degree from south and oh the times these couples have during Valentines day that too with the full permission of their parents, these traditional looking girls would be glowing with delight. So I think if the south Indian girls are happy with their custom so be it, well it works for them if not for others!
It’s not only for dowry but also the fact that in states like Kerala, girls outnumber boys and there are good chances that a number of girls might never find a guy as all get booked. In fact the reason that Kerala has so many nuns is partially due to this cause. So a parents’ mindset would be to secure the future of his daughter in such circumstances.
However, every parent wants their children’s good and happiness and all they do is to that end so if a girl expresses their unhappiness over such proposals their likes and dislikes are usually respected!
Moreover having married a Tamilian, I have a respect and regard for their culture and so wish to highlight why this practice evolved though most families don’t follow it now!
There was the dowry issue, the caste that had to be matched and God forbid if the girl was “Manglik” she would have a hard time finding a groom. So in such circumstances it was considered a security that the maternal Uncle or cousin would marry the girl. Of course the south Indian beloved metal gold would stay in the family and the land too.
One must understand that dowry was and is still a very real problem in southern states, so this practice was actually was a relief to the parents in many ways. Moreover ancient middle eastern societies too followed this practice and they all gave birth to healthy children, so southern India is not an exceptional case!
The custom of marrying an uncle or first cousin is not a stone writ as some believe it is just that the uncle has the first right with the girls’ consent of course followed by the first cousin and then any outsider if the suitor doesn’t please the girl!
One might think this custom odd but I have done my degree from south and oh the times these couples have during Valentines day that too with the full permission of their parents, these traditional looking girls would be glowing with delight. So I think if the south Indian girls are happy with their custom so be it, well it works for them if not for others!
It’s not only for dowry but also the fact that in states like Kerala, girls outnumber boys and there are good chances that a number of girls might never find a guy as all get booked. In fact the reason that Kerala has so many nuns is partially due to this cause. So a parents’ mindset would be to secure the future of his daughter in such circumstances.
However, every parent wants their children’s good and happiness and all they do is to that end so if a girl expresses their unhappiness over such proposals their likes and dislikes are usually respected!
Domestic violence in India
Around two-third of married women in India were victims of domestic violence and one incident of violence translates into women losing seven working days in the country, a United Nations report said.
As many as 70 per cent of married women in India between the age of 15 and 49 are victims of beating, rape or coerced sex, the United Nation Population Fund report said.
The report said violence against women was putting a huge strain on a nation's social and legal services and leads to heavy loss of productivity.
The report said one in five women will be a victim of rape or attempted rape in her lifetime, one in three would have been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused usually by a family member or an acquaintance.
The report said women in several countries justify wife-beating for one reason or another.
The reasons include neglecting children, going out without telling partner, arguing with partner, refusing to have sex, not preparing food properly or on time and talking with other men, it said.
Overall, the report said, several governments have started taking action and enacting laws to fight the menace but their effect is limited because of deep-rooted social mores in several societies.
The consequences of gender-based violence are devastating, including life-long emotional distress, mental health issues and poor reproductive health.
"Abused women are also at a higher risk of acquiring HIV," the report said adding that it puts burden on the healthcare system as they become long-term users of health services.
Besides, the effect might extend to future generation as children who see violence, or were victims themselves, often suffer a lasting psychological damage, it added.
India tackles this problem by implementing a new law to protect women from domestic violence. The law also bans harassment by way of dowry demands and gives sweeping powers to a magistrate to issue protection orders where needed.
Punishment could range from a jail term of up to one year and/or a fine of up to 20,000 rupees ($450).
Domestic abuse is often denied by the victims themselves.
As many as 70 per cent of married women in India between the age of 15 and 49 are victims of beating, rape or coerced sex, the United Nation Population Fund report said.
The report said violence against women was putting a huge strain on a nation's social and legal services and leads to heavy loss of productivity.
The report said one in five women will be a victim of rape or attempted rape in her lifetime, one in three would have been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused usually by a family member or an acquaintance.
The report said women in several countries justify wife-beating for one reason or another.
The reasons include neglecting children, going out without telling partner, arguing with partner, refusing to have sex, not preparing food properly or on time and talking with other men, it said.
Overall, the report said, several governments have started taking action and enacting laws to fight the menace but their effect is limited because of deep-rooted social mores in several societies.
The consequences of gender-based violence are devastating, including life-long emotional distress, mental health issues and poor reproductive health.
"Abused women are also at a higher risk of acquiring HIV," the report said adding that it puts burden on the healthcare system as they become long-term users of health services.
Besides, the effect might extend to future generation as children who see violence, or were victims themselves, often suffer a lasting psychological damage, it added.
India tackles this problem by implementing a new law to protect women from domestic violence. The law also bans harassment by way of dowry demands and gives sweeping powers to a magistrate to issue protection orders where needed.
Punishment could range from a jail term of up to one year and/or a fine of up to 20,000 rupees ($450).
Domestic abuse is often denied by the victims themselves.
Early marriage in India
Although the legal age of marriage in India is 18, nearly half of young women marry—that is, begin cohabiting with their husbands—before their 18th birthday. Over the last decade and a half, little progress has been made in reducing the proportion of adolescents who become brides, according to a new report from the New York–based Guttmacher Institute and the International Institute for Population Sciences in Mumbai. The report compares nationally representative surveys from 1993, 1999 and 2006, and finds that during that time, the proportion of young women who married as minors decreased slowly, from 50% to 45%. Similarly, the proportion of young women giving birth before age 18 declined somewhat over the same period, from 28% to 22%, which is not surprising, given that childbearing is closely tied to marriage.
While a range of socioeconomic and cultural factors may influence when a young woman gets married, past research has shown that areas with higher levels of girls' education have lower rates of early marriage. Keeping girls in school longer has also been found to delay early childbearing, which is rare outside of marriage in India.
Government programs aimed at reducing early marriage should focus on keeping girls in school longer. For example, in the western state of Goa and the northern state of Himachal Pradesh, the states with the highest proportions of young people who receive at least six years of schooling, only 12% of young women marry before age 18. By contrast, in the eastern states of Bihar and Jharkhand, where girls have some of the lowest levels of education, 60–61% of young women marry as minors. Consistent with this pattern, the proportion of young women between 20 and 24 years old who become mothers before age 18 is highest in Jharkhand (37%) and Bihar (31%) and lowest in Goa and Himachal Pradesh (5%).
Research has repeatedly shown that when girls stay in school longer, they delay marriage, desire smaller families and are better able to achieve their childbearing goals. One underlying problem is that many young Indian women are expected to marry while still adolescents and to have their first child shortly thereafter, often before they are physically mature enough to go through childbirth safely.
Hence, education holds promise for decreasing early marriage, and delays in marriage will go a long way toward reducing adolescent childbearing.
While a range of socioeconomic and cultural factors may influence when a young woman gets married, past research has shown that areas with higher levels of girls' education have lower rates of early marriage. Keeping girls in school longer has also been found to delay early childbearing, which is rare outside of marriage in India.
Government programs aimed at reducing early marriage should focus on keeping girls in school longer. For example, in the western state of Goa and the northern state of Himachal Pradesh, the states with the highest proportions of young people who receive at least six years of schooling, only 12% of young women marry before age 18. By contrast, in the eastern states of Bihar and Jharkhand, where girls have some of the lowest levels of education, 60–61% of young women marry as minors. Consistent with this pattern, the proportion of young women between 20 and 24 years old who become mothers before age 18 is highest in Jharkhand (37%) and Bihar (31%) and lowest in Goa and Himachal Pradesh (5%).
Research has repeatedly shown that when girls stay in school longer, they delay marriage, desire smaller families and are better able to achieve their childbearing goals. One underlying problem is that many young Indian women are expected to marry while still adolescents and to have their first child shortly thereafter, often before they are physically mature enough to go through childbirth safely.
Hence, education holds promise for decreasing early marriage, and delays in marriage will go a long way toward reducing adolescent childbearing.
Denial of right to education in India
Two thirds of children not in school are girls. Drop-out rates for girls are higher than for boys, and girls are less likely to go on to higher education. The next generation of illiterate adults, like the last, will be predominantly female. The systematic failure, in India, to educate women and girls on equal terms with boys and men is a human rights violation on a massive scale.
Gender differences are striking in states like Jammu with enrolment rate of 80 percent for male and 35 percent for female. Rajasthan is another state where enrolment in the secondary level for male is 74 percent and female is 34 percent.
Education allows women to make independent decisions about their own futures, and prepares them for meaningful work and economic independence. However, due to social, economical and cultural reasons, many girls are denied of education.
Girls are required to spend a far greater proportion of their time on household tasks than boys, reducing the time available to them for education. In India girls aged under 13 work on average 5.5 hours a day compared with 1.8 hours for boys. In India, Bangladesh and Nepal, girls assume responsibility for collecting firewood, water and caring for siblings by the age of five. Inconvenient timetables which are not designed around other tasks children are expected to perform and curricula irrelevant to girls’ socio-economic context contribute to their lower attendance rates. Even where girls’ enrolment and attendance is relatively high, the time and space available to them for homework and extra-curricular education activities tends to be limited in comparison with that available to boys, particularly in poorer households and rural areas.
Other cultural factors impeding girls’ education include early marriage, early pregnancy, and the perception that investment in a daughter’s education will be lost to her future husband’s family; traditions and customs arising from ethnic and religious background; fear of sexual or other violence towards girls outside the home.
As a result, most families deny their daughters of education.
Gender differences are striking in states like Jammu with enrolment rate of 80 percent for male and 35 percent for female. Rajasthan is another state where enrolment in the secondary level for male is 74 percent and female is 34 percent.
Education allows women to make independent decisions about their own futures, and prepares them for meaningful work and economic independence. However, due to social, economical and cultural reasons, many girls are denied of education.
Girls are required to spend a far greater proportion of their time on household tasks than boys, reducing the time available to them for education. In India girls aged under 13 work on average 5.5 hours a day compared with 1.8 hours for boys. In India, Bangladesh and Nepal, girls assume responsibility for collecting firewood, water and caring for siblings by the age of five. Inconvenient timetables which are not designed around other tasks children are expected to perform and curricula irrelevant to girls’ socio-economic context contribute to their lower attendance rates. Even where girls’ enrolment and attendance is relatively high, the time and space available to them for homework and extra-curricular education activities tends to be limited in comparison with that available to boys, particularly in poorer households and rural areas.
Other cultural factors impeding girls’ education include early marriage, early pregnancy, and the perception that investment in a daughter’s education will be lost to her future husband’s family; traditions and customs arising from ethnic and religious background; fear of sexual or other violence towards girls outside the home.
As a result, most families deny their daughters of education.
Abortion of female foetuses in India
As many as 10 million female foetuses may have been aborted in India over the last 20 years as families try to secure a male heir, according to a study published Monday in The Lancet, the British medical journal.
In the two decades since ultrasound equipment, which allows prenatal determination of sex, became widely available, the number of girls born in India has declined steeply, despite a law banning doctors from disclosing the sex of a foetus to parents.
Although the routine aborting of female foetuses has been well documented, the study puts new light on the scale of the practice. Experts in India said Monday that they hoped the study would prompt the government to enforce laws against the practice that are already on the books.
Campaigners have been trying to alert the government to the potential long-term social impact of the phenomenon, warning that, among other problems, it will make it harder for men to find wives.
Ultrasound equipment has become cheaper, thus allowing more and more Indian clinics to purchase it, the gender imbalance in the population has grown greater. In 1991 there were some 945 women for every 1,000 men. The ratio dropped to 927 females per 1,000 males in 2001.
The ban in 1994 on revealing the sex of a foetus is widely ignored and there is little attempt to enforce it. In theory, pregnant women who seek help for sex selection could face a three-year prison sentence and a fine of 50,000 rupees, or $1,100, while doctors can have their medical license suspended, but no case has yet come to court.
Dr. Sabhu George, who has been researching the phenomenon for the last 21 years, conducted a research to show that as ultrasound technology becomes available in more remote areas of India, the number of abortions of female foetuses will increase.
In the two decades since ultrasound equipment, which allows prenatal determination of sex, became widely available, the number of girls born in India has declined steeply, despite a law banning doctors from disclosing the sex of a foetus to parents.
Although the routine aborting of female foetuses has been well documented, the study puts new light on the scale of the practice. Experts in India said Monday that they hoped the study would prompt the government to enforce laws against the practice that are already on the books.
Campaigners have been trying to alert the government to the potential long-term social impact of the phenomenon, warning that, among other problems, it will make it harder for men to find wives.
Ultrasound equipment has become cheaper, thus allowing more and more Indian clinics to purchase it, the gender imbalance in the population has grown greater. In 1991 there were some 945 women for every 1,000 men. The ratio dropped to 927 females per 1,000 males in 2001.
The ban in 1994 on revealing the sex of a foetus is widely ignored and there is little attempt to enforce it. In theory, pregnant women who seek help for sex selection could face a three-year prison sentence and a fine of 50,000 rupees, or $1,100, while doctors can have their medical license suspended, but no case has yet come to court.
Dr. Sabhu George, who has been researching the phenomenon for the last 21 years, conducted a research to show that as ultrasound technology becomes available in more remote areas of India, the number of abortions of female foetuses will increase.
Unequal opportunity for women to succeed at work
Career Women in Japan Find a Blocked Path
From the New York Times
TOKYO, Aug. 5 — Yukako Kurose joined the work force in 1986, a year after Japan passed its first equal opportunity law. Like other career-minded young women, she hoped the law would open doors. But her promising career at a department-store corporate office ended 15 years ago when she had a baby.
She was passed over for promotions after she started leaving work before 6:30 each evening to pick up her daughter from day care. Then, she was pushed into a dead-end clerical job. Finally, she quit.
“Japanese work customs make it almost impossible for women to have both a family and a career,” said Ms. Kurose, 45, who now works for a polyester company.
Since the Equal Employment Opportunity Law was passed in 1985, women have become a common sight on factory floors, at construction sites and behind the wheels of taxis. But they have had much less success reaching positions of authority, which remain the preserve of gray-suited salarymen.
In 1985, women held just 6.6 percent of all management jobs in Japanese companies and government, according to the International Labor Organization, a United Nations agency. By 2005, that number had risen to only 10.1 percent, though Japan’s 27 million working women made up nearly half of its work force. By contrast, women held 42.5 percent of managerial jobs in the United States in 2005, the organization said.
Experts on women’s issues say outright prejudice is only part of Japan’s problem. An even bigger barrier to the advancement of women is the nation’s notoriously demanding corporate culture, particularly its expectation of morning-to-midnight work hours.
Government statistics show that many women drop out of management-track jobs when they reach their late 20s and early 30s and start having children. As Japan’s birthrate rapidly declines and its population ages, there are growing concerns that Japan can ill afford to lose so much potential.
“If expected to work 15 hours a day, then most women will give up,” said Kuniko Inoguchi, a former cabinet minister in charge of gender equality. “Japan is losing half of its brainpower as it faces a labor shortage.”
Even with cases of blatant discrimination, lawsuits remain rare because of a cultural aversion to litigation. Another big problem has been that the equal opportunity law is essentially toothless. Despite two revisions, the law includes no real punishment for companies that continue to discriminate. The worst that the Labor Ministry can do is to threaten to publish the names of violators, and the ministry has never done that. As a result, Japan ranks as the most unequal of the world’s rich countries, according to the United Nations Development Program’s “gender empowerment measure,” an index of female participation in a nation’s economy and politics. The country placed 42nd among 75 nations surveyed in 2006 — just above Macedonia and far below other developed nations like the United States, ranked 12th, and top-ranked Norway.
“It’s a pathetic situation,” said Kumiko Morizane, deputy director of the equal employment division in Japan’s Labor Ministry. “Even in Pakistan, where women cover their faces, they had a female prime minister.”
But the painfully slow pace of change reflects ingrained social attitudes about gender roles.
From the New York Times
TOKYO, Aug. 5 — Yukako Kurose joined the work force in 1986, a year after Japan passed its first equal opportunity law. Like other career-minded young women, she hoped the law would open doors. But her promising career at a department-store corporate office ended 15 years ago when she had a baby.
She was passed over for promotions after she started leaving work before 6:30 each evening to pick up her daughter from day care. Then, she was pushed into a dead-end clerical job. Finally, she quit.
“Japanese work customs make it almost impossible for women to have both a family and a career,” said Ms. Kurose, 45, who now works for a polyester company.
Since the Equal Employment Opportunity Law was passed in 1985, women have become a common sight on factory floors, at construction sites and behind the wheels of taxis. But they have had much less success reaching positions of authority, which remain the preserve of gray-suited salarymen.
In 1985, women held just 6.6 percent of all management jobs in Japanese companies and government, according to the International Labor Organization, a United Nations agency. By 2005, that number had risen to only 10.1 percent, though Japan’s 27 million working women made up nearly half of its work force. By contrast, women held 42.5 percent of managerial jobs in the United States in 2005, the organization said.
Experts on women’s issues say outright prejudice is only part of Japan’s problem. An even bigger barrier to the advancement of women is the nation’s notoriously demanding corporate culture, particularly its expectation of morning-to-midnight work hours.
Government statistics show that many women drop out of management-track jobs when they reach their late 20s and early 30s and start having children. As Japan’s birthrate rapidly declines and its population ages, there are growing concerns that Japan can ill afford to lose so much potential.
“If expected to work 15 hours a day, then most women will give up,” said Kuniko Inoguchi, a former cabinet minister in charge of gender equality. “Japan is losing half of its brainpower as it faces a labor shortage.”
Even with cases of blatant discrimination, lawsuits remain rare because of a cultural aversion to litigation. Another big problem has been that the equal opportunity law is essentially toothless. Despite two revisions, the law includes no real punishment for companies that continue to discriminate. The worst that the Labor Ministry can do is to threaten to publish the names of violators, and the ministry has never done that. As a result, Japan ranks as the most unequal of the world’s rich countries, according to the United Nations Development Program’s “gender empowerment measure,” an index of female participation in a nation’s economy and politics. The country placed 42nd among 75 nations surveyed in 2006 — just above Macedonia and far below other developed nations like the United States, ranked 12th, and top-ranked Norway.
“It’s a pathetic situation,” said Kumiko Morizane, deputy director of the equal employment division in Japan’s Labor Ministry. “Even in Pakistan, where women cover their faces, they had a female prime minister.”
But the painfully slow pace of change reflects ingrained social attitudes about gender roles.
Media and culture affecting gender stereotyping in Singapore
Gender stereotyping applies across all echelons of society in Singapore. Across the world in countries both like and unlike Singapore, gender stereotyping is present and continues to be prevalent even in the modern and liberal societies that exist today. While other countries have women as their top leaders, it is ironic that in the Singapore parliament, less than 20% of the Members of Parliament are women as women make up half of our society.
Media has also played a large part in contributing to gender stereotyping. In both movies and text, women are depicted as being the ones who are in need of assistance or in a position that is inferior to that of men. As literature plays a large part in influencing the values and perceptions of a society, people would form their own perceptions of both men and women after reading books or watching movies.
Movies commonly portray women as being sexy and thin, so do advertisements and even some book describe women as so. This has resulted in many women trying to achieve the looks of actresses in Western countries, as thinness is promoted as the ideal female form due to the presence of such media. While trying to achieve such figures, women could develop disorders such as Anorexia or a chronic low self-esteem (as a result of being unable to achieve the figure). In order to achieve what the media portrays, they sacrifice their personal health. This has resulted in campaigns aimed to educate girls and women on the risks associated with Anorexia, showing how society puts pressure on women to conform to its definitions.
The culture and religion of a person could be responsible in gender stereotyping amongst the people of that culture or religion. It could also have been influenced by the type of activities that were prevalent in that time that most of the cultural norms were laid down or could be related to do with succession. Some cultures only allow the man to carry on the family name, which is why families preferred to have sons so that their family name could be carried on. This is evident in Chinese and Malay culture. Some cultures also advocate the wife being subservient to the husband and those who follow in strictly could put themselves into the inferior position.
With regards to religion, some religions have placed boundaries on who can preach, such as the Roman Catholic Church, which has held the hard-line policy of allowing only men to be become priests since its inception. While the church has allowed women to dedicate their lives to service by becoming nuns, it does not allow for women to take up important positions in the church as they must first become a priest to do so. Some, like the Anglican Church, have allowed for women to become priests, but faced a negative reception from the Roman Catholic Church.
Media has also played a large part in contributing to gender stereotyping. In both movies and text, women are depicted as being the ones who are in need of assistance or in a position that is inferior to that of men. As literature plays a large part in influencing the values and perceptions of a society, people would form their own perceptions of both men and women after reading books or watching movies.
Movies commonly portray women as being sexy and thin, so do advertisements and even some book describe women as so. This has resulted in many women trying to achieve the looks of actresses in Western countries, as thinness is promoted as the ideal female form due to the presence of such media. While trying to achieve such figures, women could develop disorders such as Anorexia or a chronic low self-esteem (as a result of being unable to achieve the figure). In order to achieve what the media portrays, they sacrifice their personal health. This has resulted in campaigns aimed to educate girls and women on the risks associated with Anorexia, showing how society puts pressure on women to conform to its definitions.
The culture and religion of a person could be responsible in gender stereotyping amongst the people of that culture or religion. It could also have been influenced by the type of activities that were prevalent in that time that most of the cultural norms were laid down or could be related to do with succession. Some cultures only allow the man to carry on the family name, which is why families preferred to have sons so that their family name could be carried on. This is evident in Chinese and Malay culture. Some cultures also advocate the wife being subservient to the husband and those who follow in strictly could put themselves into the inferior position.
With regards to religion, some religions have placed boundaries on who can preach, such as the Roman Catholic Church, which has held the hard-line policy of allowing only men to be become priests since its inception. While the church has allowed women to dedicate their lives to service by becoming nuns, it does not allow for women to take up important positions in the church as they must first become a priest to do so. Some, like the Anglican Church, have allowed for women to become priests, but faced a negative reception from the Roman Catholic Church.
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