The problem is particularly acute in those nations with billion-plus
populations, China and India. But similar patterns have also been found in
other states in the region, such as South Korea, Pakistan and Taiwan. The
reasons are numerous, and vary somewhat from place to place, but essentially
come from religious, cultural and economic traditions and pressures that tend
to devalue women.
In India, for example, females are often seen as economic burdens by their
parents, due to the long-outlawed - but still widely practised - tradition of
dowries. Under the system, when a woman is married, her family is expected to
provide the groom's family with a payment, often substantial, known as a dowry.
Parents, especially those in lower income brackets, at times have to go into
debt to provide sufficient dowries to satisfy the groom's family, resulting in
financial hardship that can last many years. Thousands of women are reported
killed - often called "bride burnings" - every year in India by their in-laws,
in disputes over what the husband's family considers inadequate dowries.
In China, the traditional preference for a son, societal rules that favour
males, and that populous nation's strict laws limiting families to one child
per couple have all combined to place a stigma on the birth of a daughter.
Infanticide has long been practised in many of these countries to reduce the
numbers of unwanted baby girls. With the advent of technological tools like
ultrasound, millions of female fetuses are aborted every year throughout Asia
by expectant mothers, despite laws in several nations banning their use for
determining the gender of the expected child. Perhaps surprisingly,
well-educated and financially secure mothers are more apt to use such
technological sex-selection techniques to favour the birth of male children.
The social repercussions are profound and go beyond the obvious discrimination
against women. China and India must deal with skewed sex ratios in their
populations that have millions more young men, looking to marry and start
families, than young women.
Dedicated, long-term campaigns of education, legislation and international
support for crucial societal reforms are the vital ingredients that, over time,
can and must change this disturbing picture.
