On September 10, the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations held a hearing on “India’s Missing Girls.” The hearing focused on the practice of sex-selective abortion, which remains prevalent in many areas of India in spite of the fact that the practice is against the law.
In his opening remarks, Chair Chris Smith (R-NJ) said, “Sex-selective abortion and female infanticide have led to lopsided sex ratios. In parts of India, for example, 126 boys are born for every 100 girls. This in turn leads to a shortage of marriageable women, which then leads to trafficking in persons, bride selling, and prostitution. Perhaps the best figures we have concerning the magnitude of the problem come from India’s 2011 census figures, which find that there are approximately 37 million more men than women in India…Even when they are not killed outright either in the womb or just after birth, this bias against girl children manifests itself in situations where family resources are limited and little food is available, in boys being fed before girls, leading to greater incidents of malnutrition among girls and a mortality rate that is 75 percent higher for girls below age five than for boys.” Rep. Smith noted that, “While India has taken steps to curb these practices – passing laws to ban sex-selective abortion and temper cultural facts, such as the need for brides to provide a high dowry that contribute to parents looking at their daughters as a liability – these laws are irregularly enforced. Moreover, there are laws at the state level that exacerbate the problem, mandating that parents only have two children, penalizing those who exceed this number and denying benefits. This leads inevitably to sex-selective abortion and, particularly in poorer areas, female infanticide, as parents will opt to have a son over a daughter, especially when their first child is a daughter.”
In explaining her organization’s approach to ending gender-based violence, including sex-selective abortions, in India, Mallika Dutt, president and chief executive officer of Breakthrough, said, “Breakthrough is currently working to eliminate gender-biased sex selection in Haryana, which at 877 females to 1,000 males has the lowest sex ratio in India. This work engages multiple community stakeholders to challenge patriarchal norms and son preference, an approach that is championed by governments, UN agencies, and others. Indeed, Justice Balakrishnan, chair of India’s National Human Rights Commission, at a recent conference on this issue stated: ‘The need of the hour is therefore to bring about a change in the mindset of the people whereby both girls and boys are treated at par.’ In order to determine the best communication and community engagement strategy, in Haryana and other states, we have conducted comprehensive research. Through community, government, and multi-sectoral interviews, we have found that there are complex interrelated social, political, and economic causes that lead to gender-biased sex selection. These include dowry and inheritance laws, lack of women’s agencies in relation to safety, security, and sexuality, ineffective implementation of existing laws, and lack of women’s financial independence – all crucial requirements in eroding gender-biased sex selection.”
The following witnesses also testified:
