Chapter-6
conclusion and
suggestions
The incidence of sex selective abortions is
the worst form of gender based discrimination against women. The causes for
elimination of girl child indicate that the reasons are similar and different
depending upon the geographical location in which female infanticide is
practiced.
·
An exorbitant dowry demand is one
of the main reasons for female infanticide and foeticide.
·
Some of the other reasons are the
belief that it is only the son who can perform the last rites, lineage and
inheritance runs through the male line, sons will look after parents in old
age, men are bread winners etc.
Strong male preference and consequent elimination of female has
continued to increase rather than decline with the spread of education.
The recent technological developments in medical practice combined with
a vigorous pursuit of growth of the private health sectors have led to the
mushrooming of a variety of sex-selective services. The increase in female
foeticide has been seen proportionate decrease in female sex ratio which has
hit an all time low especially in the 0-6 age group and if the decline is not
checked the very delicate equilibrium of nature can be permanently destroyed.
In order to stop this evil practice, the legislature has enacted certain
laws which are the Indian Penal Code, 1860; the Medical Termination of
Pregnancy Act, 1971 and the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques
(Prohibition of Sex Selection Act) 1994.
The Indian Penal Code is the first law which
contained provisions under sections 312 to 316 for prohibiting miscarriage.
These sections penalise violent or forced abortions. The Medical Termination of
Pregnancy Act, 1971 liberalised law and allowed termination of pregnancy on
medical grounds, humanitarian grounds and eugenic grounds. The real efforts on
behalf of legislature to curb the evil practice of female foeticide started
with the passing of the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and
Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994. The Act was amended in 2002 and renamed as the
Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex
Selection) Act, 1994. In order to prevent female foeticide, the PC & PNDT
Act, 1994 provide provisions under which Supervisory Board, appropriate
authorities and advisory committees are to be constituted by the Central Government
as well as by the State Government.
The extent and effect of enforcement of laws can be seen from the fact
that the first women who lodged a complaint five years ago, against her in-laws for pre-natal sex determination still awaits for
Justice. Despite all the hue and cry about missing daughters, till the end of
January 2006, just 308 persons had been prosecuted, but not a single person had
been convicted under the PNDT Act.
Inspite of all the laws in place, the sex ratio is declining at a very
high speed. Confronted with this
situation, it is high time to take preventive measures against female
foeticide. We have to stop looking for quick fixes and instead face the problem
squarely. Female foeticide cannot be addressed in isolation, so a holistic
approach is necessary to stop female foeticide.
Following are some suggestions to combat the evil of female foeticide:
(1) The related social malaises such as
dowry, poverty, women’s unemployment and exploitation, lack of proper education
to girl child and their dropouts early marriage etc. are to be dealt with sternly by enacting proper laws and
implementing them in true spirit.
(2) Affirmative action on part of the
government and the corporate sector by providing security for parents and
granting financial aid to the girl child can help in changing the mindset of
the society of treating the girl as a burden.
Corporate
initiatives, such as “Beti Ek Anmol Ratan”
scheme in which the donations are invested in mutual funds, Kisan Vikas Patras
& National Savings Certificates in the name of new born girls and on
maturity (Age of 21 years) to be utilised for higher education or marriage; has
found favour with the parents and the scheme is yielding positive results.
Government
schemes like “ladli” have created
gender revolution in national capital, and impacted sex ratio in favour of the
girl child. Banks need to be encouraged to give loans for female child’s higher
education at lower rates of interest. Old age pension should be given to
parents with no sons and having only
daughters.
(3) Awareness programmes should be launched to
make the woman aware about their rights and about the ill effects of abortions.
Women should know their rights regarding adoption, maintenance, marriage,
property, employment, education etc.
(4) In order to make the females independent,
women should be imparted skill and training through various vocational
programmes. Free and compulsory education should be provided to female children
so that they can support themselves during exigency. Also it would remove the
attitude that investing in girls is unnecessary.
(5) As dowry is considered to be an important
cause of female foeticide, the Dowry Prohibition Act should be made more stringent
by proper amendments and should
be implemented strictly.
(6) Medical termination of pregnancy should
only be permitted after approval of PNDT authority/committee/gazetted female
officer/Mahila Panchayat members/NGOs on proof of the existence of medical
condition necessitating such termination.
(7) The foetus should enjoy the right to life
and should enjoy distinct legal rights which
should be recognized from the conception, because failure to recognize the
right to life on the foetus will amount to discrimination violating Article 14 of the Constitution of India. Regarding the
Unborn Child’s rights in the realm of
torts, the Congenital Disabilities (Liability) Act, 1976, was passed by the
British Parliament providing for action that may lie against a person or authority whose breach of duty to a parent
results in a child being born disabled, abnormal and unhealthy. Similarly the
Nuclear Installation Act of 1965 (U.K.
(8) Village level committees should be set up
to watch the pregnant women besides setting up the Appropriate Authorities and
Advisory committees at the District and Sub-District levels.
(9) There is need for social awareness that
girls can grow up to be as good as boys. They can be good citizens, good
earners, good providers for their family and for their parents. That woman need
not be sold for dowry or burnt for it, that her education can make her
self-sufficient and economically blessed as a man. A clear and strong social
preference for the girl child is required to be created which can be done by
generating awareness.
(10) In society, the members of the medical
community enjoy a powerful position. Medical professionals should counsel their
patients and their families on the importance of the girl child and impact of
the skewed sex ratio on the society.
The Indian
Medical Association, a professional body of practicing doctors, should come
forward and implement a ‘No Sex
Determination Code’ for Doctors. The Doctors need to be reminded of their
sacred duty of protecting human life in any form rather than becoming a party
in destruction of human foetus in the
womb. Licence to practice medicine of those doctors, who are found guilty under
the PNDT Act, 1994 or MTP Act, 1971 should be cancelled and they should be
debarred from practicing medicine for life. Step taken by the Indian Medical
Association constituting a special cadre of 50 doctors to self police and make
doctors understand their moral and legal responsibility to ensure a healthy sex
ratio, is a step in the right direction.
(11) Although section 27 of the PNDT Act, 1994
makes the offences cognizable, non-bailable and non-compoundable, the Police
cannot take action in view of section 28 of the Act. This difficulty in
initiation of criminal proceedings against offender should be removed.
(12) The members of Appropriate Authority are
mainly doctors and they are reluctant to launch criminal proceedings against
fellow doctors. Therefore, the enforcement agency should be a different body of
professionals consisting of police,
social workers and doctors.
(13) Effective implementation of the PNDT Act
needs to be assured through, ensuring registration, curbing the spread of
mobile ultrasound, regulating sale of new machines, ensuring compliance of the
Act like keeping records and submitting them to the Authorities in time,
preferably online like the birth records are being done now; monitoring the
functioning of these ultrasound clinics, complete audit of all pregnancy ultra
sounds across the country (audit all F forms submitted).
(14) Laws prohibiting sex selective abortions
should be strictly implemented and the violators should be punished.
(15) As most of the decisions are made by men in
the families, they need to be sensitized about the practice of female foeticide
and consequences thereof. The education curriculum should be made gender
sensitive, leading to gradual formation of a changed value system in coming
generation.
(16) A social audit of all documents received
from sonography clinics and making the data regarding sale of ultrasound
machines, which are used for illegal sex determination tests, should be made
available online. Information received will help governmental and
non-governmental organisation in estimating the targets for proper implementation
of the Acts and for suggesting remedial measures to combat the problem. By
involving all the stakeholders, a comprehensive social audit can be conducted
to launch a crusade against female foeticide.
(17) Determining the sex of the foetus as female
and killing her subsequently amounts to murder. So the punishment should be
life imprisonment or death sentence as in the case of intentional causing of
death under section 300 of IPC.
(18) A major hurdle in the endeavour to prohibit
sex-determination and regulation of PNDT techniques is that there is no proper
duty laid upon any of the authorities in the Act. Therefore, penalty must be
imposed for non-performance of duties or acts of commission or omission by the
Authorities.
(19) All abortions must be registered. In cases
where a healthy female foetus is aborted, both the doctor and the family should
be brought to book.
Unless social action is supplemented with prompt implementation of
regulations under the law meant to stop female foeticides, such practices will
continue to flourish and sex selective abortions will make women endangered
species. Time has arrived to declare a crusade against female foeticide both on
individual and collective level to stop elimination of daughters only because
of their sex.
[1] Supinder
Kaur, Female Foeticide – A, Frightful
Reality, 1st Edn., Central Law Publications, Allahabad
