The Hindu : Survey sees a `son preference' society

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 12, 2003

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Survey sees a `son preference' society

By K. Kannan

NEW DELHI DEC. 11. Thirty three-year-old Rajbala, living in one of the villages in the Najafgarh area of North-West Delhi, has been married for 13 years and has two daughters. She has been trying for a third child for the last eight years during which period she conceived 10 times. She opted for abortion every time reasoning that it was a female baby. The justification given by her was that she did not want to increase the economic burden on her husband.

The case of 42-year-old Kamala from Kherakhud is no different. Married into a joint family, she had four daughters in her first 7 years of marriage and was branded "Nipooti'' by her in-laws. She was forced to abort about eight times after an ultrasound test revealed a female baby every time. Her ordeal ended three months back after she delivered a baby boy.

Kamala and Rajbala are not alone in preferring a son over a daughter either on their own or due to family pressure. A survey among 3,500 female respondents by Action India with the support of MYRDO in Najafgarh and Child Survival India in Kherakud has revealed a "preference for sons'' both in educated and uneducated families with a higher visibility among families which have landed property.

Emerging trends from the study on "Son Preference'' has brought out the startling fact that "in the age group of 0-6 years, the difference in the number of girls as compared to boys is very striking''. Moreover, the stress on a two-child norm and a patriarchal attitude has led to a notion that "of the two children, one must be a boy''.

Of the respondents who had two children, 58 per cent had one boy and one girl. Comparatively, only 10 per cent had both girls. Of those who had four children, however, 21 per cent had three boys and 1 girl while only 0.6 per cent had all four girls. The assessment shows that over 50 per cent of the respondents are aware of the relationship between sex determination tests such as ultrasound, sonography, and checkups and the declining number of girls.

As many as 32 per cent of the respondents said that their own parents were often responsible for forcing them to bear a boy, while in 29 per cent of the cases, the respondent made this choice on their own.

The study found low levels of awareness on legality of sex selective abortion. Fifty per cent of the respondents said that declining it was illegal and 39 per cent said they don't know whether it was legal or illegal. However, 12 per cent of 1,500 respondents said they were aware that there were legal provisions to deal with the issue.

According to the Census survey of 2001, the two districts where the survey has been done were found to be among the "worst-hit'' areas showing alarming trends of an adverse sex ratio.

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