Sex Ratio In India Research Articles

The disappearing girl child: Possible role of sterilizations as a method of family planning

The sex ratio in India has constantly been unfavorable to women. Although the 2001 census figures show it to be marginally better than the previous census figures yet there was a marked decline in child sex ratio (0-6 years) from 945 females per 1000 males in 1991 to 927 in 2001. The anti-female bias is not limited to poor-performing states but also to better-performing states. There are a number of important demographic factors (e.g. sex composition of the previous children birth order of children and sex differentials in mortality ect.) which are responsible for this declining sex ration. A little lesser talked about factor is the possible role of sterilizations performed under the National Family Welfare Programme. The present study was aimed at finding out possible relationship of sterilizations as a method of family welfare with the declining sex ratio. (excerpt)

Gender preference and awareness regarding sex determination among married women in slums of Chandigarh

Female foeticide resulting in decline of child sex ratio has led to enforcement of Preconception and Prenatal diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) act since February 2003. Sex ratio an important social indicator measuring extent of prevailing equity between males and females in society is defined as no. of females /1000 males. Changes in sex ratio reflect underlying socioeconomic cultural patterns of a society. As per 2001 census sex ratio in India is 933/1000 males which continues to be significantly adverse towards women and is the lowest amongst 10 most populous countries in world. Russia tops the list in sex ratio (1140) followed by USA (1029). Most alarming is decrease in CSR (Child sex ratio 0-6). In Punjab the number was least (793) in 2001 followed by Haryana (820) and Chandigarh (845). Advances in technology and diagnostic facilities have opened up avenue for the girl haters leading to serious disturbances in sex ratio as a result of female foeticide. Desire for male child manifests so blatantly that parents have no qualms about repeated closely spaced pregnancies premature deaths and even terminating child before it is born. Birth of female child is perceived as a curse with economic and social liability. Therefore the present study was conducted among married women dwelling in slums and semi-rural area to find out the level of their awareness regarding sex determination and attitude towards gender. (excerpt)

Missing Girls

A study of the declining sex ratio in India particularly in the 0 to 6 age group raises one very pertinent question: Where have all the girls gone? The phenomenon has become particularly disturbing in some northern states of India. It appears that the growth in incomes and education of women, variables that would grant women an equal status in society, have actually worked in a reverse direction in states like Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. Discrimination against females is engineered even before birth through female foeticide. It seems that education and incomes, which were supposed to result in the emancipation of women, have actually increased, not lowered, the bias in favour of the male child.

An update on the declining sex ratio in India

An update on the declining sex ratio in India

Community based retrospective study of sex in infant mortality in India

Objective To determine whether the imbalance in the sex ratio in India can be explained by less favourable treatment of girls in infancy.Design Analysis of results of verbal autopsy reports...

The dynamics of the population sex ratio in India, 1971–96

This paper reconstructs the trend in the population sex ratio in India between 1971 and 1996 from available information on changes in sex differentials in mortality in the country since the beginning of the century. It is estimated that, although the mortality of females relative to that of males in India has improved since 1968, the population sex ratio increased between 1971 and 1981, stayed constant between 1981 and 1991, and started to decrease only after 1991. This implies that the recorded decrease and increase in the periods 1971–81 and 1981–91 respectively were both spurious and were the results of undercounts of females in 1971 and 1991. Another implication of this finding is that, owing to the lagged effect of past mortality on current trends in the population sex ratio, this ratio is a bad proxy for use in the study of changes in differential mortality by sex.

Understanding the Sex Ratio in India: A Simulation Approach

The highly masculine sex ratio in India has increased substantially in the twentieth century, in contrast to most other countries in the world. Competing arguments alternatively posit underenumeration, highly masculine sex ratios at birth, or excess female mortality throughout the life course as the factors underlying the level of the overall sex ratio; these arguments have not been resolved. Based on population projections that simulate population dynamics, our findings show that small differences in mortality at young ages, persisting over a long period, as well as a sex ratio at birth of 106 males per 100 females, result in a highly masculine population sex ratio.

Where Angels Fear to Tread? Mapping Women and Men in India

"The authors have produced the ¿Atlas of Women and Men in India', using material from the 1991 Census, mainly at district level. The Atlas may be unacceptable to Indian geographers because it seeks to question the authority of numerical data and of maps, and to Western geographers because this is ¿mapping before we understand the process'. The authors introduce maps of the sex ratio in India and explore through a map of changes in the sex ratio 1981-91 some numerical, analytical, and ethical problems of such mapping. The Indian feminist activists consulted want the Atlas for advocacy: does this justify its production?"

Workforce Participation, Kinship and Sex Ratio Variations in India

The proportion of women to men in the Indian population is disturbingly low and continues to decline. This decline is a reflection of sex differentials in mortality, arising out of the unequal access women have to life-sustaining inputs like food, nutrition and health care. Female labor participation (FLP) in productive activities is an important determinant of such an access, and has been recognized in literature as such. However, the conventional analyses of the impact of FLP on sex ratios do not incorporate the role of cultural factors.This paper examines the effect of FLP on juvenile sex ratios in India using district-level data. The analysis introduces three new elements: (i) incorporation of the kinship variable to take cultural factors into account, (ii) disaggregation of the juvenile sex ratios into sex ratios for the 0-4- and 5-9-year age group, and (iii) separate analysis of the relationship for tribals, Scheduled Castes and the rest of the population. Each of these provides some new insights into the debate on regional variations in sex ratios, viz. (a) extent of kinship’s influence on FLP itself and on the relationship between FLP and sex ratios, (b) ability of the 5-9-year age group sex ratios to capture the effects of FLP far more effectively compared to juvenile sex ratios, and (c) difference in the patterns among the three social groups in general, and the seriousness of the situation among the Scheduled Castes in the north-western region in particular.

A geography of the sex ratio in India / Une géographie du sex-ratio en Inde

A Geography of the Sex Ratio in India. The 1991 Census of India found that for every 1000 males there were only 927 females. This sex ratio shows that the country has one of the lowest proportions of girls and women in its population in the world. The paper seeks to explain why and also broadens the discussion by investigating the male/female balance in different regions, between the city and the countryside, and among scheduled castes and tribus.

A model for sex ratio decline in India.

"The sex ratio in India has declined from 972 females per 1,000 males in 1901 to 929 females per 1,000 males in 1991. A model [is] proposed for the quantitative analysis of the problem.... The study reveals that there has been a sex discriminated population growth in India in the twentieth century, although the rate of decline of the female has decreased. If the current trend of population growth continues, there will be a further decline in the [sex ratio]."

India bans female feticide

About 70% of all abortions performed in Delhi, India, are terminations due to the fetus being female. Private clinics make a profit out of offering sex determination tests. The new bill (the Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques Bill) introduced in Lok Sabha by Deputy Health Minister Pawan Singh Ghatowatr would stop "sex determination shops" from helping parents and medical practitioners terminate female pregnancies. Prenatal diagnostic tests would be administered only to detect genetic and congenital abnormalities. Physicians would not be allowed to reveal the sex of the fetus unless it was linked to a sex disorder. Women's rights groups have campaigned for such a bill that forbids prenatal sex determination. Abortions based on the sex of the fetus are currently banned under Article 14 and 15 of the Indian Constitution as a violation of women's rights. The new bill would punish doctors who offer to identify the sex of the fetus by taking their names off the official medical register and imprisoning them for 3 years and fining them 10,000 rupees or 200 pounds. Pregnant women who undergo tests would also be punished with the same fine and prison term. Dr. Geeta Dwivedi, a medical physician with the Lucknow branch of the India Family Planning Association, reported that few tests are conducted for the sake of the health and well-being of the fetus. Female feticide is practiced because girls are viewed as an economic burden due to dowry practices and male children are valued for old age support and carrying on the family trade. The sex ratio in India is 927 women to 1000 men. The problem with the new legislation is enforcement, which would require oversight of as many as 2000 clinics in Delhi alone. It is anticipated that clinics would be uncooperative in complying with such a law because their self-interest is at stake.

Book Reviews : ASOK MITRA, Implications of Declining Sex Ratio in India's Population (ICSSR Programme of Women's Studies), Allied Publishers Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 1979, Pp. 85, Rs 25

Book Reviews : ASOK MITRA, Implications of Declining Sex Ratio in India's Population (ICSSR Programme of Women's Studies), Allied Publishers Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 1979, Pp. 85, Rs 25

The Micro-Demography of Marriages in a North Indian Area

Previous articleNext article No AccessThe Micro-Demography of Marriages in a North Indian AreaHarold A. GouldHarold A. Gould Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Volume 16, Number 4Winter, 1960 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/soutjanth.16.4.3628890 Views: 3Total views on this site Citations: 9Citations are reported from Crossref Journal History This article was published in the Southwestern Journal of Anthropology (1945-1972), which is continued by the Journal of Anthropological Research (1973-present). PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Bishnupriya Gupta Where have all the brides gone? Son preference and marriage in India over the twentieth century, The Economic History Review 67, no.11 (Sep 2013): 1–24.https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0289.12011Shruti Chaudhry, Taneesha Devi Mohan Of Marriage and Migration, Indian Journal of Gender Studies 18, no.33 (Sep 2011): 311–340.https://doi.org/10.1177/097152151101800302Tanika Chakraborty, Sukkoo Kim Kinship institutions and sex ratios in India, Demography 47, no.44 (Nov 2010): 989–1012.https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03213736CAROLYN HENNING BROWN demographic constraints on caste: a Fiji Indian example, American Ethnologist 8, no.22 (Oct 2009): 314–328.https://doi.org/10.1525/ae.1981.8.2.02a00060NORBERT DANNHAEUSER Regional patterns of marriage ties in north-central Luzon, Philippines, American Ethnologist 5, no.44 (Oct 2009): 733–747.https://doi.org/10.1525/ae.1978.5.4.02a00060Sylvia Vatuk Gifts and affines in north India, Contributions to Indian Sociology 9, no.22 (Jul 2016): 155–196.https://doi.org/10.1177/006996677500900202Satya P. Sharma Marriage, Family, and Kinship among the Jats and the Thakurs of North India : Some Comparisons, Contributions to Indian Sociology 7, no.11 (Jan 1973): 81–103.https://doi.org/10.1177/006996677300700106BERNARD S. COHN Anthropological Notes on Disputes and Law in India1, American Anthropologist 67, no.66 (Oct 2009): 82–122.https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.1965.67.6.02a00960Francisco M. Salzano Demographic studies on Indians from Santa Catarina, Brazil, Acta geneticae medicae et gemellologiae 13, no.33 (Aug 2014): 278–294.https://doi.org/10.1017/S1120962300015596