Prime Minister Narendra Modi garnered publicity with a high-profile announcement that, in honour of International Women’s Day (observed today) this year, he “will give away [his] social media accounts to women whose life and work inspire us. This will help them ignite motivation in millions.” Giving visibility to women, their perspectives and their issues is […]
sex ratio
Sex determination labs in the crosshairs of the Telangana High Court
![Sex ratio at birth. Sex determination ban in India to prevent imbalanced sex ratio. By Melanurya (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://i2.wp.com/www.healthissuesindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Sex_determination_ban.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1 "Sex determination ban in India and freedom of speech")
The Telangana High Court has wrote to state government officials about the proliferation of sex determination labs despite the practice of prenatal sex determination being illegal in India. The two-justice bench, consisting of Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and Justice A. Abhishek Reddy, was responding to a public interest litigation filed before the High Court. […]
The challenge of getting family planning “right”: Professor Amy O. Tsui on sexual and reproductive health in India
With India facing a plethora of issues related to sexual and reproductive health, ranging from sex-selective abortion to rising rates of infertility, Health Issues India interviewed Professor Amy O. Tsui, PhD of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, to discuss India’s family planning, female sterilisation, infertility, female foeticide, and other issues in the […]
Another day, yet another sex determination racket busted
Three people have been arrested in connection with an illegal prenatal sex determination racket, in a reminder of the country’s sex ratio and discrimination woes. India’s sex ratio is seriously imbalanced, driven in part by the practice of sex-selective abortion. Even though prenatal sex determination is illegal in India, having been banned in 1994 through […]
Sex discrimination and women in the workforce
Endemic sex discrimination takes its toll on the Indian economy, with the absence of women in the workforce, an imbalanced sex ratio, and social prejudices holding back a boon for India’s GDP. According to a report published recently in The Print, almost 120 million women who have at least a secondary education do not participate […]
A newborn buried alive: A visceral reminder of sex discrimination in India
“At one point I thought that my daughter had come alive. But the voice was actually coming from the pot.” Those were the words of Hitesh Sirohi, a father who had recently lost his daughter. When he went to bury his child, he made a shocking discovery. His shovel hit a clay pot, buried three […]
Sex determination racket bust points to a national issue
In Haryana’s Panchkula district, a clinic has been raided by the state health department over allegations of a sex determination racket operating there. The Siddharth Clinic in Swastik Vihar, located in the Mansa Devi Complex, claimed to perform “infertility, gynae and ultrasound”, despite being unregistered with local authorities, and that equipment for procedures it was […]
Sex ratio at birth: Improvements made?
India’s sex ratio at birth has improved, according to Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani. However, such a claim seems very much dependent on the figures used. Irani credited the Centre’s Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (Save Daughter, Educate Daughter) initiative with the improvement while speaking at an event last Friday. The disparity […]
The district highlighting India’s sex ratio problem
A district in Uttarakhand reflects a broader issue concerning India’s sex ratio, according to a recent report in The Times of India. In 132 of the Uttarkashi district’s villages, not a single girl was born in three months out of 216 deliveries. The concerning figures, collected from the state health department, potentially cast a spotlight […]
Sex-selective abortion in India: It’s worse than you think
At the age of 28, Madhuri had three daughters and no son. With a dream to have a son and to fulfil her family’s demands, she became pregnant again. But this time she couldn’t take any chance and illegally undertook a sex determination test. As soon as she was told that it is a girl, […]