India: Girls Dying for Being Girls
The Lancet magazine has published results of a research study showing that reduced health care kills almost one quarter million girls under five years old annually within India, as compared against same-age boys.
The study results were released Tuesday, May 15th, and was conducted by the International Inst. for Applied Systems Analysis, who estimate that an average of 239,000 girls per year die as a direct result of gender-based bias: girls dying simply because they’re girls.
Female child violence ending in death reaches 90% in some India districts.
BEYOND ABORTION
This is over and above girls aborted simply for being girls. “Gender-based discrimination towards girls doesn’t simply prevent them from being born,it may also precipitate the death of those who are born,” said study co-author Christophe Guilmoto of the Paris Descartes University, France.
“Discrimination isn’t only about the right to political representation, work or the right to education but also about the right to health care, vaccinations & proper nutrition for girls, and ultimately the right to survive.’ –
GENDER BIAS
“Gender-based discrimination towards girls doesn’t simply prevent them from being born, it also precipitates the deaths of those already born,” said Guilmoto.
Guilmoto and a research team used population data collected from 46 countries in hopes to calculate how many girls potentially would’ve died without gender discrimination vs how many girl children died in actuality.
2.4 MILLION DEATHS
The difference; about 19 deaths out of every 1,000 girls born between 2000 and 2005,was ascribed to the effects of gender-biased discrimination. This amounts to about 239,000 deaths per year (2.4 million over the past ten years).
“About 22% of the overall mortality cause of females under five (in India) is due to gender bias.” quotes the Australian-based research institute.
The researchers analyzed data from 46 counties, trying to determine the ratio of India’s female child deaths resulting directly from gender-biased discrimination.
The study concluded that within India, of girls under 5 years old that died; about 19 of 1,000 deaths (239,000 annually) were directly attributed to discrimination.
POVERTY & DESPAIR
The report highlights that India’s female children face heath care neglect most often within rural farming regions suffering from poverty, low education levels, high birth rates and high population densities.
The mindset of allowing girls to die is much more pronounced in the north.
India has lately suffered a series of brutal massacres and sexual assaults upon minor children that have attracted international attention and spurred women’s rights debates within the country.
Recently, India has enacted stricter criminal sanctions against child sexual abuse, including the death penalty for those convicted of raping girls age 12 years or younger.
© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today
