Sex-Detection Tests and Female Foeticide: Discrimination Before Birth

Abstract

The high female infant mortality rates (Miller, 1985); the practice of female infanticide (Krishnaswamy, 1988); the neglect of female children with regard to access to health services, nutrition, (Sen and Sengupta, 1983 and education (Mankekar, 1985); and the sexual abuse of girls (Bhalerao, 1985), are manifestations of a deep-rooted patriarchal bias against women. This negative bias has taken an alarming dimension in the recent past, with the utilization of the amniocentesis test for detecting the sex of the foetus, followed by a selective abortion of the foetus if detected a 'female'. Apart from the considerable risks the test can cause to the foetus and the women, the utilization of pre-natal diagnostic techniques for selective abortion of female foetuses perpetuates the negative social worth of women. The paper makes a case against the test and positions it as a critical issue to be confronted especially during the 'Year of the Girl Child'.