While it is laudable that the Indian government has made the effort to initiate a holistic reproductive health programme, its failure to address issues of sexuality that arise in this context is puzzling.

We use data from the 1981 and 1991 censuses of India to examine (a) sex ratios among infants aged under 2, (b) child mortality (q5) by sex, and (c) estimated period sex ratios at birth (SRB) calculated by reverse survival methods, to see whether bias against female children pers

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

As women become more involved in public life and break patriarchal control in the process, they also deal with the backlash of cultural, traditional and religious reaction. Various interpretations of Muslim law are promoted by different groups in the struggle over women's rights.

Women use images of earthen pots breaking, flowers or fruits falling, to symbolize the loss of pregnancy. kachha ghada phoota (UP Rajasthan), phool jhade ( Madhya Pradesh), kaacho padi gayo (Rajasthan), garbha-alasyam (Kerala) are some of the terms used to describe miscarriages.

Reproductive Health Matters has until this issue of the journal focused almost exclusively on secular threats to women’s reproductive rights.

India can take legitimate pride that it was one of the earliest nations to introduce a population policy, yet fertility control remains a most contentious problem of electoral politics of India in the 1990s.

The Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994, is a critical piece of legislation in India aimed at addressing and curbing the practice of sex-selective abortions and ensuring the ethical use of prenatal diagnostic technologies.