Long back in 1971, the committee on the status of women in India was appointed by the Government of India to undertake a comprehensive examination of all the questions relating to the rights and status of women in the context of changing social and economic conditions in the country and new probl

This study tests the hypothesis that, in Nepal, measures of ideal family size mask an underlying preference for sons, making some people willing to have families larger than their ideal. Existing evidence suggests that men are likely to have stronger preferences for sons than are women.

It is taking discrimination against women to the womb. It is denying women the right to equality and the right to life on the grounds of gender. It is like telling them that they are not wanted. The issue of female foeticide simply does not shock or disturb anyone any longer.

Till recently child marriages flourished in the backward district of Rajgarh in western Madhya Pradesh.

Recent studies examining British attitudes and ideologies which structured colonial policies towards 'outcaste'2 and 'deviant' groups in indigenous society, have suggested that the groups who were marginalised included those whose activities were conceived of as 'threatening' to new normative def

Female infanticide is not uncommon in Indian society, and is still prevalent in certain parts of the country. With the advancement of modern technology its practice, however, has taken a different shape. Now it is possible to detect the sex of the baby when it is still in the womb of the mother.

The banners for the International Women's Day still flutter in the hall. The air is still thick with songs and slogans. Dreams in clenched fists and raised voices still float in the eyes. However, there is dead silence at Surinder Lotow'a's house. This is the happiest and luckiest day for him.

From May 2, 1992, for one full week the town of Cochin in Kerala will witness the re-enactment of a historical event. The previous performance is said to have been orchestrated by King Dashrath a few thousand years ago.

In 1975, amniocentesis arrived in India as a method for the detection of genetic abnormalities. Soon it came to be used more commonly for sex determination (S.D.), actually a misnomer for sex prediction leading to sex selective abortions.

Female infanticide in Tamil Nadu, South India, has recently received widespread attention within India and abroad. The paper contains reflections based on over a decade of fieldwork and study of this phenomenon, and information gathered from NG0s, activists and officials.