Long after you have driven away from the cluster of villages around the Usilampatti belt of Madurai, the images of bright-coloured hair ribbons, fragrant jasmine flowers in neatly combed hair, deep vermillion bindis on the forehead and the silver anklets worn by little girls with sparkling, wide,

Consequent upon the publication of the 1991 census preliminary results, one of the widely debated issues in India has been the declining sex ratio (defined as the number of females per 1000 males) in the country.

Violence is a state, of exploitation, discrimination, upholding of unequal economic and social structures, the creation of an atmosphere of terror, threat or reprisal and forms of religio-cultural and political violence [1] It can be perpetrated by those in power against the powerless or by the p

Infanticide has been practiced in all continents, but little dependable primary data exist on this subject. Presented here are the findings on female infanticide for a rural, south Indian population.

It was in 1991, when we were invited to a dialogue on female infanticide by the then Minister for Social Welfare of Tamil Nadu, shortly after the publication of a study on the subject by Aditi, that the Foundation* began its involvement with the issue.

Female infanticide - the killing of female infants because they are female- has occurred not only in several cultures across history, but is known to occur in contemporary societies as well [George et al 1992].

The Muslim Marriage and Divorce (Amendment) Act, No. 24 of 2013, enacted by the Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, introduces reforms to the legal framework governing marriage and divorce within the Muslim community.

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019, is a landmark legislation in India aimed at addressing and prohibiting the practice of instant triple talaq, or talaq-e-bid'ah, within the Muslim community.

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.