The women's movement in India launched campaigns against rape, domestic violence, sexism in advertisements as well as against state repression during caste and communal riots in the early eighties.

STRONG preference for sons over daughters exists in the Indian subcontinent, east Asia, north Africa and west Asia unlike in the western countries [Muthurayappa et al 1997, Lancet 1990, Okun 1996].

India probably is the only nation in the world which exclusively enshrines female deities in artistically built temples. The Meenakshi temple at Madurai, Ambabai temple at Kolhapur and the Shantadurga and Mahalaxmi temples at Goa are ample proof of the Hindu reverence for female deities.

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.

Of all the forms that violence against women can assume, sexual harassment is the most ubiquitous and insidious; all the more so because it is deemed 'normal' behaviour and not an assault on the female entity.

In this paper I am going to discuss some important matters regarding domestic violence and women and support structures, both regarding the issue in general and our experiences in this field.

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

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].

Child abuse manifests itself in several forms and dimensions - physical exploitation (child labour), emotional trauma (child prostitution) and marital harassment (child marriage).

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