Abstract
The current paper addresses the issue of female foeticide in society. Female foeticide is being encouraged by sex selection techniques, and female infanticide is being encouraged by socioeconomic problems. Despite the fact that the law is a powerful tool for social change, it cannot solve this social problem on its own. The real challenge for us and government officials is to close loopholes in current laws. It is the responsibility of women’s groups, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the media, educators, and medical professionals to play an important role in addressing the problem. It is important to note that unless and until this threat is addressed, the country will face a disastrous gender imbalance, which will have a negative impact on the country’s economic progress. The paper will also analyse the current legislations aimed at curbing the female Infanticide and other issues circumscribing around it in the different regions of the nation.
Key words: loopholes, gender imbalance, foeticide, and socio-economic problems.
Introduction
Female foeticide is an injustice against the female gender; shun it!
Women, who make up half of the human population, have been discriminated against, harassed, and exploited regardless of their country of origin, regardless of the religion they practise, and regardless of the time period in which they live. Women face numerous challenges everywhere they go. Female foeticide is one of the most heinous forms of violence against women because it deprives a woman of her most basic and foundational right, namely “the right to life.” In India, female embryos or foetuses are preferentially removed within a week of prenatal sex determination, effectively eliminating girl children before they are born. Female foeticide has emerged as a major social issue in Indian society in recent years. It is a disgrace for Indian society, which regards the baby born of a girl child as a poor investment in the future. She is regarded as an end user rather than a producer, and the Indian patriarchal society’s narrow perspective has resulted in atrocities such as female foeticide and female infanticide. Female foeticide affects all segments of Indian society, with no regard for gender in relation to hierarchy, religion, or geography. It is practised by the wealthy and middle classes as well as the poor in cities, and now it is trying to spread into rural areas. The term “foeticide” is derived from the Latin word’s foetus and caedo, which mean “the killing of an unborn child.” Female foeticide is the practise of detecting the gender of an unborn baby in the mother’s womb and deciding to abort the child if the gender is discovered to be a girl.[1]
[1] “Female Foeticide in India – Wikipedia” (Female foeticide in India – Wikipedia, September 6, 2022) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_foeticide_in_India> accessed November 14, 2022.