WOMEN – 2011 - Indian Social Institute

get benefits under other schemes as well. (Pioneer, 21/02/2010)
More women join campaign
MANSA: Scores of women raised their voice for saving the girl child, on Sunday, while pitching in against
the rising menace of female foeticide at an all women's rally held in Mansa. Aiming to make her pet
project -- Nanhi Chhan and Kanjaka (small girl) -- into a sustained campaign, SAD MP from Bathinda,
Harsimrat Kaur Badal, on Sunday restarted the movement of 'kukh bachao rukh bachao' (save the girl,
save trees) in a new avatar with a view to involve more women. She called upon women to rise against
the social evil and protect the girl child by not killing her in the womb. Harsimrat said, "The world is
incomplete without women but instances of killing girls in the womb are rising manifold and women need
to come forward to stop the killing of girls to ensure balance in society.'' She said that only education
could make women independent and the Nanhi Chhan Foundation would demand from the state
government that at least one girls' degree college be opened in every assembly constituency. The
programme, however, was cut short because of inclement weather. The Bathinda MP, while urging
women to contribute towards the betterment of society said, foeticide not only results in a skewed sex
ratio, but it also gives rise rise to crimes. (TOI, 21/02/2011)
Suicide seen as easy way out of harassment: Doctors
CHENNAI: In 2009, Chennai and Tamil Nadu ranked the highest in terms of the number of women
committing suicide by self-immolation, according to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) figures. Of
the 1,046 suicides by self-immolation by women in the country, 171 were in Chennai, or 16%. Among the
states, the figures for Tamil Nadu were 18% of the national figure. Men too have committed suicide by
self-immolation the number of women is far higher. About 75% of the suicides by self-immolation in the
Chennai are women. While cities like Mumbai and Hyderabad also see a number of suicides by selfimmolation,
the difference between the number of men committing suicide and women committing suicide
is not very large. Doctors in the burns ward of the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital in Chennai say 90%
of the victims in the cases they see in a day are women. "We see a lot of cases where women have
attempted suicide and come with almost 90% burns. Most are married and prefer committing suicide to
being harrassed by their husbands and in laws," said Sister Amala, a nurse in the KMCH burns ward. She
also mentions that most of the deaths are not reported as dowry deaths in the police records but
registered as accidents or suicides. (TOI, 21/02/2011)
Foetal sex determination on rise in Erode
A significant number of eligible boys in Erode district now travel more than 400 km to areas in Kerala to
find themselves a bride. While this is more in one community, the others are slowly catching up with this
trend and there is a dramatic increase in the appearance of matrimonial advertisements seeking brides.
These come with the words “caste no bar” from Erode. The situation may even turn worse in the years to
come as there is an alarming decline in the child sex ratio in the district. Currently, Erode has a child sex
ratio (0-6 years) of 932 girls per 1,000 boys, which is far below the national average and the
internationally accepted levels. Earlier in 2001, the district had a child sex ratio of 944 girls per 1,000 boys
in 2001. Social activists now fear that the scant attention paid by the health officials in the district in
monitoring the ultrasound scan centres and their failure in the strict enforcement of Pre-conception and
Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex selection) Act may lead to severe consequences in
the years to come. “There are no incidents of female infanticide in the district. But there are reports of
increasing number of foetal sex determination and sex selective abortions,” activists point out. The foetal
sex determination and female foeticide, according to highly-placed official sources, happens at all levels
in society. “Even the highly educated and affluent people in society resort to the obnoxious practice. Most
of these incidents do not come to light as they have been done very discreetly and with the knowledge of
the persons concerned,” a senior official says. Though the child sex ratio in the district had declined over
the years, there were no cases booked for violations of PCPNDT Act so far. “The healthcare institutions
do not maintain a proper documentation on why the abortion is done. The health officials in the district
also do not insist the hospitals to provide such information. Even the pregnancy details are not reported
properly in the district,” a senior official told The Hindu. The alarming decline has prompted the district
administration to tighten the monitoring of scan centres and hospitals. The health authorities were given
specific instructions last week to monitor the hospitals and the scan centres. “We cannot allow the sexselective
discriminatory practices to continue. It will lead to severe problems at a later point of time.