SEX-SELECTIVE ABORTIONS IN INDIA: A BEHAVIOURAL EPIDEMIC

Abstract

Sex- selective abortions have been known to be a problem in India. A study titled “Trends in selective abortions of girls in India: analysis of nationally representative birth histories from 1990 to 2005 and census data from 1991 to 2011” by Jha P et al was published in Lancet in May 2011 presented the first nationally representative analysis of trends in sex-selective abortions in India. It came as an aftermath of the provisional 2011 census release which showed a fall in 0-6 year sex ratio from 927 in 2001 to 914 in 20111. 56 percent of Indian districts have child sex-ratio of less than 9152, spreading to areas where the sex-selective abortions were known to be negligible. This was in contrast to the fact that overall sex-ratio increased from 933 to 9401,3.Such findings necessitate a more specific approach to this problem by looking at the trends in child sex-ratio unlike the crude analysis of overall sex-ratios adopted earlier. Also this study provides an estimate of sex-selective abortions from 1980 to 2010 ranging from 4.2-12.1 million.