Beyond laws: Tackling female foeticide

Another sex-determination racket was recently busted in Tamil Nadu. While this may seem like good news, it is a stark reminder that the conversation on female foeticide in India is far from over. A simple Google search shows that, over the past month alone, such rackets have been uncovered in Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana. Despite the stringent provisions of the PCPNDT Act, abortion rackets continue to thrive.

This clearly demonstrates that mere enactment of laws cannot alter the deeply rooted and harmful societal attitudes that underlie this issue. Addressing such a complex and entrenched problem requires more than legal measures--it demands targeted policies aimed at changing the cultural narrative surrounding the girl child.

What’s wrong with female foeticide? If the answer stops at “that a female is being killed”, then we have missed the point. The preference for sons is based on the idea that a life’s worth can be determined by sex. This value is often shaped by inheritance laws, traditional roles within families, and other societal norms that place disproportionate burdens on women—dowry being just one example. However, this view is fundamentally backward: the value of human life should not be determined by tradition or convenience.

At its core, the issue of female foeticide is the taking of a human life. Every human being carries intrinsic worth and dignity – this value is not granted by any other person, nor dependent on sex, status, or circumstance. That is why foeticide, whether of a male or female child, is wrong. If we don’t start from this understanding, we risk raising generation after generation shaped by deeply flawed and discriminatory beliefs.

It is also important to dispel the myth that this problem is confined to rural India. A conversation with a gynaecologist will reveal that ‘son-preference’ is prevalent even in urban areas--spaces often assumed to be more progressive and educated. Where, then, are we going wrong?

India is no stranger to campaigns aimed at protecting and uplifting the girl child. Yet progress remains uneven. While some states have recorded improvements in the sex ratio at birth (SRB), 12 out of 37 states and Union Territories showed a decline, according to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2019-21. States have launched various initiatives to encourage families to welcome girl children. For example, Haryana’s government has begun directly messaging pregnant women—especially those with one or more daughters—about the legal consequences of sex determination. While such punitive measures have their merits, the real question may be whether we lack not the number but the right kind of initiatives and messaging.

Any message that asserts the value of the girl child must first be grounded in the universal truth of the value of every human life, starting from the unborn. Without this foundational message, the messaging will be incomplete. In fact, the failure to recognise the inherent value of every life is at the root of many of India’s problems.

Structural societal problems demand multi-pronged approaches. While awareness programmes in schools are an excellent way to shape young minds, they cannot stand alone. If a child hears this message for a few minutes during an eight-hour school day but completely misses it at home, what is the true value addition after all?

This message is equally important for the huge ‘not in school’ population that needs to be reached in order to tackle the issue now! We must inundate our societies with the message of life relentlessly, through all forums of communication, alternate media included. But that’s not all. There must be simultaneous pushback in tackling counter-messaging – where value for human life is measured and dependent on a myriad of factors, sometimes even eccentric. The call is not for censorship but for drowning out the noise caused by such untrue and divisive beliefs through a flooding of the truth.

Incentives such as offering gold or direct investments towards the education of the girl child may promote and curb female foeticide, but they fail to tackle the root problem. The idea of incentives too should not be restricted to the realm of direct beneficiaries, the mothers giving birth to or families raising girl children, but should include all channels through which this message can be disseminated. A strong shift requires such a strategy.

A strong PCPNDT Act, with provisions of strict penalties, is imperative to this discussion. Yet the problem needs to be managed much before a crime takes place – at the level of societal narratives. Otherwise, the State will continue to find itself busting one racket after another with no substantial progress being made.

(The writer is pursuing a master’s degree in public policy at NLSIU)