Fighting from the womb
In India, becoming parent to a girl is often view as a burden if not a curse. With sex selection abortions rampant, as recently shown on the TV show Satyamev Jayate, and baby Falak and Afreen being punished for being born as girls, India certainly doesn’t treat its women well.
According to a recent CNN report, “India is the most dangerous place in the world to be a girl.” Other reports point out that in the last decade there have been over eight million cases of female foeticide.
Forward-thinking danseuse, Anita Ratnam, believes that while India may not be the worst country for women, it certainly is bad. She puts the problem down to hypocrisy. “I think we top the charts when it comes to being hypocritical. Our behaviour is so different from what we say. The worst part is that we commit all these crimes against girls and women consciously. I do not understand how we reconcile our ideas with our actions,” she says.
Politician Shashi Tharoor who strongly opposes sexual discrimination, says, “I think it’s a disgrace that stigma such as dowry harassment and female foeticide still exist. This is not just amongst rural people but also the educated class. In certain parts of North India especially the female-male sex ratio is shocking.” He adds, “And no, the solution is not to pass a law, because this is already against it. The larger issue is that people’s mindset ought to change.”
Politician Sharath Kumar, who chose female foeticide as the first topic while addressing the Parliament said, “Discrimination against women, dowry harassment and related issues are slowly decreasing. Today my wife has the freedom to let our daughter take Radikaa as her surname if she wants to. This privilege was never there earlier.” Actress and politician Khushboo, points out, “We have to reach out to people in the villages and spread awareness. India is not an unsafe country to live in. However, the cases of illegal abortions and infanticide point out that we still have a long way to go.”
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