Starving Daughters
In 2007, CRY (Child Rights and You) the international organization that works for the rights of children world wide, reported that of the 12 million girls that are born in India every year, about 3 million will die before the age of 15. In other worlds 1 in every 4 girl born in India will not make it past puberty.
CRY also reported, as have numerous other studies, that these deaths are largely due to gender
prejudice. The girls die because they are girls. Studies have observed that girls in India are much more likely to suffer neglect through malnutrition and lack of medical care. In many cases, if a girl is sick, parents are often reluctant to spend on her nutrition and medicines for they regard it as a waste of
money. Essentially, these are deaths through neglect – an act that is tantamount to culpable homicide.
But it is a phenomenon that is so pervasive that it is beyond the capacity of government and law to treat as criminal. The UNICEF 2007 report on The State of the World’s Children established that the
mortality rate for girls between 1 and 5 years is more than 40% higher than that for boys of the same age group.
Petition:
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Relevant Links:
1 in 4Girls Born Dies Before Age 15: CRY
40% Higher Mortality for Girls than Boys the Same Age15: UNICEF (Pdf-version)
Yes I have seen this happen. My maid says very simply, that boys need more nutrition, eggs, better portions of non-veg and milk are reserved for her son, but she magnanimously allows the daughter a cup of milk every evening. I asked her if she doesn’t think that as a future mother her daughter’s health was important. It is, that is why she is given a cup of milk every evening. She considers herself very progressive.
Indian Homemaker
May 4, 2008