Sex selection practices are gaining increased visibility and criticism in India, where the sex ratio has declined significantly. According to The Telegraph the national ratio is 927 women to 1000 men and in some states is as low as about 800 women to 1000 men. According to the Hindu News, organizations such as the United Nation Population Fund, NGOS, human rights groups, and local governments are beginning to help prevent selective abortion on the basis of sex.
The issue has recently received increased attention because of the case of Dr. Mitu Khurana, who sued her in-laws, husband, and a hospital under the Preconception and Prenatal Diagnostic and Testing Act, which bans medical practitioners from determining the sex of a fetus and using this information to promote female feticide. Khurana was coerced into having an ultrasound by her husband and in-laws. They then attempted to force her to abort her twin daughters because they wanted male offspring, according to the News Blaze.
Chairperson of the Central Social Welfare Board, Prema Cariappa told the Telegraph, "All around the county, female feticide has become a serious issue, which needs to be tackled….The country has lost about [10 million] girl children to feticide in the last 20 years."
Media Resources: The Gazette of India; The News Blaze 11/11/08; The Telegraph 11/1/08; The Hindu News 11/13/08
5/22/2013 Immigration Reform Bill Advances In Senate - Last night, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a sweeping immigration reform bill in a bipartisan vote of 13 to 5. . . .
5/22/2013 Afghan Women Arrested for 'Moral Crimes' Increases 50% - A new report by the Human Rights Watch shows that in the past 18 months the number of women in Afghanistan incarcerated for 'moral crimes' has increased from 400 to 600, a 50% growth.
Many of the women imprisoned for moral crimes were arrested running away from forced or abusive marriages and families, even though there is no law against leaving. . . .
5/22/2013 Army Commander Suspended for Adultery Amid Wave of Sexual Assaults - On Tuesday, Brigadier General Bryan T Roberts was suspended from his position as commander of the Fort Jackson, South Carolina training camp which trains approximately 60% of incoming female recruits pending an investigation into allegations of adultery.
Roberts was suspended following allegations of "adultery and a physical altercation." Colonel Christian Kubik, an Army spokesperson for the Training and Doctrine Command, told reporters "We don't have any evidence of any sexual assault. . . .
