Female Infanticide: the intentional killing of baby girls because of a preference for male babies.

This is murder. A parent does not wish to harm their own

children. This is an act of desperation.

Males are considered better than women in some parts of Indian society.

Women are considered sub-serviant. They are thought of as the legal and

economic properties of men.

83% of India’s population is Hindu. The Hindu texts, The Ramayana and The

Laws of Manu, represent a good woman as being obedient, submissive, and dependent.

This demeans the value of women.

Islam, another major religion in India, promotes men over women.

Islam permits polygamy and gives women fewer rights than men.

• The institution of a dowry is a tradition in India.

• The dowry is a large sum of money given to the husband’s family from the wife’s family.

• Sometimes, when the amount of money is not seen as suitable, the husband will murder his wife so that he may marry again and collect another dowry.

• The institution of a dowry has been made illegal.

• However, it is estimated that every 93 minutes a dowry death occurs.

Having a girl is considered an economic burden.

• Newborn baby girls are often killed in the poorer regions of India.

• Over the past few years, more than 4,500 baby girls have been killed in the Salem District of Southern India.

• These women kill their children by forcing them to swallow rice husks and choke, by feeding them poisonous fertilizer powders, by drowning them, or by letting them starve.

• "Instead of her suffering the way I do, I thought it was better to get rid of her.” –Lakshmi, a woman living in Tamil Nadu.

As recently as 1998, 200 baby girls were killed annually in Tamil Nadu.

Murdering babies is obviously morally incorrect.

So how about selectively aborting female fetuses?

• This practice was originally only done by the upper class, who had access to the medical equipment.

• Now, ultra-sound machines have become cheaper and therefore more readily available to the lower class as well.

• This practice of aborting fetuses based on gender has been illegal since 1994.

In India, 500,000 female fetuses are aborted every year.

Does this violate women’s rights? It is violence against women. But is it better than murdering newborn

female babies?

A poster in Bombay reads: “It is better to pay 500 Rs now than 50,000 Rs (in dowry) later.”

Some people are in strong support of making ultra-sound machines and abortion readily available to all, believing that this will lower the cases of killing newborn girls.

Others believe that this is violence against all women, and that further measures should be taken to end sexism in India.

Selectively aborting female fetuses and killing baby girls has caused a severe gender imbalance in India.

There are 880 females for every 1,000 males.

In the United States, there are 955 females for every 1,000 males.

The government in India has not been blind to this issue.

Laws have been made to prevent female infanticide and the selective abortion of female fetuses.

But it is still going on, right now.

These murders are happening halfway across the world, but that does not mean you can’t help.

It is up to you to decide what the best solution is. To decide the best way you can help.

You can save these girls.

A $30 monthly donation to the Promiseland Orphanage will support a child. Sending this young girl letters will show her support, and give her the love that she needs to grow up feeling wanted. Below is the website.

http://www.abolishfemaleinfanticide.com/donations.html

This organization has a variety of projects that it supports. The Mercy Home is located in Tamil Nadu and

takes in abandoned children. The SHE Program helps mothers find government

aid and get medical check-ups. They also help aid children and mothers in obtaining an education. This program actively reports any unnatural deaths so as to put a stop to the female infanticide.

These are a few of the programs. To donate and find out more, visit: http://www.reliefprojects.org/index.html.

There are many ways in which you can show your support.

Decide where you stand on the issue, and take action.

You can help these girls.

"Despite Economic Growth, India Lets Its Girls Die - Health News." Free Email Addresses: Web Based and Secure Email - Mail.com. 4 May 2011. Web. 22 May 2011. <http://www.mail.com/scitech/health/391394-despite-economic-growth-india-girls-die.html>.

"India Aborts 500,000 Female Fetuses a Year: Study - World - CBC News." CBC News. 9 Jan. 2006. Web. 22 May 2011. <http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2006/01/09/indiababies060109.html>.

Grewal, Indu, and J. Kishore. "Female Foeticide in India." International Humanist and Ethical Union | The World Union of Humanist Organizations. 1 May 2004. Web. 22 May 2011. <http://www.iheu.org/female-foeticide-in-india>.

added: "Grim Motives behind Infant Killings." Featured Articles from

CNN. CNN World, 07 July 2003. Web. 22 May 2011. <http://articles.cnn.com/2003-07-07/world/india.infanticide.pt1_1_baby-girls-killings-fewer-girls?_s=PM:asiapcf>.

Jones, Adam. "Case Study: Female Infanticide." Gendercide Watch. 2000. Web. 22 May 2011. <http://www.gendercide.org/case_infanticide.html>.