https://feminisminindia.com/2022/09/08/indias-sex-ratio-at-birth-shows-promise-gender-justice-and-the-son-preference/
A recent study by the Pew Research Center, a not-for-profit think tank that conducts research, surveys, studies, and analysis in the domain of social sciences, indicates that the widespread preference for sons in India is diminishing.
This study traces the disparity between sexes at birth in the national context, as well as looks at the preferences of major religious groups in the country. The four major religions analysed in this study are Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, and Sikhism.
Remainder religious groups and those not associated with any religious groups like Buddhists, Jains, atheists, etc., have not been looked at exclusively because the data available regarding their fertility and health was not sufficient. However, these smaller groups have been taken into account in the general population’s result. The study also references the recent National Family Health Survey report (NFHS-5).
Image: The Hindu
India’s sex ratio at birth in the 1950s-1960s was about 105 male babies for every 100 female babies. This was the case before prenatal sex tests became accessible across India. Prenatal gender tests, that allowed prospective parents to know the sex of their child, began in the 70s.
In the 1980s, with the initiation of ultrasound technology, prenatal sex determination became very common and omnipresent all over the country.
1971 was the year when India legitimised abortions. Given the preference for boys, sex-selective abortions in the country came to an all-time high after the 70s. The sex ratio at birth widened sharply in the 1980s with 108 boys born per 100 girls.
The gap widened even further in the 1990s with 110 boys per 100 girls born, which remained the case for the next 20 years. India’s census report of the year 2011 had a disproportionate sex ratio at birth of 111 boys per 100 girls. This growing crevice appears to be closing up slightly with the 2015-16 NFHS data showing 109 boys to 100 girls and the latest data that is of the year 2019-21 indicates 108 male births per 100 girls.
However, looking at the global picture, India on average had one of the most prejudiced sex ratios at birth after countries like Azerbaijan, China, Armenia, Vietnam, and Albania. This was concluded as per an analysis of the United Nations estimates done by the Pew Research Center for the two decades between 2002-2020.
Image: Prabhat Khabar
The [**latest data](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/08/23/indias-sex-ratio-at-birth-begins-to-normalize/#:~:text=This natural sex ratio at,2000 and 2019 were girls.)** suggests that there is a decrease in the inclination of Indian families to engage in sex-selective abortion to ensure the birth of boys and not girls. This can be attributed to the collective efforts of the government as well as the public ranging from campaigns like “Save the girl child”, imposing a ban on prenatal sex discernment, and also the increment in wealth and education generally.
India made it illegal to disclose the sex of the fetus in 1996. Regardless, a minimum of 0.9 crores of female births went “missing” from the 2000-2019 records due to sex-selective abortions. This information was gathered from various NFHS reports and the national census in India.
This recent study inferred that the average number of “missing” girls in India dropped from approximately 4.8 lakhs in 2010 to 4.1 Lakhs in 2019. Here the term “missing” indicates the number of girls that were not born due to female selective abortions.
The number of “missing” girls is calculated by comparing the number of girls born with the number of girls that were expected to be born, if there were no sex-selective abortions in the country.
