Sex-Selective Abortion

in India
Roisin Stallard

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Acronyms
CEDAW

Convention on the Elimination of All-forms of Discrimination against

Women

CMW

Currently Married Women

CRC

Convention on the Rights of the Child

CRR

Centre for Reproductive Rights

CSR

Child Sex Ratio

CVS

Chorionic Villus Sampling

FGM/C

Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting

HDI

Human Development Index

HRC

Human Rights Committee

ICPD

International Conference on Population and Development

IHRL

International Human Rights Law

MTP

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (1971)

NCRB

National Crime Records Bureau

NPP

National Population Policy (2000)

PCPNDT

Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act (1994)

POCSO

Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (2012)

SRB

Sex Ratio at Birth

UDHR

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

UNFPA

UN Population Fund

UNICEF

UN Childrens Fund

UN Women

UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

WHO

World Health Organisation

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Executive Summary
The abortion of a female foetus on the ground of being female discriminates against
women as a class, in that it is directed against women as a class or group, being
based as it is on the low worth being assigned to women. Lawyers Collective, From
the Abnormal to the Normal: Preventing Sex-selective Abortions through the Law, New
Delhi, 2007, p. 2.
Every year, 12 million girls are born three million of whom do not survive to see
their 15th birthday. About one-third of these deaths occur in the first year of life and
it is estimated that every sixth female death is directly due to gender discrimination.
Indian Alliance for Child Rights, CRC Review Note #1: Indias Girl Child: Crisis of Early
Disposal (Declining Juvenile Sex Ratio 0 to 6 years)
To commemorate this years International Womens Day, Childreach
International has chosen to release this paper documenting sex-selective
abortion in India. International Womens Day is a time to reflect on progress
made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by
ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their
countries and communities. This years theme, Equality for women is progress
for all emphasises how gender equality, empowerment of women, womens full
enjoyment of human rights and the eradication of poverty are essential to
economic and social development. It also stresses the vital role of women as
agents of development.
Sex selection not only distorts the natural sex ratio within a country,
leading to gender imbalance, but it also reinforces discriminatory and sexist
stereotypes towards women by devaluing women and girls. Sex selection is
perhaps the most overt form of discrimination against women. The practice of
sex-selective abortion in India has had a significant impact on the sex ratio within
the country, and is primarily related to the provision of the dowry within the
country and the low-worth assigned to many women. Childreach International
and Childreach India currently implement a project entitled Save the Girl Child
in Haryana, northern India, which seeks to empower girls and women, and teach
them issues relating to the girl child, womens rights, education, adolescent
health, personal development and careers in order to end the practice of
abortions on the grounds of gender alone.

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction

2. What is sex-selective abortion?

a. Why does it occur?

b. Why is it a problem?

3. Sex selection in India

4. International mechanisms

5
9

5. Domestic mechanisms

10

6. Save the Girl Child project

14

7. Recommendations

17

References

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1. Introduction
In recent years, the world has been shocked by continued FGM/C in parts
of Africa, the Talibans ruthless suppression of women in Afghanistan and the
abuse of female domestic labourers in countries such as Saudi Arabia. Yet it is
India, the largest democracy in the world that is the undeclared winner in the
contest of violence against women because of the continued violence and
discrimination that women face every day (NY Times, 2005). This systematic and
mass-scale violence against Indian women and girls is playing out in stark
grotesqueness in everyday reality. Women in developing countries tend to fare
worse than men in many dimensions: they receive less schooling, often have
lower rates of labour force participation and earn lower salaries; they are likely
to be poorer and often lack fundamental rights such as the right to vote or the
right to own property. In addition, they are much more likely to be victims of
violence than their male counterparts.
This discrimination against women has evolved to such an extent that
some parents would rather eliminate girls from their family life altogether. The
disinterest in having a female child has led to a situation where families are
regularly aborting female foetuses, even when the act has been declared illegal
and when the foetus has crossed medically advised gestation period limit for
safe abortion. It is estimated that, largely as a result of sex-selective abortions,
Asia today is short of 160 million women who have silently disappeared over
several decades, with India missing approximately 10 million (UNFPA, 2012). One
of the countries that is experiencing a high level of sex-selective abortions is
India. With a current sex ratio at birth (SRB) of 112 males to every 100 females1 in
India, the problem is extensive and the gender gap appears to be widening (CIA
World Factbook, 2013). The predominant reasons given for the high levels of sexselective abortions in India are that of son preference and the provision of the
dowry to the grooms family from the brides, despite its illegality. This puts
immense pressure on women to produce sons; failure to do so may lead to
consequences that include violence, rejection by the marital family or even
death. Marriage simulations suggest that if the ratio continues to increase at its
current rate, the number of single men trying to marry after 2030 might exceed
the number of corresponding unmarried women by between 50% and 60%.
This report will examine the prominence of sex-selective abortion in India.
The second section will discuss what sex-selective abortion is, why it occurs and
why it is such a problem. The third section will examine the current situation
with regard to female sex selection in India and specifically Haryana, with special
1

A normal sex ratio at birth ranges from 102 to 106 males per female (WHO, 2011).
1

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focus on the continued discrimination against the girl-child in the country. The
fourth and fifth sections will discuss the current international and domestic
Indian legislation which seeks to combat sex-selective abortions and gender
discrimination such as CEDAW and the domestic PCPNDT Act and Dowry
Prohibition Act. The sixth section will discuss Childreach Indias current Save the
Girl Child project based in Haryana, which seeks to alleviate this continued
discrimination against girls through empowering young mothers and girls. The
final section will assess the current situation in India and will provide
recommendations to the Indian government on how to more effectively combat
the situation of sex-selective abortions. Throughout the document there are
stories from both girls and women who are involved in the Save the Girl Child
project.

2. What is sex selection?

Sex selection is the attempt to control the sex of an offspring to achieve a
desired sex. It can occur before pregnancy through pre-implantation, during
pregnancy through prenatal sex detection or following birth through infanticide
or child neglect. This report will solely focus on sex-selective abortion, which is
the practice of terminating a pregnancy based upon the predicted sex of a
foetus. The selection of gender as a quest for couples for as far back as recorded
history allows as ancient Chinese, Egyptian and Greek civilisations wondered
how to choose the sex of a child before its birth. Countless myths, folk remedies
and magical potions were all offered as possible solutions. The selective abortion
of female foetuses is far more common than the selective abortion of male
foetuses due to inherent culture-based discrimination against women and what
is often referred to as son preference. This has essentially led to a situation
where there are 160 million missing women (Hvistendahl, 2011).
The initial stage of sex-selective abortion begins with determining the sex
of the unborn child, otherwise known as prenatal sex discernment. This most
commonly used method involves the use of obstetric ultrasonography2, which
checks for the sagittal sign as a marker of foetal sex. It can be performed
between 65 and 69 days from fertilisation. Cell-free foetal DNA testing, wherein a
blood test is performed on the mother to analyse the small amount of foetal
DNA that can be found within it. It provides the earliest post-implantation test.
More invasive measures of prenatal sex discernment include chorionic villus
sampling (CVS) and amniocentesis, which involve testing the chorionic villus
2

Ultrasound-based diagnostic imaging technique that can be used to identify the gender of an unborn child

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(found in the placenta) or amniotic fluid. Both these tests can reveal the sex of
the child and are performed early in the pregnancy, however these methods
tend to be more expensive and dangerous than blood sampling or
ultrasonography so are less frequently used. Once the gender of the child has
been determined, parents are able to make the decision about whether they
want to continue the pregnancy or whether they want to proceed with an
abortion.

2a. Why does it occur?

Sex selection is perhaps the most overt form of discrimination against
women. It occurs because of an inherent and sometimes culturally influenced
discrimination against girls which sees males as the preferred sex; otherwise
known as son preference. Before the information era, male babies were
preferred because they provided manual labour and were able to complete tasks
that female children were seen as not having the strength to perform.
Nowadays, a son is seen as more of an asset since he can earn and support the
family, while a daughter is seen as more of a liability since she will eventually
leave the family home to move in with her husbands family. Any investment in a
daughter is therefore seen as a waste of resources as she will not be
contributing financially to the family in the future. Sons in developing countries
also often have higher wage earning capacities, and the family often desire male
offspring so to inherit property and carry on the family name (Hesketh and Xing,
2006). In some cultures, the provision of a dowry makes the thought of having a
daughter even more of a burden and parents in cultures such as India are
therefore more inclined to abort a female baby to alleviate the worry of having
to raise a substantial dowry in the future. The tradition of patrilineal inheritance
in many societies, coupled with a reliance on boys to provide economic support,
to ensure security in old age and to perform death rites are part of a set of social
norms that place greater value on sons than daughters (WHO, 2011). Sons are
therefore seen as essential for the survival of the family and for social security in
old age, and are thus valued more highly than daughters. Low fertility represents
another influence on sex-selective abortions. As couples around the world are
generally moving towards smaller family sizes, the issue of sex selection is being
exacerbated. Rather than families continuing to have children until they have the
desired number of boys, their desire for smaller families has resulted in an
increase in the abortion of female foetuses, as families are unwilling to continue
having girls until a boy is produced. The existence of the one-child policy in China
has further exacerbated the problem as families are continually aborting female
foetuses until a male child is born.
In general, sex-ratio imbalances across affected countries increase as
birth order increases which is often attributable to family balancing.
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Subsequently, the ratio is more skewed between second, third or higher birthorder children compared to first-borns. This indicates an increasing desire for
boys as the number of daughters increases.

2b. Why is it a problem?

The prevalence of sex-selective abortions is a global issue because it
reinforces and further embeds discriminatory and sexist stereotypes towards
women by devaluing females by determining that one gender is more worthy of
life than another. Sex selection in favour of boys is a symptom of pervasive
cultural, social, political and economic injustices against women and is such a
manifest violation of womens human rights. It is also an extreme form of
violence against women.
Not only is the practices
prevalence so concerning
because it reinforces
discriminatory attitudes
towards women, but it also has
a serious effect on the human
sex ratio within a country. Put
simply, the sex ratio is the ratio
of males to female within a
population with a normal sex
ratio at birth (SRB) ranging
from 102 to 106 males per 100
females (WHO, 2011). Some
believe that this higher rate of
male births in comparison with
females is natures way of
balancing the slightly increased
risk of premature death in
young males (The
Independent, 2009). In some
countries where sex-selective
abortions are commonly
practiced, a sex ratio as high as
130 has been observed which
means that there are 30%
more male babies being born
than female (WHO, 2011). Such
a skew in the SRB is not
considered to be a natural

Komals story:
My name is Komal, and I am 18, and from a
small colony about 20 minutes walk from the
centre of Hisar town Im the President of
our Girls Action Group We have all seen a
big change in attitudes towards girls, even in
the space of our lives. Parents are starting to
trust girls, starting to send them to school. I
think that the next five years will see so
much more change too. In five years time
parents might even be supporting all girls to
go out and get jobs. The age of males is
gone, the days of boys are over. You know,
across India, girls exam results are higher,
they are doing better in every way. We are
10 steps ahead every time. A shift is
happening, the value of girls is increasing.
Our Girls Action Group is getting stronger,
we know now that our two priorities are to
give tuition to smaller children who are
struggling at the low quality schools, and also
to try and get those children whove dropped
out back into school. My message to the
world is this: change your thinking. Parents,
trust your daughters. Everyone, invest in
girls. If I had a grand-daughter, Id want her
to feel supported, strong, surrounded by
friends and open-minded communities. Id
want her to be completely free.

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phenomenon, but has to be attributed to the direct elimination of girls through

methods including sex-selective abortions (UNFPA, 2012).
One of the prolonged effects of extensive female abortion is that there
will be an over-abundance of single men who, in a culture where marriage is
practically universal and social status largely depends on being married, will
ultimately be left without a marriage partner. In parts of China and India, it has
been estimated that if the use of sex-selective abortions continues as its current
rate, 12% to 15% of men of marrying age will be unable to find a wife (Hesketh
and Xing, 2006). This unfortunately may lead to an increase in trafficking as men
are forced to buy wives from poorer districts within their own countries or
across international borders (UNFPA, 2013a). Evidence suggests that this is
already taking place with women being trafficked into China and Taiwan solely
for the purpose of marriage to make up for the shortage of women (Guilmoto
and Oliveau, 2007). There is also some discussion about the effect that an
abundance of males can have on society as a whole, with some literature
emphasising how this may lead to an increasingly violent society, especially with
regards to an increase in rape, robbery and sexual violence (UNFPA, 2007; The
Economist, 2011).
Due to lack of resources (e.g. monetary, physician, transportation) and
emotional factors, many women are forced to undergo what are internationally
referred to as unsafe abortions. An unsafe abortion is the termination of a
pregnancy by an individual or individuals who lack the necessary skills to
adequately and safely perform an abortion in an environment which fails to
meet minimum medical standards (WHO, 1992). Of the estimated 44 million
abortions per year, it is believed that just under half are considered to be unsafe
abortions. These unsafe abortions lead to approximately 70,000 maternal deaths
annually (Shah and Ahman, 2009).
The next section will further discuss the prevalence of sex-selective
abortions in India with specific reference to the situation in Haryana, which
influenced Childreach Internationals, and Childreach Indias decision to
implement the Save the Girl Child project.

3. Sex selection in India

India is in Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of
Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan. It has a population of approximately 1.237
billion, with 28.9% under the age of 14 and an additional 18.27% of the
population between the ages of 15 to 24 (CIA World Factbook, 2013).
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Approximately one-fifth of the worlds children under the age of four reside in
India (UNICEF, 2011). In addition, 20% of the total worlds child deaths occur in
India, with 1.83 million children dying in India before they turn five. In 2010,
29.8% of the population lived below the national poverty line. Out of 187
countries, India is currently ranked 136th on the HDI; a comparative measure of
life expectancy, literacy, education, standards of living and quality of life. This
means that India is classified as having a medium level of human development.
Techniques for determining sex prenatally first became available in the
early 1970s and 1980s in India, and quickly gained popularity, spreading rapidly
throughout the country, although they are now banned from being used for sex
determination purposes and their use, under law, is solely permitted to detect
genetic diseases. Today, these techniques are typically available from mobile
units such as travelling ultrasound vans and from family planning clinics. Since
the introduction of these techniques, it has been estimated that between 10 and
60 million girls that should have been born in India have been aborted, with an
additional 60,000 going missing every year (The Guardian 2011; The Guardian
2011a). In 1871, when India carried out their first census, there were 5.5 million
more males than females in the country (Natarajan, 1972). In 1990, the census
revealed there were 25 million more males than females in India, a figure that
rose to 35 million in 2001. Today, experts are estimating this number could be as
high as 50 million missing women in India alone (NY Times, 2005). In 2010,
640,472 abortions were reportedly carried out, however experts believe this
number could be as high as seven million, with over two-thirds taking place
outside of authorised health facilities (TIME, 2013). While there is no data on the
percentage of female foetuses being aborted outside of licensed facilities, it can
be assumed that the number is high, far higher than the number of male
foetuses being aborted. Often these gender-specific abortions are being
facilitated by a small proportion of doctors and other personnel who have huge
monetary interest in perpetuating the practice and who exploit the traditional
preference for boys to do so (UNFPA, 2013).
As previously mentioned, India was recently called the undeclared winner
in the contest of violence against women, and was recently voted the worst
country in the G20 to be a woman due to the discrimination and danger that
woman in India face everyday (Huffington Post, 2012). The U.S. State
Departments Human Rights Report from 2012 reported that rape, domestic
violence, dowry related deaths, honour killings, sexual harassment and
discrimination against women were all serious problems within the country. It
also appears that violence against women is increasing with recent statistics
from the NCRB revealing a 31.02% increase in crimes against women since 2005
(UNFPA, 2013). This violence against women appears to have become so
embedded in some communities that it is considered to be a norm that no
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longer needs to be questioned. When asked, 54% of women aged between 15 to

49 years of age in India considered their husband justified in hitting or beating
their wife under certain circumstances3 (UNICEF, 2011a). This discrimination
against women is not just aimed at adults, but also at children, sometimes from
women themselves.
This discrimination
against girls has become
Singaris story:
so embedded in India that
My name is Singari, and I am 15, and from a small
some families would
colony about 20 minutes walk from the centre of
rather not have daughters
Hisar town. My parents are both alcoholics. I
at all. This has led to the
remember my mum used to tell me that by Standard
10 she would marry me off. But I refused. Ive been
perpetuation of sexrefusing ever since. I said to her: I want to study; I
selective abortions.
want to go to school. Now Im in Standard 7, Ive got
Before the emergence of
this far already. But my parents dont pay for my
pre-natal sex
education they spend every rupee we have on
determination techniques
alcohol. Seema, one of my friends and also a member
in the 1970s and 1980s,
of our Girls Action Group - her mum pays my school
female infanticide was
fees. I love being a girl. I think anything is possible, I
practiced in some regions
think I can do anything. When I was younger my
mum used to send me to the bazaar to get food, and
of India, especially in the
Id complain saying thats a boys job, but now its ok.
north and north-west of
I can do anything a boy can do. Yes there are some
the country where cases
old-fashioned people but lots of others are beginning
were well-documented in
to accept that girls are equal to boys and can achieve
the censuses conducted
what they do. In fact, they achieve more.
by the British and India
after independence (Kaur,
2008). While the
deliberate elimination of female infants is thought to have radically declined
since the 18th and 19th centuries, many academic and NGOs believe the passive
elimination of the girl-child continues to this day through neglect such as lack of
food, reduced immunisation rates and restricted access to medical care
(Barcellos et. Al, 2012; Corsi et. Al, 2009; Guilmoto, 2007). Between the ages of
one and 59 months, girls in every region in India have higher death rates than
boys, and inequities in access to care, rather than biological or genetic factors
are the most plausible explanation (The Million Death Study Collaborators, 2010).
A study carried out by the Governments Ministry of Women and Child
Development found that 70.57% of girls reported neglect of one form or another
by family members; 48.4% of girls wished they had been born a boy; and in Bihar
65.63% of girls reported being given less food than their brothers, which is three3

Circumstances included if a wife burnt food, if she argued with her husband, if she went out without
telling him, if she neglected the children or if she refuses sexual relations
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fold the national response of 27.33%. With this decline in female infanticide,
there has been a corresponding increase in the practice of sex-selective
abortions, which has had a dramatic effect on the countrys sex ratio. In India,
the current SRB lies at 1.12, or 112 males per 100 females (UNFPA, 2012). The
CSR for children under the age of six was 927 girls per 1000 boys in 2001, but in
2011 the number had declined to 919 girls per 1000 boys (UNFPA, 2013). While
the sex ratio in India is far less distorted than the ratio in China, Indias appears
to be continuously widening while Chinas appears to be slowly stabilising.
But why are sex-selective abortions so common in India? One of the most
commonly cited reasons is that of the history of the dowry in Indian culture.
While Indian law forbids the provision or acceptance of a dowry, the
enforcement of the law is weak, and so families continue to offer and accept
dowries and subsequently dowry disputes remain a serious problem (U.S. State
Department, 2012). The fear of being unable to raise a dowry in the future and
the economic burden that doing so may place on a family, forces families into
believing they have no other option that to abort a female foetus (UNFPA, 2013).
Sonography clinics wanting to increase their own financial gains will often exploit
this fear of raising a dowry through their advertising campaigns by using slogans
such as Invest only Rs. 500 now and save your precious Rs. 500,000 later (The
Guardian, 2012). When a woman marries she often leaves the family home and
lineage to be absorbed into her husbands family while a newly married man
remains at home, allowing his parents and family to make use of his financial
resources, and he will be readily available to look after ailing parents when they
become old or ill. A daughter will have forfeited this commitment as soon as she
leaves home to live with her partners family. In Indian culture, men are also the
only ones allowed to perform death rites. As previously mentioned, inheritance
law in India is highly patrilineal and discriminatory towards women, resulting in
them often being unable to inherit anything from their families. Even when there
are no sons, inheritance will pass to uncles and male cousins before it reaches
female heirs. Essentially, kinship systems in India ensure that parents can benefit
little from having daughters but have strong economic incentives to raise sons.
The fertility rate in India has also declined quite rapidly from 1990. In
1990 the average number of children per family was 3.8, which declined to 3.1 in
2000, 2.8 in 2005 and 2.6 children per family in 2010. This desire for a smaller
family means that women are less likely to continue having children until a male
heir is born and are subsequently more likely to abort female foetuses. Women
are therefore under immense pressure to produce sons. Failure to do so may
lead to consequences such as violence, rejection by the family or even death. If
they are unable to afford an abortion by a licensed practitioner, or if the
practitioner refuses to perform the abortion because they believe it is for gender
purposes, the women may continue to have children until a boy is born which
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puts their life and health at risk, or they may resort to unsafe abortions
performed by an unlicensed individual with little or no medical experience in
dangerous conditions. It is estimated every two hours in India a woman dies
from an unsafe abortion (TIME, 2013). What is surprising is that the selective
abortion of girls in India is far more common in richer or more educated
households than in poorer, less educated households where it may be assumed
that financial pressures would necessitate smaller families. Analysis reveals a
positive linkage between abnormal sex ratio and better socio-economic status
and literacy, which contradicts the notion that sex selection is archaic and
practiced among the poor and uneducated (UNFPA, 2007). According to Indias
2001 census, women with high school diplomas and above who gave birth over
the previous year had 114 boys for every 100 girls; among illiterate women by
contrast, the sex ratio was just over 108 still skewed but far closer to the norm.
What is also clear is that the SRB of the second child declines significantly when
the first child was a female.
The sex ratio in India is not uniformly skewed across the country. The
ratio in districts in the north- and north-west of the country is far more skewed
than anywhere else in the country. Haryana is a state in northern India, having
come into existence in November 1966 as a newly created state carved out of
the Punjab state on the basis of language. It had been a part of the Kuru region
in North India. It is one of the wealthiest states of India and has the second
highest per capita income in the country, having experienced quite rapid
economic development in recent decades. It is however one of the more socially
protracted states in India with rampant caste based discrimination, female sex
selection and rape, and the health and social status of women in the state
continues to be poor. Violence against women is quite widespread and neglect of
female children continues to be the cultural norm in this region (Visaria, 2005). In
December 2012 alone, there were 17 gang-rape cases reported to the police in
the state, and so called honour killings are a serious issue, with as many as 10%
of all killings in Haryana being classified as honour killings (U.S. State
Department, 2012). This discrimination against women has led to a situation
where the state has a higher than national average SRB or 117.9 males to
females in comparison with the national average (UNFPA, 2012). This translates
to 877 women to every thousand men (2011); an increase from 861 in 2001. In
Hisar, where Childreach Internationals Save the Girl Child is predominantly
based, the child sex ratio lies at 851 females per 1000 males. Out of the ten
districts in India with the worst sex ratio, three of them are in Haryana.
In 2003 in Haryana, the charge for an ultrasound lay between Rs.300 to
Rs.500 (US $3-5), which is relatively affordable for those living in the state
(UNFPA, 2003). This gender-based sex selection has led to a paucity of potential
brides in Haryana, which has made bride trafficking a lucrative and expanding
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trade in the state (UNFPA, 2013). Subsequently, a number of girls from Assam,
West Bengal, Jharkland, Bihar and Odisha are being sold to families in Haryana,
ironically to produce a male heir. In Haryana, a woman from Nepal, Bangladesh
or another impoverished or tribal area in India can be sold into marriage for the
equivalent of $200, $800 less than the price of a bull in Haryana (NY Times,
2005). The UNFPA study Sex-selective abortions and fertility decline in Haryana and
Punjab revealed that 62,000 sex-selective abortions were recorded in Haryana
from 1996 to 1998, with 81% of them involving the abortion of a female foetus.
The report also revealed that Haryana and Punjab had the highest percentage of
missing female children under the age of six in the 1991 census. Visaria (2005)
found that 44.2% of women in Haryana were illiterate. Visaria also found that
families in Haryana desired smaller families, and were therefore unwilling to
have a child until a male heir was born. Women indicated that they had seen
advertisements on the advantages of having smaller families on televisions, and
that this had influenced their decision to abort female foetuses and have smaller
families comprised of male children. Women also indicated that if they became
pregnant with a girl for the second or third time, they were put under immense
pressure from elders in the family to ensure that the next child was a boy. The
women revealed that they knew which towns in Haryana had private doctors
with nursing or maternity homes that provide sex determination and abortion
services. The Haryanvi women were having the sex detection tests carried out at
one place and then were having the abortion at another without disclosing the
results of the test- women being informed of sex of baby in some secretive way.
While there are currently no binding international legislations
criminalising and banning gender-specific abortions, sex selection directly
contradicts the UDHR, CRC and CEDAW which calls upon States Parties to
eliminate gender discrimination and, as previously mentioned, sex selection is
the most overt form of gender discrimination. The next two sections will discuss
the international and domestic mechanisms in India, which seek to eliminate the
practice.

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4. International mechanisms
The right to reproductive choice exists in IHRL through a set of interrelated rights including the right to life; the right to health; and the right to be
free from torture or degrading treatment, which are outlined in treaties such as
the Convention to Elimination all forms of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Countries have an obligation to
ensure that women are
not denied access to safe
Mintu Devis story:
abortion services.
My name is Mintu Devi and Im a Social Activist. I
Multiple international
heard about the meetings people were having to
organisations such as the
recruit this team, and once I saw the first two Social
CEDAW Committee and
Activists walking around I thought: I want to wear
the Human Rights
that coat. I found out what I needed to do. When I
Committee (HRC) have
got the job, I was so happy. I didnt ask my husbands
permission to get the job - once I got it he gave me a
called upon states to
really hard time about it, but I stood up to him, and
ensure the eradication of
in the end he gave up. My father-in-law kept asking
gender selective
my husband, whats the point in her working?
abortions, although there
Women can work here in this community. But if I
is no international piece
hadnt have found this job, I wouldnt have gone to
of legislation which
work. Some women work in cotton mills, button
explicitly calls for a ban
factories, or some have small beauty parlours. I had
on gender-specific
it in my mind for a long time that I wanted to work
abortions. All current
but didnt know where to start. Before I got married I
was never allowed to leave the house, plus my
international treaties also
parents were against women working anyway. After
call upon state parties to
marriage, you get caught up with all the domestic
eradicate discrimination
tasks. But now its just what I do. There are no
based upon gender that
questions asked.
underlie sex-selective
abortions.
CEDAW is the predominant international treaty dealing with outlawing
discrimination against women adopted in 1979 by the UNGA. It is often
described as the international bill of rights for women. Article 16 of the
Convention grants women the right to be able to choose the number and
spacing of her children. There has been controversy over this provision in
relation to sex selection as some argue that this means she has the right to
choose the gender of her offspring, however the CEDAW Committee has
explicitly called upon State Parties to eradicate the practice of sex selection. The
Committee recognises the importance of womens right to health during
pregnancy and childbirth as it is closely linked to their right to life. CEDAW has
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consistently criticised restrictive abortions law, particularly those which prohibit

and criminalise abortion in all circumstances, and note that such legislation leads
women to obtain illegal and unsafe abortions which may result in their death
(CRR, 2008). In addition, Article 5(a) of the Convention requires State Parties to
modify social and cultural patterns of conduct to try and eliminate prejudicial
and customary practices, which are based on the inferiority or superiority of
either of the sexes. The CEDAW Committee has expressed concern regarding
sex-selective abortion, and has subsequently called upon states parties to
implement a comprehensive strategy to overcome traditional stereotypes
regarding men and womens roles in society, which underlie the practice (CRR
2008). The Committee has also recommended that a state party monitor
implementation of national legislation prohibiting sex-selective abortion. India
signed the treaty in July 1980 and ratified CEDAW in July 1993. Also, in the past,
the Committee on the Rights of the Child has recommended a governments
legal prohibition of sex-selective abortion, but it has expressed concern that sexselective abortions continue to occur and recommends stronger implementation
of laws prohibiting it. In addition, the HRC, which monitors state compliance with
the ICCPR, in 2005, found that Peru had violated a womans basic human rights
under the ICCPR by denying her access to legal abortion services (CRR, 2005).
As can be seen, States Parties have an obligation to ensure that women
can safely access abortion and reproductive health services within their country.
However, the Human Rights Committee, CEDAW Committee and CRC Committee
have additionally all called upon states to criminalise the practice of sex selection
through abortion, suggesting that gender-selective abortions are not considered
legal under international law because they reinforce discrimination against
women. The next section of this report will discuss the domestic mechanisms in
India, which seek to combat gender-specific abortions and discrimination against
women.

5. Domestic mechanisms
The Indian Constitution guarantees women equality before the law and
the equal protection of laws under Article 14 and prohibits discrimination on
grounds of sex under Article 15. A unique feature of the Indian Constitution is
Article 15(3), which empowers the State to take special measures for women and
children. Despite these guarantees, the position of women in India remains
unequal, partially due to the proliferation of domestic laws, which further embed
this discrimination (Basu, 2009). With regards to sex-selective abortion, India
passed the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act in 1971 which legalised
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abortion, however due to the proliferation of sex-selective abortions which were

not criminalised by the Act, the Government established the PCPNDT Act which
sought to outlaw these selective abortions.
The Indian Penal Code, which was enacted in 1860, declared induced
abortion as illegal. Abortion practitioners would either be incarcerated for up to
three years, fined, or both, and women who underwent an abortion could face
up to seven years in prison and an additional fine. The only exception to this law
was if the abortion would save the life of the woman. Due to the illegality of
abortions, many women died whilst undergoing unsafe abortions that were
carried out by individuals with little to no medical training or practical
experience. This, combined with
Ambikas story:
the ever-expanding population,
My name is Ambika, and I am 17, and from a
led to the formation of the MTP
small colony about 20 minutes walk from the
Act of 1971, which came into
centre of Hisar town. I get so much support
force in 1972 and was once
from my family compared to a lot of girls. My
amended in 1975. Abortion is
family really like me coming to our Girls Action
legal under the Act if:
Group which is so unusual amongst other
parents. My dad is always telling me: the
future is you. Despite the help my dad had
given my uncle, all my life my uncle has
questioned my dad on why he bothers
educating his daughters. Its a waste of money,
he says. But my dad is great, he fights back and
says: listen, its my money not yours, I want to
support my girls, I dont care what you say. I
love being a girl. Even though there are issues
between boys and girls, its still worth it
because my parents support and trust me. This
is important, this trust, because Id say the
biggest issue girls face is no freedom of
movement. But, with my parents support, I
am much closer to my dream of becoming a
geography teacher. I teach younger children
here in the community already on my
rooftop, trying to give them the support and
help I myself have been shown.

1. If the mother has a

serious medical disease or
condition that would
endanger her life if the
pregnancy was allowed to
continue
2. If the continuation of the
pregnancy would result in
the child having either a
physical or mental
handicap
3. If the pregnancy is the
result of rape
4. If socioeconomic
circumstances of the mother
would endanger the health

and well-being of the new born

5. If the pregnancy occurred because of a failed contraceptive method
The grounds under which India allows abortions are actually quite broad,
and India is therefore said to be one of only 14 countries that allow abortions on
quite broad grounds (TIME, 2013). The Act significantly liberalised abortion laws
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in India. It designates that only qualified doctors under stipulated conditions can
perform an abortion on a woman in an approved clinic or hospital, and the
length of the pregnancy must not exceed 20 weeks. Since the Act was introduced
in 1972 the number of legal abortions being performed is 25 times greater4.
Implementation of the Act has been slow and geographically uneven, with
abortions services often being inaccessible and women are often reluctant to
use the services because of the lack of anonymity and confidentiality. This
legalisation of abortion led to a situation whereby medical practitioners who
sympathised with son preference were willing to carry out abortions on women
who solely wanted to abort their child based on its gender. When the impact of
this was realised the Indian Government enacted the Pre-Conception and PreNatal Diagnostics Techniques (PCPNDT) Act in 1994.
The PCPNDT Act initially only included references to pre- and post-natal
elimination of female foetuses however it was amended in 2003 to include
provisions prohibiting pre-conception techniques. The main purpose of the Act
was to ban the use of sex-selective techniques before or after conception and
prevent the misuse of prenatal diagnostic techniques for sex-selective abortion.
It subsequently regulates the use of pre-natal diagnostic techniques such as
ultrasound and amniocentesis by allowing them be used only to detect genetic
abnormalities and serious diseases. It explicitly prohibits the use of
ultrasonography for the purpose of determining the sex of a foetus, and calls
upon doctors and other medical personnel to not communicate the sex of the
foetus to the pregnant woman or her relatives by any means. Any person found
advertising for pre-natal or pre-conception sex determination facilities could be
imprisoned for up to three years and fined Rs.10,000. The Act also mandates
compulsory registration of all diagnostic laboratories, all genetic counselling
centres, genetic laboratories, genetic clinics, ultrasound clinics as well as all
ultrasound machines. It subsequently prohibits the sale of ultrasound machines
to persons, labs and clinics, which are not registered. Penalties for contravening
the provisions of the law include imprisonment and fines, and in the case of a
registered medical practitioner, loss of registration, which can be permanent in
the case of repeated offences. In 2001, the Supreme Court of India gave orders
to five multi-national companies Philips, Siemens, Toshiba and Wipro GE to
give them the addresses of all clinics and persons in India to whom they have
sold ultrasound machines in the last five years to enable the state government to
find out if the machines had been registered. It calls upon ultrasound clinics and
other diagnostic facilities to clearly advertise that disclosing the sex of the foetus
is illegal. The Act also set up a central supervisory board and state supervisory
4

Due to the illegality of sex-selective abortions it is likely that the number of actual abortions carried
out is much higher than the 620,472 estimated. According to various estimates, the number of
abortions performed outside approved facilities varies between 2 million and 6 million per annum.
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board, which are required to review and monitor implementation with the Act
and ensure public awareness.
The PCPNDT Act however is poorly enforced, largely due to a lack of will
on the behalf of officials and doctors to implement it effectively (U.S. State
Department, 2012; UNFPA, 2013). As an Act it is incredibly difficult to enforce.
Ultrasonography is recognised to be widely misused by medical practitioners
and the families of pregnant women, which is completely in violation of the Act,
and suggests that the practice is so widespread that the inspecting mechanisms
at national and state levels are either ineffective or dysfunctional. Despite calls
by the Government to regulate the sale and purchase of ultrasound machines,
efforts have been futile and the machines are flooding into urban, rural and even
remote areas. While there are approximately 40,000 registered diagnostic
centres with ultrasound machines, the number is estimated to be closer to 1.5
million. Due to shortages of personnel or a lack of motivation, data on the
registration of ultrasound machines is lacking and prosecutions for violating the
terms of the Act have been few and far between (Subramanian and Selvaraj,
2009). The prohibition on informing parents of the gender of their child is
unlikely to be successful unless doctors and medical practitioners face real
consequences for violating the Act.
One of the main causes behind sex-selective abortion in India is the
prevalence of the provision of a dowry, despite its illegality. In order to
counteract dowry related violence, the Indian government enacted the Dowry
Prohibition Act of 1961. This Act was the first relevant law to sex selection as a
ban on the giving and receiving of a dowry would make a daughter appear less
costly and parents would therefore be more willing to have daughters if they
were less concerned about the provision of a dowry. The Act essentially prohibits
the request, payment or acceptance of a dowry, where dowry is defined as a gift
demand or given as a precondition of marriage. It has been reported that the
law is largely ineffective as dowry giving is generally unreported and a dowry is
difficult to distinguish from the gifts and properties traditionally exchanged
during marriage. Cases that have been brought before a court of law have been
acquitted because of the vague use of the term in connection with the marriage.
The Act however is full of various loopholes with only a couple of cases decided
under the Act. The conviction rate for dowry-related crimes is exceedingly low,
and has in fact decreased; in 2006 there were 7618 dowry-related convictions,
whereas in 2011 there were 8618 (NCRB Ministry of Home Affairs, 2011).
As previously stated, the continued prevalence of sex-selective abortions
in India is primarily due to the provision of the dowry and the subordinate
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position of women and girls within society, which is perpetuated by laws, policies
and regulations which fail to address, or further entrench, the subordinate status
of women (UNFPA, 2013). Under law, womens social and economic status is not
equal to that of men. For example, marital rape in India is not recognised as a
crime under state law, and only sexual assault on girls under the age of 15 within
a marriage is recognised as a crime under the Indian Penal Code. In 2010, the
Committee on CEDAW noted the lack of due diligence demonstrated by the State
Party in promptly investigating cases of violence against women including sexual
violence. They noted that investigations were often flawed from the outset, and
in some cases officers refused and/or failed to record first information reports
from women victims. Victims were also intimidated, material evidence was
destroyed and in some cases derogatory comments were also made about the
dressing and character of the victim. Deliberate police inaction in cases related
to dowry and other crimes based on gender discrimination, and the deliberate
non-registration and non-prosecution in such cases (UNFPA, 2013). While laws
such as the Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act
2012 (POCSO) contain provisions which ought to protect girls and women, their
lack of enforcement means that many crimes against women are carried out
with impunity, thus further subordinating women in their eyes of their male
counterparts.
Loopholes in Indian law continue to favour men and subsequently
promote son preference and discrimination that underlies sex selection in India.
Without effectively addressing gender discrimination and amending or
withdrawing laws which reinforce the subordination of women, it is unlikely that
sex selection in India will ever be effectively counteracted. Due to the
proliferation of gender-specific abortions in Haryana, Childreach International
and Childreach India initiated a project in 2011 entitled Save the Girl Child which
seeks to combat the root causes of sex selection.

6. Save the Girl Child

Hisar is one of the most important district towns in Haryana, having made
rapid progress in education and industry over the past two decades. It is
renowned for its steel and cotton industries. In 2011, the average literacy rate in
Hisar was 73.2% compared to 64.8% in 2001, however there are significant
discrepancies between male and female literacy rates with male literacy
recorded at 82.8% compared to 62.3% for the female population. The sex ratio is
also significantly skewed. In 2001, there were 851 women for every thousand
men, which has increased to 871 women per thousand men in 2011.
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To combat the practice of sex-selective abortions in Hisar, Haryana State,

Childreach India, supported by Jindal Stainless Limited, launched the Save the
Girl Child project in November 2011 to improve the situation of women and girls
and widen the opportunities available to them. Responding to the issue of
diminishing girl population in the State of Haryana and its deeper implications,
Jindal Steel5, as part of its social responsibility, consciously decided to initiate
direct intervention on girl child issues in communities living in slum and low cost
areas of Hisar. Childreach Internationals main focus in this project was not to
lobby physicians or doctors, or to advocate for a complete ban on
ultrasonography, but to raise awareness of child rights and the equality between
men and women in order to combat the root causes of sex-selective abortions in
India son preference and discrimination against girls. By targeting the root
cause of female abortions through education and raising awareness, this
programme will have a much longer lasting impact and more sustainable results
than a project that simply addresses the surface issue of Indias gender
imbalance or legislation which ineffectively criminalises the practice. The best
way to convince more couples in Hisar to have girls is to improve the status of
women by boosting their opportunities for education and career advancement
that will reduce the levels of inequality between the two genders.
In the first year (November 2011 to October 2012) of the project, 380
mothers were targeted in Surya Colony and Shiv Nigar. The pilot focused on
integrating awareness generation and advocacy on gender issues, the right to
education and sex-selective abortions among different stakeholders along with
the facilitation of maternal child health services including institutional delivery.
As part of this strategy to bring adolescent girls to the forefront and actively
involve them in the program objectives, 15 school-going adolescent girls
between 12 and 19 were brought together, sensitised and formed into a Girls
Action Group. The Action Group were informed of the rights they were entitled
to such as the right to education and the right to be free from harassment and
violence; they were familiarised with the implications of sex selection both
demographically and legally; they were provided with information on hygiene
and sanitation and how to protect themselves from HIV and AIDS; and they also
developed negotiation skills through safety and awareness. The Action Group
were responsible for keeping surveillance on non-schooled children and to
encourage their parents to send them to school; keeping surveillance on
mistreatment of female children and to report the matter to the Social Activator
from their area; looking after the health of women in their area; selecting Best
Mother and Best Mother-in-Law for public felicitation; conducting/performing in
5

Jindal Steel provide venues and partial funding for the project.
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street plays and cultural programs to inform their community about the negative
impacts of sex selection; and becoming positive influences on their communities
against gender-based myths and prejudices. In addition, nine girls were
acknowledged for their academic performance.
The pilot quickly saw encouraging signs including an increased comfort
level with regard to the use of family planning methods (condom and
contraceptive pill usage both increased by over 30%); increased openness
among community mothers in discussing the issue of female abortion; an
increased awareness of the legislation criminalising sex-selective abortions; and
a greater appreciation for the importance of girls education. Importantly, the
scheme has also seen as increase in demands from girls and women themselves
for education, skills training and employment, factors which have led to their
empowerment. Women in the community have taken a stand against sexselective abortions through campaigning and lobbying. From November 2012 to
October 2013 the project was extended to its current coverage of 630 CMWs
from Surya Colony, Shiv Nagar, Khas and Khurd under Satroad a village on the
periphery of Hisar Town. The project in its second year covered a total
population of 28307.
Due to the
Gangas story:
My name is Ganga and Im a Social Activist. When I first
projects success, it will
started and went door-to-door telling women to get
hopefully be extended
their vaccinations and other kinds of pre-natal care,
with expanded coverage
they sometimes said we know already, who are you to
to 1500 CMWs, which is
tell us? But our acceptance has grown. I really like
more than doubling its
working with the Womens Groups, we sometimes
current size with 317
meet in someones house as men occasionally dont
married women from
want their wives to go out. But for me, girls and boys
Shiv Colony, 268 from
are equal. Look at education girls are really doing so
Surya Nagar and 50
well at school. If girls dont go to school, theyll end up
like their mothers. They have the right to education,
from Satrod Khurd and
the right to learn. Of course, the older generation are
Khas Tola. The
hard nuts to crack. But you can see attitudes changing
identification of the
slowly the newly married couples have completely
women will be carried
different values these days.
out through extensive
home visits throughout
the area. The community
will be provided with quality reproductive and sexual health services through the
employment of a qualified female gynaecologist. The doctor will visit each area
two times a month and provide the necessary consultations and medication. The
role of the adolescent girls in the Girls Action Group will be strengthened and the
Group will be expanded to cover 45 rather than 15 girls.
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The proposed Community Women Resource Hub has been established

with access to computers, the Internet, printers and a small library to advance
the training of the Girls Action Group, women and other adolescents involved in
the project. The children will also be taught how to communicate effectively in
English and how to prepare for interviews. This training will also assist women in
securing employment in local industries and businesses, which will then inspire
further girls to get involved in education and training. More of the community
will be involved in the project to ensure that the message of girl child rights is
spread further amongst the population. The inclusion of men and boys in the
project would be a new expansion. Boys will be sensitised to gender issues
through training and actively involved in the community work of the project, in
an attempt to combat generations of dangerous gender based stereotypes.
Research will also feature in the Save the Girl Child project for 2013/14. A
baseline survey of pregnant women and pregnancy result history will be
conducted with the tracking of pregnancies from beginning to end and the
monitoring of maternal services providers. Pregnancies will be tracked by
contacting mothers regularly to enquire about their welfare in general while also
providing necessary advice and assistance when required. This research will
allow the project to continually adapt and develop to the changing circumstances
and needs of the society. Leaflets, posters and banners promoting programme
activities will be produced, and regular meetings with community leaders,
teachers and medical practitioners organised. Public awards will be held to
acknowledge, amongst others, the best mothers and best mother-in-laws; girls
who achieve highly academically as well as adolescents involved in social actions,
to highlight the achievement of women in the community. Encouraging and
training girls to take part and work as ambassadors for the project is a key
reason behind its success. Helping them to take the lead in facilitating change in
their own communities increases the girls confidence and demonstrates to
them, and to those around them, just how much they are capable of.
Site visits will be made at least once every quarter and extensive meetings
and discussions will be held with project staff, the target groups and other
stakeholders. Childreach international will be monitoring the project throughout
with regular reports, frequent phone conversation and project visits by local
staff. Self-evaluation will be carried out by the target groups concerning their
own personal progress and then fed back to Childreach International; for
instance GAG members will keep a record of their learning and training. An
external evaluation will also be conducted to fully investigate the impact of the
project on the behaviour of women and the community at large.

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Since November 2011, the Save the Girl Child project in Hisar has been
highly successful, and has successfully improved the status of girls and women in
the district. There is no doubt that the project has led to a reduction in the
number of abortions in the target community. In order to improve the national
sex ratio, there is evident need for action at State level. The next section will
include recommendations to the India government regarding possible policies
and legislation to combat the prevalence of sex-selective abortions within the
country, with special focus on empowering women.

7. Recommendations
While there is a demand for sex determination technology, there will
continue to be a supply. There is therefore a need for social engineering efforts
to reduce the demand if the sex ratio is to be improved and sex-selective
abortions to be reduced. As Amartya Sen stated, modern technologies such as
ultrasound and DNA blood tests are only a means by which to achieve an end
and are therefore not the root cause of the sex selection problem (2009). While
India has implemented the PCPNDT Act to counteract the use of medical
technology for prenatal sex determination, its enforcement is exceedingly weak,
allowing sex-selective abortions to be carried out with impunity. Some have
called for an outright ban on techniques such as ultrasonography or on abortion
in India however it is likely this would merely force women to undergo unsafe
abortions which pose huge risks to the lives of women. A womans likelihood to
have an abortion is about the same whether she lives in a region where abortion
is available on request or where it is highly restricted (Shah and Ahman, 2009).
The only way to reduce the prevalence of these gender specific abortions is
therefore to ensure that that Act is effectively enforced in combination with
attempts to reduce gender discrimination within the country through the
empowerment of women.

Further work must be done to combat the subordination of women in

India society. Invest in the ability of girls to be self-reliant, and in their
empowerment including asset ownership, skill building, credit availability
and security. Provide incentives for better education and skills for girls.

In addition,

India needs to take all necessary measures for the implementation of the
National Plan of Action for the Girl Child, and needs to ensure that
protective mechanisms are effectively enforced. Laws which seek to
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protect women and girls needs to be strengthened, and provisions such

as the legalisation of marital rape must be removed.

More steps need to be taken to ensure that the PCPNDT Act is effectively
implemented and enforced. Awareness campaigns involving parents,
communities, law enforcement officers, etc., and take the necessary
measures, including imposing sanctions to end the practice of selective
abortions and female infanticide. Monitoring of the Acts implementation
needs to be intensified, including building the capacity of state and
district level implementing bodies and sensitising and working with the
judiciary to strengthen implementation.

At a more practical level it is suggested that family planning programmes

should concentrate on public education, counselling, and effective service
delivery to reduce unplanned pregnancies and abortions. More generally,
it is suggested that dowries should be effectively banned and access to
education for girls should be improved.

The tradition of dowry must stop. In order to do this the Dowry

Prohibition Act must be more effectively enforced. It also needs to be
amended to ensure that the Act is no longer gender neutral. There is no
denying that in almost all cases a dowry is passed from the family of the
bride to the family of the groom, and therefore there is no need to make
the Act gender neutral. The concept of a dowry must be more effectively
explained and should be amended by stating that dowry would mean any
property or valuable security given or agreed to be given by the wife or
her relatives/friends to the husband or his relatives/friends before, at the
time or after the marriage. Section 3 of the Act also equates the giver with
the receiver; however the giver is often under substantial pressure to do
so.

The sex ratio at birth needs to be monitored more closely by the

necessary authorities so that prompt action can be taken to tackle
imbalances.

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Babitas story:
My name is Babita, and I am a Social
Activist here in Hisar, responsible for
looking after pregnant women in streets
18-26. Every Social Activist is paired up
with another woman, and we are allocated
specific areas to go around. We receive
stipends for our work. I go door-to-door
telling women about where and why they
should get their inoculations, for
themselves as well as their new-born
babies, and also how important girls
education is. I let them know that school
fees are free, and other benefits they are
entitled to. I used to be a housewife, I got
involved in this through a local Womens
Group where I heard they were recruiting
for this position. As soon as I heard about it
I wanted to be involved, so I went to meet
Mr Chakrabati the project coordinator, and
soon after got the job! Now I feel very
empowered. Talking to families every day
has really built my confidence. I have learnt
so much.

Inheritance laws in all the

different personal laws and
land reform acts need to be
amended
women

to
are

ensure
given

that
equal

rights to men. Legal and

other measures should be
taken to ensure that their
right to inherited property is
not divested.

There is a definite need in

India for an antidiscrimination law. While
Article 14 of the Constitution
criminalises discrimination in
the employment sector on
the grounds of sex, this is
not enough. It must
encompass all the principles
incorporated in CEDAW.

References
Barcellos, S.H., Carvalho, L., and A. Lleras-Muney. (2012). Child Gender And Parental
Investments In India: Are Boys And Girls Treated Differently? NBER Working Paper. Available
at: http://www.nber.org/papers/w17781.pdf
Basu, A. (2009). Harmful practices against women in India: An examination of selected
legislative responses. Available at:
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/vaw_legislation_2009/Expert%20Paper%20EG
MGPLHP%20_Asmita%20Basu_.pdf
Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR). (2008). Abortion and Human Rights: Government
Duties to Ease Restrictions and Ensure Access to Safe Services. Available at:
http://reproductiverights.org/sites/crr.civicactions.net/files/documents/BRB_abortion_hr_
revised_3.09_WEB.PDF

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CRR. (2005). UN Human Rights Committee Makes Landmark Decision Establishing Womens
Right to Access Legal Abortion. Available at: http://reproductiverights.org/en/pressroom/un-human-rights-committee-makes-landmark-decision-establishing-womens-rightto-access-toCorsi, D.J., Bassani D.G., Kumar, R., Awasthi, S., Jotkar, R., Kaur, N., and P. Jha. (2009).
Gender inequity and age-appropriate immunization coverage in India from 1992 to 2006.
Available at: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-698X/9/S1/S3
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