Today we are living in the 21st century where everyone claims of being liberated, open minded and adaptable to changes. There is glitz, glamor, luxury, leisure, fun and freedom. But this is just half the picture. The other half is scary, it's mournful, eerie and dreadful. In the midst of this fairly appealing world, there is a world that's full of agony. A world that's struggling hard to survive or the least, be given a chance to live.
This is the world of the girl child; which is promising yet somber, hopeful, yet in pain. A woman who shapes the future of a civilization is refrained from bearing another woman. Despite years of human existence, a female child is still considered to be a curse.
Girl Child: Society's Outlook
While the whole world is talking high of girls and their rights. There are some countries like our own, where girl child is given the least of importance. In India, a girl child is often looked upon as a misfortune to the family. There are families that rejoice the birth of a boy but mourn over a girl. Being a girl in our society is no less than a curse. But what has led to this discrimination? Why there is no place for the girl child?
Facts state that the majority of people feel that having a girl child means uninvited troubles. They reason that girl child is a burden as other than educational expenses, the parents are even made to invest all their savings in dowry so as to get the girls married. Moreover, most people feel that girls do no good to their own family as they have to get them married off. This is the reason our society favor boys and think that their family's future is more secure in the hands of a male child.
Difference Towards Girl Child: The Dreadful Outcome!
Amidst the outcries of gender equality and enforcement of different laws, there are female infants found dumped in trash or killed in the womb; which is termed as Female Foeticide, an act of aborting a foetus as it's a girl. And if you thought that this is happening only within the uneducated or poor families, the stats are sure to take you by surprise. Even educated and affluent families go for killing female child in the mother's womb all because of the desire of having a boy. The development in science and technology is being used here for all the wrong reasons. Using Ultrasonography, which was invented to determine the flaws in the human body, people now find the gender of the foetus growing inside the womb. A lot of parents get the gender check done and end the pregnancy in case it's a girl.
How to Save the Girl Child?
Currently, for every 1,000 boys under the age of six, there are only 914 girls. Ten years ago, there were 927 girls per 1,000 boys.
If female foeticide continues to grow at this rate, there would come a day when there will be no girls left on this planet. Imagine a world without girls, do you think there even will be a world existing then? Certainly not. The gender inequality needs to come to an end. We will have to put a stop on female foeticide as this is not just a crime against women but humanity as well. The change will not come overnight. It will take time and more than that an honest effort from each one of us. If determined, we can save the girl child by following the given ways:
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There has to be an awareness created about female foeticide.
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People have to be educated about the cruel effects killing a girl child can cause.
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Laws should be made stricter and the practice of sex determination must be banned completely.
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License of the doctors supporting sex determination must be revoked with immediate effect.
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Gender equality should be encouraged. Boy or girl, both should be treated equally.
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Girls must be provided with good education so that they can stand up for their rights.
To sum it up, we can only say that if we can't give life to someone, we surely don't have the right to take it away. Fight against female foeticide can never be won unless we all work together. You may not be doing it, but don't let the others also to commit this crime. If you happen to see anyone in your neighborhood, friend circle or for that matter your family, favoring female foeticide; raise your voice. Report the matter so that a life can be saved. If each of us fulfills this duty and saves a life, we might be able to save hundreds of lives together!