gender

 

 

 

 

Statement from civil society groups regarding Maneka Gandhi’s proposal to record the sex of the foetus and monitor pregnancies

 

The undersigned women’s organizations and right to health groups across India express their deep dismay at the recent statement made by the Hon. Minister for Women and Child, Mrs Maneka Gandhi proposing that sex determination tests be conducted on pregnant women, each pregnancy put on record and then pregnancies monitored to ensure that the foetus was not aborted in case it was a female.

 

It is extremely distressing that a senior government official such as the Hon. Minister should make a statement in contravention of the PC-PNDT Act (1994, rev 2003) where the disclosure of the sex of the foetus is itself the prime offence. Moreover where the Act talks of strict penalties against the diagnostic facilities and practitioners who do not comply with the legal requirements, the Hon. Minister expresses reluctance to ‘keep arresting’ ultrasound owners and involved medical personnel who make profits from sex determination tests.

 

Civil society groups also express astonishment at such a proposal emerging from the Ministry for Women and Child which will severely curtail women’s rights to bodily autonomy and ability to access essential maternal healthcare, such as safe and legal abortion services or post-abortion care in case of miscarriages. It is possible that many women who need an ultrasound or a safe abortion for many other reasons apart from sex selection, would find themselves being denied these services.  The Hon. Minister must be aware that unsafe abortions significantly contribute to the very high maternal deaths in India, and such rules will contribute to further maternal deaths. We need to move towards greater empowerment and autonomy for all our citizens and a fulfilment of their human rights, and not move back into an era where vigilante behaviour was encouraged and our bodies and lives were not in our control.

 

The groups recommend that we look deeper for reasons that compel families to opt for only male children, and consider daughters a burden. Towards addressing deep gender discrimination in our society we must have in place a rights-based approach to address the issue of gender-biased sex selection that respects women’s rights as an individual, fulfils her rights to health and protects her decision-making about her body.

here is debate on the issue which will I’ve you a historical, medical and legal perspective on the issue

 

 ENDORSED
  1. National Alliance for Maternal Health and Human Rights (NAMHHR)
  2. Forum Against Sex  Selection (FASS)
  3. People’s health MovemenT (PHM-India)
  4. Medico-Friends circle (MFC)
  5. Public Health Resource Network
  6. Jan Swasthya Abhigyan- Mumbai
  7. Commonwealth, network
  8. Reprohealth network
  9. Association for Women with Disabilities
  10. The National Alliance of Women(NAWO
  11. Health Watch-UP
  12. Women  networking – Mumbai
  13. Northeast wOMEN NETWORK
  14. CREA
  15. Sahiyar- stree sangathana- Vadodara
  16. All India Peoples Science Network,
  17. Vasudha Mahila Manch, Bilaspur,
  18. Chhattisgarh, Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti,
  19. Human Rights Law Network
  20. Jan Aarogya abhiyan- karnatak
  21.  Adivasi Adhikar Samiti, Chhattisgarh,
  22. CEHAT Mumbai
  23. Akshata, Mumbai
  24. Vacha, Mumbai
  25. SNEHA
  26. JAGORI
  27. SAHELI
  28. Sruti disability center
  29. Lawyers collective
  30. MASUM, PUNE
  31. SAMA, delhi
  32. Makkal Nalaazvu Iyakkam (JSA TamilNadu chapter).
  33. HAQ: Centre for Child Rights
  34. RUWSEC, Tamil Nadu.
  35. International Centre for Research on Women
  36. MASVAW-UP
  37. Tarun-chetna
  38. SRHR Alliance /India
  39. NEEDS
  40. FORCES
  41. Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan, Madhya pradesh
  42. PRAYAS, Rajasthan
  43. CHARM
  44. TN-FORCES
  45. AALI-Lucknow
  46. CHSJ
  47. SODA-Orissa
  48. Specula cell- Mumbai
  49. FORUM
  50. SEWA-
  51.  Centre for Women’s Development Studies