DISAPPEARING DAUGHTERS AND SON PREFERENCE IN INDIA ? ISSUES AND CHALLENGES IN THE PRESENT SCENARIO.

Sex selection is a violation of law and unethical. But our patriarchal society continues to turn a blind eye towards it or offers excuses to justify its existence. Speaking at a conference of regional Health Ministers, the then Union Minister for Health, Mr. B. Shankaranand ?expressed deep concern? over the ?highly unethical, unjust and immoral? practice of using amniocentesis for sex determination (Ravindra, 1986). The practice of eliminating female foetuses is believed to be one of the main reasons for the adverse child sex ratio in the country. In this context, the present paper discusses the past and the present, the colonial encounter and efforts to eliminate this age old practice. Despite women?s increased presence in the public domain, better educational and work opportunities and changed mindset, women continue to experience physical and emotional violence both within and outside the household. Historically, the degradation of girls has been expressed in various ways. Violence against girls and women often takes the form of deprivation and neglect. But the dynamics of domestic violence can involve the control of women?s reproductive capacity as well. In abusive situation, a woman may be co-erced to abort the foetus if the foetus is female. In the South Asian context the inability to produce a male heir may result in humiliation, contempt, abuse and abandonment. Modernization and Westernization has not resulted in any change in the situation. The spread of ultrasound as well as ameniocentism for sex determination are playing a vital role in female foetus induced abortions referred to as high-tech-sexism by Amartya Sen (1990).