Speech Competition: Sex Ratio & Issues Related to Lower Sex Ratio at Birth
Sex ratio at birth is number of females born per thousand males. It is an important indicator to map the gender gap of a population. According to the 2018 report on “vital statistics of India based on the Civil Registration System”, Arunachal Pradesh recorded the best sex ratio at birth in the country while Manipur recorded the worst sex ratio at birth.
Gender-imbalance: This is due to discrimination leading to death, experienced by them from womb to tomb in their life cycles. An adverse child sex ratio is also reflected in the distorted gender makeup of the entire population. Distortion in the Marriage System: Adverse ratio results in a gross imbalance in the number of men and women and its inevitable impact on marriage systems as well as other harms to women.
Way Forward:
Bringing Behavioural Change:Increasing female education and economic prosperity help to improve the ratio. In this pursuit, the government’s Beti-Bachao Beti Padhao Campaign has achieved remarkable success in bringing behavioral change to society.
There is an urgent need to reach young people for reproductive health education and services as well as to cultivate gender equity norms.
