Indian Gov't to Raise Unwanted Girls (ABC News)

[OhioChick]

Indian Government to Raise Unwanted Baby Girls in Bid to Stop Abortions of Female Fetuses


NEW DELHI Feb 18, 2007 (AP)— The Indian government plans to set up a series of orphanages to raise unwanted baby girls in a bid to halt the widespread practice of aborting female fetuses, according to a senior government official.

Dubbed the "cradle scheme," the plan is an attempt to slow the practice that international groups say has killed more than 10 million female fetuses in the last two decades, leading to an alarming imbalance in the ratio between males and females in India, Renuka Chowdhury, the minister of state for women and child development, told the Press Trust of India news agency in an interview published Sunday.

"What we are saying to the people is have your children, don't kill them. And if you don't want a girl child, leave her to us," Chowdhury told the agency, adding that the government planned to set up a center in each regional district.

"We will bring up the children. But don't kill them because there really is a crisis situation," she said.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory?id=2884808

[rodeodance]

1. so make the girls agents of this program---

[ohio2007]

2. Sounds like slave trade deal with China has been signed

China needs women and it's no secret.

and in unrelated news;

Women will be paid to donate eggs for science

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2015789,00.html

[Miss Chybil]

3. India needs girls, too. That's the whole point of the story.

It's a shame they are going to have to bring them up on "girl farms," though. What a strange world we live in, that mothers value themselves so little that they go to such lengths to keep from reproducing their own sex. The value of the woman needs to be nourished in these societies. Raising girls in orphanages to, more than likely, be sold later into marriage really cannot be the answer.

[Porcupine]

4. The problem is lack of old age security.

In both India and China elderly people are supposed to rely on their sons for support when they are no longer able to work. Due to economic restrictions parents cannot afford to raise more children than absolutely neccesary.

They governments of these countries cynically promote birth control but refuse to support thier aged people. The result is that they are missing millions of women and the extra men will be unable to marry. Think of a country with millions of men in their 20's with no hope of ever finding a bride. It's an ugly thought; a recipe for social unrest.

[freethought]

7. Only part of the story

In India, it is considered a requirement that a daughter present a dowry to the family of her future husband. It is the responsibility of the bride's family to produce the dowry. In the articles I have read, the groom's family can be pretty heavy handed about this dowry. I have listened to a few stories on NPR on this same situation.

Despite India's economic boom, not every Indian is sharing in the wealth. Many are still very poor.
And for a poor family who produces a daughter know they are going to saddled with this nearly impossible expense later. Solution, abandon or get rid of the daughter and hope the next child is a son so they can put the dowry responsibility on some other family.

It is a very sad and frightening situation. "Get Rid Of" is usually a another way of saying "kill".

[Bhaisahab]

10. That is a good point.

Old Age security should work well to dispel much of the shitty propaganda against the girl child. However, I don't see any legislation or debate on that given the current crop of petty politshitians and hubris-tinged economic 'miracle men.'

[kineneb]

5. nothing new

Venetian Ospedali-

Renaissance Venice did not have a numerical imbalance, but daughters were considered a liability, because families could not afford the cost of dowries for them. They were often abandoned to one of the Ospedali. These were orphanages set up to care for unwanted children, especially girls.

One had a famous composer:
Antonio Vivaldi...
"In 1703 he was appointed maestro di violino at the Ospedale della Pietà, one of the Venetian girls' orphanages; he remained there until 1709, and held the post again, 1711-16; he then became maestro de' concerti. Later, when he was away from Venice, he retained his connection with the Pietà (at one period he sent two concertos by post each month). He became maestro di cappella, 1735-8; even after then he supplied concertos and directed performances on special occasions."

http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/vivaldi.html

[MasonJar]

6. How about promoting birth control measures?

[JI7]

8. they should allow more Westerners to adopt

a lot of white people are ready to adopt these girls but the laws make it very tough for them to. much better to allow the girls to have a family of their own that loves them rather than keeping them for purposes of providing sex to the boys that are so valued.

and going deeper, there needs to be a change in the culture which makes people devalue baby girls.


here is the Governor of Utah with the baby girl he adopted from India

[Ferretherder]

9. Why not just fly them to Mars?

After all, Mars needs women!

[The2ndWheel]

11. Yeah, this is a good idea

I don't have much of a solution to this problem, all I can say is that this is what happens when a species goes beyond natural limits, and then is left in a struggle against itself. This will mean even more people in India now. Attempts in the US to consume less will actually create more consumption. Should be a fun century.

[Samurai_Writer]

12. Oh yeah, great solution...

My oldest niece is from an orphanage in China. My sister and her husband adopted her when she was about a year old. She could not walk, could barely sit up, had no enamel on her teeth because of malnutrition, and they thought she might have had some retardation, her head was so small. Luckily, she was not retarded and is actually very bright -- but she is still on the 10 percentile for growth in her age group, even after 5 years of being in the U.S. Her adult teeth have started to come in, and thankfully, they have enamel on them. She was and still is a very clingy child, not wanting to be separated from my sister. She's very timid and shy and doesn't make friends easily. She obviously has abandonment issues.

In contrast, my younger niece was raised in a foster care home in China. She was also adopted when she was about a year old, but there was a tremendous difference between her and my older niece. She was developmentally at her age range, walking, trying to talk, etc. She's on the 50 percentile for grown in her age group (in other words, average). Her personality is quite different from my older niece's as well, being more outgoing, more willing to try new things, not as timid.

I can see why they would want to encourage more births of girls in India. But why not actually do something that would help parents WANT to keep their girl children? Offer them money to keep their girls, to pay for dowries later. It would be less expensive, and better for the girls, than sticking them in state-run orphanages.

[Madspirit]

13. Great Post

Kudoes to your sister and her husband.

Yes, do more to encourage families to not abort their female babies and keep trying to bring down the dowry system. It's an awful thing and you know, they do still burn brides because of things like insufficient doweries. It's not a myth and it's not relegated to history and it's not even that rare.

Women, from conception to death, are shit on everywhere. I don't even understand why men are considered so precious. It only takes a handful of men to populate a galaxy.
Lee