INDIA: Gender bias kills 239,000 girls in every year: Study

An estimated 239,000 girls younger than the age of five die in India every year because many parents prefer boys over girls, according to a study published in The Lancet on Tuesday.  Scientists found India has a massively skewed ratio of men to women, and more than 63 million women are “statistically missing” across the […]

An estimated 239,000 girls younger than the age of five die in India every year because many parents prefer boys over girls, according to a study published in The Lancet on Tuesday. 

Scientists found India has a massively skewed ratio of men to women, and more than 63 million women are “statistically missing” across the country, likely as a result of excessively high female mortality, according to the government’s annual economic survey.

One of the common reasons cited for high female mortality in India is sex-selective abortion, but the study found there is “postnatal discrimination against girls in India,” which means the problem lies beyond prenatal care, carrying on after a girl is born. 

“Gender-based discrimination towards girls doesn’t simply prevent them from being born, it may also precipitate the death of those who are born,” said study co-author Christophe Guilmoto of the Paris Descartes University.

Most of these avoidable deaths of women in India happen during childhood.