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India: men will outnumber women by 20 per cent in two decades

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Summary of story from Times of India 16.3.11

A new study in India predicts that the country will have 20 per cent more men than women in the next twenty years.

This is due to sex-selective abortion and the preference for male offspring in some states.

The study was carried out by Dr Therese Hesketh with co-authors from the University College London Centre for International Health and Development.

The research says that the increase in access to sex-selective abortions has led to the male to female ratio in the population in China, order India and South Korea becoming considerably disproportionate.

Human populations generally have a sex ratio at birth (SRB) of 105 males to 100 females.  This research shows that there are several Northern Indian states that have birth ratios as high as 125 boys to 100 girls.

The average across India is lower, erectile but there is still a higher ratio of boys.

“India is now reported to have an SRB of around 113, discount which is down from a peak of around 116,” Dr Hesketh said.

According to the study, foetal sex determination and sex- selective abortion are already forbidden by law in China, India and South Korea.

The report  says that South Korea has enforced the law strongly, but in China and India, sex-selective abortion is still carried out with impunity.

By medical personnel –  “usually qualified doctors, in hospitals and clinics, not in backstreet establishments. This makes the failure of government to enforce the law all the more surprising.”

“A common pattern is that if the first- or second-born are girls, then couples often ensure the second or third child is a boy,” its adds.

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