Sex-Selective Abortions Lead China and India to Gender Imbalance

By Kseniya Kotlyarova

During the past few decades the number of newborn boys has largely overcome the number of newborn girls in many Asian countries. This fact is largely due to the practice of sex-selective abortion. Scientists estimate the normal male to female sex ratio at birth to be 105 to 100, however, it can vary up to 104 and 106, which is still considered to be normal.  Higher imbalance in the birth range is considered to be unnatural.

According to U.N. statistics, China counts 120 boys born for every 100 girls. Many Chinese towns are over the 150 mark. This means that in the next 20 years the gender balance will exceed by 10 to 20 percent. A similar trend can be traced in India, where 108 boys are born for every 100 girls. Other statistical sources state that nowadays India has 112 boys born for every 100 girls. Comparing these numbers to those of other Asian countries, we discover that in Vietnam the ratio is of 110 to 100. In South Korea the sex ratio at birth is regaining its balance, but the number of newborn boys still exceeds the number of girls. This situation is equally common for some parts of western Asia and Caucasian countries, where the gender imbalance is related to religious and cultural factors. Taking into account the fact that China and India are the most densely populated countries in the world, we arrive at the conclusion that their gender imbalances tilt the whole world gender ratio to an unnatural level – 107. Since the late 1970s, 163 million female babies have been aborted on a sex-selection basis.

The reason for this biologically impossible ratio cannot solely be blamed on the preference for boys in more traditional Asian societies. It is also due to the misuse of ultrasound technology for fetal sex recognition and the sex-selective abortions that follow that stand behind the gender disproportion. Introduction of sonogram technology made the birth-sex ratio reach the mark of 130:100 in some parts of China in 1992. In Northern India the gender disparity grew up to 125:100. Originally, the decision in favor of sex-selective abortions was predominantly made by those at the top of the socio-economic ladder who were able to afford early access to ultrasound technology. Later on, this behaviour became common in other social strata in developing countries. China’s birth control policy is often blamed as a key factor motivating women to have abortions in order to increase opportunities for having boys. But the reality is that the One-Child Policy is not the main reason for the gender imbalance. For example, India, a country without such a policy, faces the problem of sex-selective abortions at the same scale. In both countries people continue trying to ensure that their second or third baby is a boy if their first or second is a girl.

Evidently, the high gender disparity leads to social concerns in the long term. If we take a deeper look into the problem, we will see that choosing boys over girls and the consequent overabundance of men causes a whole range of social problems. Experts believe that the excess of men having difficulties getting married leads to an increase of violence and crime. Single men may become psychologically vulnerable. Generally, they accumulate in the lower social classes where the crime rate is already rather high. Chinese provinces with particularly high indices of gender disparities prove to demonstrate a high crime level. An imbalanced sex ratio is equally a predictor of violence and crime in India.

According to economists, the gender imbalance will also influence China and India’s economic growth. The preference for boys may have an impact on families’ consumption patterns and bolster some industries such as the property market in China. Families with sons tend to have a higher savings rate than families with daughters. Families with sons need to save up to secure brides for their sons, and so they feel it necessary to buy a house, in spite of the high housing prices.

Today the Indian and Chinese governments are undertaking measures aimed at reducing the gender imbalance. The banning of fetal sex determination is one of these steps. Still, recovery of the natural gender balance requires a great deal of time. The traditional preference for boys is still rather strong in Asian countries, and the most efficient way to overcome it is by strengthening education to reduce the deeply rooted cultural preference for boys.

A positive shift can already be seen in South Korea, a country with a strong patriarchal tradition. This represents a promising sign for other Asian countries. And still, although attitudes toward sex-selective abortions have been recently evolving, the high gender disparity created in the 1990s is believed to have caused around a two-decades long gender imbalance in China and India. According to expert analysis, people in these countries will have to wait for several decades to regain a natural gender ratio.