WUNRN
|
China
to Act on Gender Imbalance |
|||
The Chinese government says it
is drafting new laws to tackle the growing gender imbalance caused by the
widespread abortion of female foetuses. The practice is already banned, but new rules
are expected to set out specific punishments for parents and doctors. China's Family Planning Association (CFPC)
has revealed the extent of the imbalance - in one city there are eight young
boys for every five girls. Experts fear the phenomenon could have
unpredictable social consequences. Some believe that with millions of men
unable to find a wife, there could be risks of increasing anti-social and
violent behaviour. Boys preferred China's one-child policy, and a traditional
preference for male heirs, has led many couples to try to ensure that their
single offspring is a boy. Some pay for illegal ultrasound tests to
discover the sex of a foetus, and abort it if it is female. "The root cause is traditional
thinking that boys are better than girls, especially in poverty-stricken
areas," Song Jiang, a population expert at Beijing's Renmin University,
told the Xinhua news agency. "Those people expect boys to support
the family." On Friday it was revealed that the eastern
city of Lianyungang had the most skewed population. Among children under four
years old, there are 163.5 boys for every 100 girls. Ninety-nine cities had gender ratios higher
than 125, state-run news agency Xinhua quoted the CFPA as saying in a report.
The UN recommends a gender ratio of no more
than 107. |
|||
================================================================
To leave the list, send your request by email to: wunrn_listserve-request@lists.wunrn.com.
Thank you.