Men outnumber women in India, Nepal and Bangladesh new study says

A United Nations report, released on July 22, says that India needs to take urgent action following a sharp decline in its child sex ratio.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The "Sex Ratios and Gender-Biased Sex Selection: History, Debate and Future Directions" study says that the child sex ration in India has deteriorated from 976 girls per 1,000 boys in 1961, to 927 girls in 2001, and 918 girls in 2011.

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The report was pushed forward by the United Nations Women with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

UN Women is the United Nation's organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women.

Another shocking statistic from the study is that India is among the few countries where the Infant Mortality Rate for girls is worse than boys, the other countries in this category where Nepal and Bangladesh.

The deputy director of UN Women, Lashmi Puri, said at the report publication that: "Gender-biased sex selection is first and formost a reflection of how our society values girls and women."

"The deteriorating child sex ratio demonstrates the economic and social progress in the country has had minimum bearing on the status of women and daughters in our society," she added.

The report did offer some practical suggestions intended to advance research and understanding on the subject, focusing on areas such as family and household, education, labor and employment, as well as institutions that directly or indirectly aid or fight in the practice of sex selection.

"India has witnessed many critical initiatives made by the government, academia and civil society to understand and resolve the issue of gender-biased sex selection. The report bears testimony to the research work thus far, and points to the wisdom that we can build on for evolving a definitive response to skewed sex ratios in India," said a representative of the UNFPA to India, Frederika Meiker.

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