Is female infanticide in South Asia a function of patriarchy or Liberal economics?

Female infanticide is not a recent phenomenon. Most societies show some degree of

preference for sons, though mostly so mild as to be virtually undetectable (Williamson

1976) but female infanticide has been practised at one stage or another, across the globe,

by almost all aspects of society. Female infanticide is in the intentional killing of a girl child

soon after birth and in most regions of the world it is widely condemned, outlawed and the

practise has become almost non-existent. However, contradicting this trend, female

infanticide in South Asia has been on the rise since the 1980s which is evident in the large

gender ratio disparities for the populations of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan

(World Fact Book). ‘Female infanticide is a form of femicide in which female infants are

permitted to die as a result of misogynous attitudes or social practices” (Radford 1992)

(Srinivasan2006). Female infanticide has historically been practised postnatal, both directly

and indirectly, however, with technical advances such as the ultrasound there has been an

increase in prenatal killing via sex selective abortions (Goodkind 1996)(Lopez). This essay

seeks to examine the reasons behind this sad phenomenon. It will begin by examining the

extent to which female infanticide takes place in South Asia and will also highlight the

limitations at examining such an issue. The main body of this essay will analyse the

prominent reasons cited for female infanticide in South Asia; patriarchy and liberal

economics, and will examine the role each system plays in supporting the death of hundreds

of thousands of girls each year. It will conclude by providing an overview of the points

discussed in this essay as well as offering a prediction if the prevalence of female infanticide

continues in South Asia.

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It is difficult to obtain an accurate number of how many girls have been subjected to

infanticide. Since the Female Infanticide Prevention Act in India in 1870, there has been a

negative stigma attached to the practise so in most cases deaths are merely recorded as still

births or not registered with the government authorities. To combat this issue we are able

to compare the gender ratios of countries in South Asia as compared to the world gender

ratio. According to Geohive, in 2010 the world average was 102 men for every 100 women.

In some areas of the Indian subcontinent, the sex ratio is as low as 770 women for every

1000 men (Klasen 1994). This disparity between gender populations has been described as

the case of the ‘missing girls’ whereby 60-100million girls across the globe are unaccounted

for (Sen 1992, 2003). Although the number of ‘missing girls’ has been disputed, UNICEF

reported that ‘43 million of the estimated 100 million women worldwide who would have

been born if not for extraneous circumstances, including gender-specific abortion, would

have been Indian’ (Frontline PBS, 2007). Although this number is lower from other sources,

the highest number of missing women in South Asia comes from India 22.8 million, as

compared with 3.1 million in Pakistan, 1.6 million in Bangladesh and 200,000 in Nepal

(although this does not account for population density) (Jones 2013). From the statistics it is

clear that female infanticide is taking place on a large scale across the region of South Asia.

Some scholars such as Emily Oster have claimed that the majority of these deaths have been

due to natural causes such as the hepatitis B virus (which she claimed could account for 45%

of missing women worldwide)(Oster 2005). However, this essay will argue that it is the

patriarchal and liberal economic systems in place throughout the region that have caused

these large rates of missing girls, both directly and indirectly.

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Many critical feminists have claimed that female infanticide in South Asia is a function of

patriarchy. Vahida Nainar stated in 2013 that “there is no system, structure or relation in

the region (India) that is not influenced, if not based, on patriarchy” and the extent to which

infanticide is practised on females is evidence of this gender bias (Nainar 2013). Patriarchy

retains gender as a “central organising feature, maintaining a hierarchal emphasis and

following on social systems and social arrangements to reinforce domination” (Hunnicutt

2009). These patriarchal structures can be seen at both the macro and micro level and have

been used to normalise cultural and societal constructs that hinder women and benefit

men. Divale and Harris described this as “the male supremacist complex” (1976) as it has

been used by men as a group, to dominate women as a group for centuries across the globe

(Miller 1985). However this ‘anchors the problem of violence against women in social

conditions, rather than individual attributers’ or governing systems such as capitalism and

liberal economics (Hunnicutt 2009: 534-535). Socialist and Marxist feminists have found that

capitalistic and patriarchal systems provide mutually reinforcing systems of domination

when they are both present (Ehreinch 1976; Jagger 1983). ‘They both structure gender

relations in such a way that economic domination takes gendered forms’ and for males to

achieve the ‘breadwinner’ status that patriarchy dictates, economic competition is created

which leads to one group dominating another (Ehreinch 1976; Jagger 1983)(Hunnicutt

2009).

In South Asia, one reason which is used to explain female infanticide is the economic burden

of female children compared to that of males. There are many reasons why females are

viewed in this way and each places economic prosperity over the lives of females. The value

of daughters depends on anticipated economic returns from them in the future (Kishor

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1993)(Fuse and Crenshaw 2005). In all patriarchal societies male babies have more earning

potential; they are ‘more employable’ and systematically earn higher wages than females.

Although this is a global phenomenon, when it is coupled with liberal economics, females

are seen as financial liabilities, a ‘burdensome appendage, an economic drain’

(Venkatramani 1986). This economic disparity between males and females is further

widened when a daughter marries.

Under the patriarchal system, the primary role of the female is reproduction, followed

closely behind by domestic responsibilities such as maintaining the home, fieldwork and

caring for family members. Daughters help their mother with this role until they are married

and join their husband’s family where they continue this role under their mother-in-law

until they are mothers themselves. In Northern India and Bangladesh, when a bride is

married she loses almost all contact with her biological family. Parents are dependent on

their children in old-age for socio-economic security due to the lack of welfare systems in

South Asia. A task which under patriarchal norms (patrilocality) falls on sons (Chung and Das

Gupta 2007)(Almond and Edlund 2013)(Kim and Bhardwaj 2011). This lack of contact after

marriage by daughters propagates the fear of investing in daughters being ‘perceived as

investing in another family’s daughter-in-law’ and demotes the value of women to simply an

amenity which is appropriated. “Ladki ko padhaane ke baad bhi woh apne ghar chali jaati

hai. Padhaane se koi faida naheen” (There is no point teaching a girl; she marries and goes

away) (Foster and Rosenzweig 1999). However, in Southern India, women are freer to

maintain ‘mutually supportive relationships with their parents even after marriage’ which

makes for lower son preference. By reducing the socio-economic difference between a

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daughter and a son the rate of female infanticide in Southern India is lower than its

northern counterpart (Das Gupta 2002: 9).

The main reason cited in India for female infanticide is the need to pay dowry when a

female child is due to be married (Das Gupta 2002). Dowry is the giving of gifts or economic

incentives by the brides’ family to the grooms’ family at the time of marriage. This exchange

is often seen as compensation for the groom and his family for taking the burden of the

female away from her birth family. As female infanticide increases, the capital endowment

of women decreases due to patriarchal prejudice. This is reflected in the price of the dowry

which has seen to be increasing in both India and Bangladesh (Rao 1993) (Maitra 2007, 5)

(Sharma and Frijters)(Logan and Arunachalam 2014). In economic terms, this rising dowry is

extremely paradoxical; the increasing rate of female infanticide has led to an increase in the

price of dowry because it has diminished women’s position in society, but as the gender

ratio becomes larger due to the ‘economic burden’ attached to females, dowry price will

most likely continue to grow. States do not regulate dowry, as Liberal economics promotes a

free market, however the rising costs of dowry makes the prospect of having a daughter

financially undesirable. In both India and Bangladesh where dowry is prominent, there is

evidence that female infanticide is more likely if girls are born into families that already have

a girl as there would be an increased economic burden(Das Gupta and Monica 1987)

(Muhuri and Preston 1991). In contrast to this, families become wealthier when sons are

married because of the dowry systems. When women produce more than one son they are

seen as lucky because their family will be increasingly financially secure.

Female infanticide can also be seen as a failure of women and girls by the state. Liberal

economics which is the dominant financial system in South Asia favours individuality and

Page 5

encourages competition. When economic constraints are enforced upon a society,

according to economic investment theory, ‘a rational decision maker will choose the

investment with the highest net worth’ and in the case of South Asia, the patriarchal system

favours males (Probst 2009). This preference and relocation of resources is a form of

indirect violence which can lead to female infanticide. Girls are often fatally neglected when

resources are scarce (Miller 1985); are less likely to be breastfed (71% of females compared

to 28% of males); and although boys are less likely to fall ill, they are more likely to be taken

to hospital for treatment (Venkatramani 1986). When circumstances are tightened, levels of

discrimination increase, and in the case of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and other patriarchal

societies it is the females that are disfavoured (Das Gupta 2002).

Shelly Clarke stated in 2000 that ‘son preference is not distributed randomly, but is found to

be greater among the socially and economically disadvantaged, that is uneducated,

scheduled castes, rural Muslims and Hindus and non-southern states’ (Sex Ratio at Birth,

UNFPA, 28). Although there is evidence for this, as has been examined above, there are also

contradictory examples. The 2011 Indian census reported improved literacy rates among all

35 regions and union territories but India’s case of ‘missing girls’ has continued to increase,

“It’s a matter of grave concern that educated people in cities, who are better off, are opting

for sex determination tests” (Singh, TNN, 2011). The northern Indian region of Punjab has

one of the lowest level of food insecurity in India; one of the lowest rates of poverty; and

one of the highest rates of socioeconomic development (Das Gupta 1987), however, it also

has the highest disproportionality of gender ratio in the whole of India (Miller 1985). One

reason cited for this by Maria Miles has been the limiting of employment opportunities as

towns and cities industrialise, ‘women in the South are still employed in large numbers in

Page 6

wet-rice cultivation’ compared to ‘wheat-growing areas of Punjab and Haryana, where

women do not participate in much fieldwork’ (Miles 2007). As was mentioned previously,

fieldwork has long been thought of as an extension of women’s domestic duties and where

there is now a decreased demand for this type of work due to globalisation and

industrialisation, there is also a decreased demand for women. Globalisation has had such

negative consequences for women and children that some commentators argue that

‘globalisation is a man’ (Went 2000).

Although patriarchy and Liberal economics have been shown to directly impact the position

of women and girls in society, they have been subjected to a ‘false universalism’ (Beechley

1979; Connell 1990). Not all patriarchal and Liberal societies propagate female infanticide

and although most societies in South Asia are patriarchal structured, they differ significantly

in regards to cultural and societal norms. A study of two villages in West Bengal found that

girls consistently had poorer nutritional status than boys among all socioeconomic strata

(Gupta 1987) and therefore there must have been another factor, besides socioeconomics

which influenced this. The Middle Eastern region is very patriarchal but female infanticide is

not as prevalent there. This could be due to the fact that the Middle East has a

predominately Muslim population and female infanticide was forbidden by the Prophet

Muhammad. In contrast, the majority of people in South Asia practise Hinduism. There is a

strong patriarchal nature in Hinduism whereby sons are needed to perform important

rituals which daughters cannot. Although having one daughter is highly desired in Hinduism,

it is for a patriarchal reason – the gift of a virgin for marriage is believed to a route to

salvation (Kanya Dan). This gender bias is also seen in the strong Klan system of many parts

of South Asia where patrilineality is prevalent. Women are simply seen as the biological

Page 7

reproducers “it is through the father that a child acquires social identity and is incorporated

into the social order. Since only boys remain in the lineage, the significant social

reproduction is that of the father to the son” (Das Gupta 2002). Due to the exogamous

lineage system, women are not thought capable of maintaining genealogies because when

women marry ‘they leave their home and lineage, to be absorbed into that of their

husbands’ (Das Gupta 2002).

The role that liberal economics and patriarchy play frequently intertwines and supports the

mutual interest of creating hierarchies ‘On every side speechless women endure endless

hardship, grief and pain in a world system that creates billions of losers for a handful of

winners’ (Germain Greer) (Horgan 2001). Despite structural gains for women in India, such

as a female Presidency, patriarchy and gender discrimination continues to exist at the

religious and Klan level (Hunnicutt 2009). It seems unlikely that female infanticide in South

Asia will cease any time soon because the concept appears to be deeply ingrained into all

aspects of society. However, it is not a sustainable. Although the population of India- the

country with the largest disproportionate gender ration- is the second largest in the world

(set to overtake China by 2050) the biological and reproductive limitations caused by the

gender disparity will soon become apparent. There is already a shortage of brides which has

resulted in; early marriage; higher rates of sexual violence; and the importation of brides

from other states (Foster and Rosenzweig 1999). Liberal economics dictates that the

‘market’, which includes women in patriarchal societies, will regulate itself and therefore

women’s position in society should soon be elevated due it its scarcity, decreasing the rate

of female infanticide.

Page 8

To conclude it is clear that many factors affect how prevalent the phenomenon of female

infanticide will be in different societies in South Asia. Daughter elimination is thought of as

taking gender discrimination to the extreme and ‘is arguably the most brutal and destructive

manifestation of the anti-female bias that pervades "patriarchal" societies’ (Pril) (Jones

2013). Due to the increase in female infanticide since the 1980s when sex-selective abortion

technology became available, some women’s organisations and feminists have called for its

ban (Haribaran 1982; Balasubrahmayan 1982). Others suggest that female feticide, ‘while

undesirable, may be preferable to female infanticide or to fatal neglect’ (Kumar 1983). From

the research examined throughout his essay, it is clear that female infanticide in South Asia

is directly affected by cultural-motivated and location specific causes which are reinforced

by patriarchy and Liberal economics. These systems will also be responsible for reversing

the phenomena when their interests are challenged, for example, when South Asia runs out

of brides and prospective mothers.

Page 9

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