Shocking documentary which you can watch on the BBC website about female infanticide in India. I'm in favour of having abortion available on demand worldwide but frightening to see abortion being used to basically get rid of female fetuses because parents prefer to have boys. At one point they explain, it's partly due to boys keeping the family name (another reason not to change your name girls) and partly because women are still expected to pay dowry when they're married (another reason to end that practice) but at some level it's just a case of open misogyny. When a boy is born there is ten days of celebration, when a girl is born - nothing.
What isn't covered but would be interesting is what happens in India and China in another generation's time - when there is a massive shortage of women and men are finding it impossible to marry. People have talked a lot about how it might lead to increased criminality among young males without the calming influence of a wife. But another aspect is that with fewer women to go round the women might suddenly have the power to be a little more demanding in their relationships. Women might have the freedom to insist they only want to marry guys who don't expect dowry, are happy for them to maintain a career or use contraception, have less children or make other demands that suit them. Of course that doesn't stop the current situation being totally tragic but it offers a little hope for the future, if we can teach these women to value themselves and their own opinions - not easy in a culture that would rather kill them than raise them.
An Amnesty Intl report says that laws forbidding rape, sexual assault and child sexual abuse are not enforced in Uganda. Women apparently often don't report these crimes because they know nothing will be done. "The vast majority of cases of violence against women are not reported to the police because most victims have lost hope in getting any kind of justice." the report claims and "Amnesty International researchers ... spoke to scores of women, girls and their families about the discrimination they suffered while trying to access justice, and the culture of impunity around cases of rape, domestic violence, assault and other forms of violence against women."
