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FEMALE INFANTICIDE AND BUDDHISM
In partial fulfillment of the course
PAf 204 (Ethics in Public Affairs)
1st Semester 2009-2010
Submitted to Prof. CAROLINA SANTILLANA
Submitted by:
Douangkeo THOCHONGLIACHI & Hla Myat Tun
Students
SOCIO DEMOGRAPHIC OF INDIA
India has a highly masculine sex ratio, the chief reason being that many women
die before reaching adulthood. Female infanticide (killing of girl infants) is still prevalent
in some rural areas. The abuse of the dowry tradition has been one of the main reasons
for sex-selective abortions and female infanticides in India. In India culture, the
preference for boys over girls is well known and family is only complete once it has at
least one boy. A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings to her husband
in marriage. Compare bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which
is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The dowry is
an ancient custom, and its existence may well predate records of it. The accepted reason
for such a inequality is the practice of female infanticide in India, prompted by the
existence of a dowry system which requires the family to pay out a great deal of money
when a female child is married. For a poor family, the birth of a girl child can signal the
beginning of financial ruin and extreme hardship. In 1961, the Government of India
passed the Dowry Prohibition Act making the dowry demands in wedding arrangements
illegal. However, many cases of dowry-related domestic violence, suicides and murders
have been reported. In the 1980s, numerous such cases were reported. On the other hand,
all medical tests that can be used to determine the sex of the child have been banned in
India, due to incidents of these tests being used to get rid of unwanted female children
before birth. It is one of the methods families use to kill newborn girls. Although the
government has battled the practice for decades, India's gender imbalance has worsened
in recent years. There are less than 93 women for every 100 men in the population.
FEMALE INFANTICIDE OR LIFE BEFORE DEATH
Female infanticide is basically the selective killing of female fetuses, new born or
infants (either in the womb or after birth) due to an overabundance of reasons. It
happened not only in male dominated societies of backward villages that had no
education but also it has no the single venue. “Raising a girl is like watering the
neighbour’s garden” generally sums up the way girls in India are seen - as an economic
burden on their parents. Parents about to marry off their daughters in India usually have
to pay for the wedding and give a large dowry to the groom’s family.
There is a lady who had been a telephone operator for ten years with a seven year
old girl. Bogged down by in laws and husband to have a boy, she prayed regularly,
visited shrines, did penances barefoot and finally was ecstatic when she conceived
finally. However, in third month, she underwent amniocentesis illegally and was horrified
to know that she was carrying a girl child then she got aborted. After three months, she
conceived again using Chinese calendar and Indian astrology for specific natural ways to
conceive a boy. This time she succeeded and carried pregnancy happily to full term but
only after confirming that the fetus was a male. When her son was born, she and her
husband threw a gala party sending lots and lots of invitations.
There are several questions that we have to ask. Don’t they and the society realize
that they are murderer? Does the society neglect the murdering? Are they really happy
with their partying for having a boy after killing a female fetus or several fetuses? Do
they think about the funeral for the female fetus? Don’t they accept the female fetus as
their child? Is being female the reason to be murdered? Is killing of female fetus
acceptable in the society?
ETHICAL PERSPECTIVES OF THE BDDHISM ON FEMALE INFANTICIDE
Buddhists believe that abortion at anytime is killing and unwholesome action
because “a being waiting to be born” transmits his or her own kammic energy to be born
as a new person. Abortion may be considered as an act of killing life if the following five
conditions are perfectly together (1) an existing being (2) knowledge that it is being (3)
intention of killing (4) effort of killing and (5) consequent death. Certainly when the act
of killing is successful, it produces retribution. If the parents hate fetuses, the results are
unwholesome kamma. An abortion done for selecting sex of unborn babies would seems
to be one with serious kammic consequences since it seems to involve a hearted of a girl
because of preferences for a boy.
Abortion done by selective sex is not acceptable for Buddhism. That kind of
abortion is the acts done by with full knowledge and intension, human acts. In the
Buddhism beliefs, the parents may use any contraceptive to prevent pregnancy and that is
one of the duties of parents. Buddhism preaches the importance of humans to take care of
their children, so they can grow up with a good quality of life but they are not being
allowed to kill their child and their fetus.
BUDDAH TEACHING AND KILLING FETUSES
Basic perceptions of Buddhism are 1. to refrain from killing (especially human
life) 2. to refrain from taking that which is not given 3. to refrain from misuse of the
senses and sexual misconduct 4. to refrain from lying or using false or harmful speech 5.
to refrain from taking intoxicating drink or drugs which cloud the mind.
There is no established Buddhist doctrine although there is a general reluctance to
tamper with the natural development of life. A Buddhist may accept all methods of
family planning as long as these are not killing anyone’s life. Traditional Buddhism
rejects abortion because it involves the deliberate destroying of a life. Any kind of
abortion or “killing a human to be” is not strictly acceptable due to the first Buddhist
perception. According to the teachings of Buddha, five conditions must be present to
constitute an act of killing; 1) the thing killed must be a living being 2) you, the killer,
must know or be aware that it is a living being 3) you must have the intention to kill it
4) there must be an effort to kill 5) the being must be killed as the result.
Here's an example of how an abortion might constitute an act of killing:
When a baby is conceived, a living being is created and that satisfies the first condition.
After a few weeks the parents become aware of its existence or after a few months the
parents its gender and that meets the second condition. Third, if the parents decide they
want an abortion that provides an intention to kill. When they seek an abortion that meets
the fourth condition of making an effort to kill is forth condition. Finally the being is
killed because of that action. Therefore the First Precept of Buddhism - not to kill - is
violated and this is tantamount to killing a human being.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF THE FEMALE INFANTICIDE
Infanticide occurs in most cases as a way of restricting poverty and population.
Throughout history infanticide has been regarded as a productive and efficient way to
control starvation and poor standards of living caused by over population. The
implication is that by avoiding a girl, a family will avoid paying a large dowry on the
marriage of her daughter.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh termed female feticide "a national shame." It
brings many problems for not only the country itself but also the other countries
especially to neighboring countries. The sex ratio became a problem when the men were
ready to marry. Because of the lack of females since female population is lesser, many
men had no hope of marrying, raising a family, or supporting themselves; consequently,
they grouped together and began small-scale banditry throughout the province to steal
and provide for their families. Trafficking in person especially women become the
consequence of high incidence of female infanticide countries such as India, China and
some countries.
The women from neighboring countries became the victims of these practices.
Myanmar women have been imported or trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation
and other form of exploitation for instance women from neighboring countries were
being sold as surrogate mothers to such countries. The women are not imported as brides,
however, because foreign women are viewed as inferior. Rather, the women become
prostitutes. Women are also kidnapped, stolen, or bought and often sold on the open
market against their will within the countries. To get the money to buy women from these
"bride" markets, men from China and India will often go to other countries to work.
Some studies found out that there is also an increase in homosexuality since there is
declining female population within the countries.
PROPOSED ALTERNATIVES
1. Reinforce the implementation of existing laws and regulations on medical
tests which prohibit the sex-selective abortion.
2. Disseminate information on the Dowry Prohibition Act (1961) using mass
media and various activities to get public awareness.
RECOMMENDATIONS
India has not demonstrated sufficient progress in its law enforcement efforts to
address female infanticide. The immediate action that the government has to take is that
amniocentesis, where necessary, will be performed only in government or approved
medical institutions to prevent the practice of using amniocentesis for purpose of sex
determination. The banning of amniocentesis usage for sex determination should be
reinforced through law and practitioners indulging in or supporting such acts shall be
punished severely.
In order to combat the phenomenon, careful consideration of the location-specific
and cultural factors leading to the practice is necessary. To deal with a problem that has
roots in social behavior and prejudice, mere legislation is not enough. The government
has to undertake various activities to create awareness against the practice of prenatal
determination of sex and female foeticide. The long-term strategies should include
education and empowerment of women. Empowerment of rural marginalized women and
education to improve their lot will heighten their status in the society.
REFERENCES
http://www.hopereach.org/Female_infanticide.htm
http://www.bukisa.com/articles/97292_mom-just-killed-me-a-true-story-of-female-
infanticide
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_India
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowry
http://magazine.byu.edu/?act=view&a=369
http://www.gendercide.org/case_infanticide.html (3 Sept 09)
http://www.indianchild.com/abortion_infanticide_foeticide_india.htm (acc 20 Sept 09)
http://www.kit.nl/exchange/html/female_infanticide_-_sexual_he.asp (acc 17 Sept 09)
http://www.ammas.com/ar/home.cfm?
r=va&o=toprated&o=toprated&qid=142443&bid=0&topicid=375 (acc 17 Sept 09)
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http://www.azadindia.org/social-issues/femaleinfanticideinindia.html (acc 4 sept 09)
http://everything2.com/title/Female+infanticide+in+India (acc 4 sept 09)
http://www.ammas.com/ar/home.cfm?
r=va&o=toprated&o=toprated&qid=142443&bid=0&topicid=375(acc 10 Sept 09)
http://online.sfsu.edu/~rone/Buddhism/footsteps.htm (access 28 Sept 09)
http://orthodoxwiki.org/Female_feticide (acc 28 Sept 09)
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2872/is_2_28/ai_86049638/?tag=rbxcra.2.a.22
(acc 27 Sept 09)
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4036/is_200302/ai_n9233242/?tag=rbxcra.2.a.44
(acc 28 Sept 09)
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2872/is_1_26/ai_62793778/?tag=rbxcra.2.a.11
(acc 28 Sept 09)
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081022183157AAJDuLl (acc 28 Sept
09)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/abortion/medical/infanticide_1.shtml (acc 28 Sept 09)
http://www.hopereach.org/Female_infanticide.htm
http://www.bukisa.com/articles/97292_mom-just-killed-me-a-true-story-of-female-
infanticide