Demand for male child is a trigger for domestic violence: Sista

Mumbai, June 16 (UNI) The demand for a male child is an important trigger for domestic violence with women bearing the brunt for their perceived 'inability' to provide a male child, and this is often used as an excuse for bigamy and desertion, said NGO Population First Executive Trustee S V Sista.

Mr Sista said this at a three-day workshop at Lonavala near here on ''Gender and Media''. He further added, '' Our population is growing, so is the gender inequality. We have the best medical talent in the country, yet 70 per cent of Indian women deliver not at a health facility, but at home.'' ''Bimaru'', Hindi for sick, was first coined by noted demographer Ashish Bose as an acronymn for the states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh because of their poor reproductive health indicators. These states have high fertility, high maternal and infant mortality, low female literacy and a poor sex ratio amid poor socio-economic development.

These states along with four other states -- Chattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Orissa and Jharkhand -- are officially called the EAG states, which stands for Empowered Action Group which was constituted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in March 2001 to build area-specific programmes for these states.

Speaking on the occasion United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) State Program Officer Ms Anuja Gulati said, ''India remains a highly patriarchial society where women are marginalised and denied development benefits. In some districts with low sex ratios the adverse impact is already visible with many men not able to find wives.'' ''Practices like polyandry are being reported as also 'bride price' and 'bride selling' under which women are bought and sold for a price. Thus in the prevailing social context a further fall in numbers will only lead to increased violence against women and denial of rights rather than empowerment,'' he also added.

UNI