Women in Surat spread message on 'Save the Girl Child' through body tattoos

Surat, Sept 24 (ANI): Women in Surat are acquiring temporary body tattoos with messages of 'Save the Girl Child' during the ongoing festive season in order to spread awareness against the menace of female foeticide.

Tattoos are a major attraction during the nine-day long festival of Navratri, as women wear traditional attire and prepare for the traditional folk dance of 'Garba' and Dandiya'.

"Tattoo though is a modern art, but through it, we wanted to spread good message for women.

During Navratri, tattoos are made just for fashion, but we wanted good concept behind it. So, there cannot be anything better than tattoos to spread awareness on saving the girl child," said Vaishali Gutecha, a woman who has got tattoo on save girl child.

Some women believed the tattoo is not made for a fashion statement, but a medium for spreading awareness about important social causes.

"I want that when I go outside then people should see my tattoo and learn something from it," said Bhumi Patel, another woman.

Despite the existence of laws that ban tests to determine the sex of an unborn child, the destruction of female foetuses is common in some parts of the country where the preference for sons runs deep.

The United Nations says that an estimated 2,000 unborn girls are illegally aborted every day in India.

This has led to skewed sex ratios in states like Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and New Delhi. By Sanjiv Ameen (ANI)