50 million missing women in India.

Women who do not exist

Today, at least 200 million women in the world are missing because girls are systematically selected out. The worst situation is in India, which has a deficit of about 50 million women. How can one resist gender-selective practices and change people’s values about gender? This is what the research project Genocide, Gendercide, and Resistance is investigating.

Although gender-selective abortions are banned in India, they appear to increase over time in practice, says research leader Mikael Baaz, professor of International Law. - Many girl fetuses are aborted today precisely because they are girls. It is also not uncommon for baby girls to be poisoned or neglected to death.

In India, girls are often assigned less value than boys, irrespective of the social or religious family context. – You might think that the enlightened middle class would think differently but that is not necessarily the case at all, says Mona Lilja, Professor of Peace and Development Studies. One reason for girls being given such low priority is that when they marry, they are expected to bring a dowry. For a middle-class family this may amount to a considerable sum. Another problem is inheritance law, which risks dividing wealth and property in a way that is undesirable for Indian families. In addition to this, a wife is considered to have obligations to her husband’s parents and family rather than to her own family of origin, for example when it comes to taking care of his parents when they grow old. As the social security system in India is limited, an assessed risk with daughters is that her parents are left without help in old age.

A significant shortfall of women could potentially have meant that women were valued more highly. But the opposite is the case, explains doctoral student Filip Strandberg Hassellind. – Instead, both prostitution and trafficking from countries such as Nepal and Burma are on the rise. You sometimes hear the expression “from womb to tomb”; women’s vulnerability begins in the womb and continues all the way to their grave.

At the same time, India is a complex country where many different traditions, ideas, movements and countermovements coexist, Mikael Baaz points out. – Anyone who visits India cannot help but notice the stark contrasts: You may visit the most modern of stores, only to suddenly trip over a beggar on the street outside, to be trampled by an elephant in the next moment. The same thing applies to the different schools of thought in the country: Many strong forces aim to improve women’s influence, education and position in society but simultaneously, there are incredibly conservative ideologies pulling in the opposite direction.

One example of a grassroots movement fighting for this is the 50 Million Missing Campaign, started by the activist Rita Baberji in 2006. There are also artists joining the resistance, such as the director Manish Jha who, in 2003, created controversy with the film Matrubhoomi, about a future

Mikael Baaz is leading a project on girls that are selected out.

... the relationship between perpetrators and victims is so complex.

MONA LILJA

Filip Strandberg Hassellind and Mona Lilja point out the complexity of the problem.

Many fight for women’s rights.

School girls in Orissa.

world where there simply are no women.

The research project involves, among other things, interviews, or rather conversations, with various groups in India, both representatives of civil society and academics. It will be a joint knowledge production about the problem and what can be done about it. However, perceptions of the type of resistance that work best can differ quite a bit. – One reason for the different opinions is that the relationship between perpetrators and victims is so complex, says Mona Lilja. These are very cruel practices that affect women, but at the same time the women themselves can be involved and maintain the oppression. This makes it difficult to act without further aggravating the situation of the victims. Increased knowledge of how extensive the problem is can be a step in the right direction. 50 million missing women is a huge number!

Another way is to work actively with these issues at ground level, says Filip Strandberg Hassellind. – It is difficult to change customs, usages and ideas about how one should live. We in the project do not believe that higher penalties are the right way forward. Instead, a change of attitude must also take place and an insight that when such things happen in a society, all citizens are affected.

Text: Eva Lundgren Photo: Johan Wingborg

Facts

Gender, Gendercide and

Resistance is funded by the Swedish Research Council from 2019–2024. The research team comprises Research Director Mikael Baaz, Professor of International Law, Mona Lilja, Professor of Peace and Development Studies, and Filip Strandberg Hassellind, doctoral student in International Law. According to the EU, about 200 million women in the world are missing. See: https://www. europarl.europa.eu/doceo/ document/A-7-2013-0245_ EN.html