Question

What could be the reasons of lower sex ratio in any region?

Answer 1

Sex ratio refers to the number of females per thousand males in a region. India has a low sex ratio.

The reasons for lower sex ratio are as follows:

1. Illiteracy: People are not aware of the role of women in modern society. This is because of child marriages where girls get married at an early age without having a chance to study and educate themselves.
2. Female infanticide: Even though the Government has passed many Acts to stop this inhuman act, people still prefer to have a male child due to many reasons. Hence, girl babies are killed as soon as they are born.
3. Domestic violence: Women are considered to be the weaker sex and hence crimes and violence against women is still a common feature in many of the rural households. This makes even the mother stop having a girl child.
4. Female foeticide: Due to socio-economic issues like dowry, people destroy the girl foetus in the womb itself. Many laws have been made to prevent this.
5. Poverty: Poverty is a major reason for the declining sex ratio. Families living under Below Poverty Line(BPL) generally do not want to have girl children.
6. Lack of women empowerment: Due to lack of education, women do not enjoy equal opportunities in many of the rural areas, especially in northern India.

The lower sex ratio, even in the twenty-first century is really a cause of concern.