During the past three decades, there have been rapid changes in South-East Asia, not only in the socio-economic and political situation, but also in the demographic situation. In almost all countries and areas in South-East Asia, population growth has declined to moderate or low levels as a result of rapid declines in fertility. In most cases, this phenomenon has been promoted in the belief that lower fertility should increase the value of human capital, help to accelerate the pace of socio-economic development and bring about greater gender equity. However, in some countries lower fertility, while helping countries towards some of their aforementioned goals, has made more apparent a strong gender bias, i.e. the antithesis of gender equity. For example, gender preference, especially for male children, may be observed as being inherent in the cultural settings of many countries in Asia, particularly those influenced by Confucianism, all of which have achieved low fertility: e.g. China, Japan and the Republic of Korea. On the other hand, in low fertility countries influenced by Theravada Buddhism, such as Sri Lanka and Thailand, there is no gender bias for boys.

One of the most crucial aspects of the Programme of Action, adopted by the International Conference on Population and Development held at Cairo in 1994, regards the empowerment of women and their improved status. Improvement of the status of females is considered essential not only for the success of population programmes but also sustainable national development. Gender preference for male children thus can be seen as undermining the success of the overall development process, because it reflects discrimination on the basis of sex from the earliest to the later stages of life (United Nations, 1995).