Introduction: The preference of a male child over a female child
has been the main cause for female feticide. The causes can be
broadly divided under the grounds of religion, economic and social
aspects.
Objectives: To assess the awareness and the attitude regarding
female feticide among adolescents.
Methodology: A cross sectional study was carried at few preuniversity
colleges in Mangalore. Data was collected using a semistructured
questionnaire.
Results: The study included 300 adolescents. 45.7% stated that the
major cause for practice of feticide is discrimination between male
and female. Majority (62%) of them were aware of all the diagnostic
methods to determine the sex of the child and termination
methods. 43.3% of the students were aware about the laws enforced.
37% believe that enforcing strict laws could be the way to
stop female feticide.
Conclusion: Adolescents agreed that the decline in sex ratio is the
main impact of female feticide. The students have adequate
knowledge about diagnostic methods used for sex determination.
They believe that strict law implementation is a promising way to
stop female male feticide. However, they were not knowledgeable
about the laws enforced for the control.