The Chinese government has introduced
measures to curb the rising gender disparity
at birth. The question remains: do these
measures actually benefit women and girls?
Statistics from the past few censuses of China show that the
gender disparity among newborns has been rising steadily.The
last national census in 2000 showed about 12.77 million fewer
girls than a natural sex ratio would generate.1 Many studies
suggest that this imbalance is a consequence of the one-child
policy launched in 1979.2The rationale behind the one-child
policy was to limit population growth to a manageable level as
a precondition to raising the general living standards of the
Chinese population. Earlier reports by HRIC have pointed out
the unfair burden placed on women throughout the implementation
process of the one-child policy.3
The detrimental effects of this policy are both direct and
indirect. Direct problems include violent enforcement measures
such as forced abortions, compulsory sterilization and the
forced implantation of intrauterine devices after abortions or
births. Indirect effects include sex-selective abortion, female
infanticide, the abandonment of female infants and concealment
of female children.The Chinese government now openly
acknowledges its need to deal with the growing disparity in
sex ratio as a serious problem. State media are starting to report
sex ratio statistics and intervention policies. However, official
media tend to attribute the problem to a deeply entrenched
cultural preference for sons over daughters rather than as the
unseen consequence of an exceedingly unpopular official policy.
It is not difficult to understand the link between a culture
that discriminates against women and the practices of sexselective
abortion, female infanticide, abandonment of female
infants and the failure to register girl babies. However, the picture
remains incomplete without putting the one-child policy
at the center of analysis.
This article looks at China’s gender disparity and its related
issues, as well as the Chinese government’s efforts to address
them. It also offers an account of the rights of girl children
outlined in international human rights documents.
Official control of information in China poses limitations in
writing this article. Statistics regarding female infanticide and
abandonment of female children are classified as state secrets,
and no reporting is allowed unless the government decides to
make the figures public.The government occasionally releases
figures on the number of victims rescued and the number of
people prosecuted for trafficking of female infants and children,
but independent research is either lacking or is limited to
officially-released data.