Male-dominated Asia ‘missing’ 96 million women

ASIA is “missing” about 96 million women – the vast majority in China and India – who died from discriminatory healthcare and neglect or who were never born at all, the UN has estimated.

Female infanticide and sex-selective abortion have caused a severe gender imbalance in Asia, and the problem is worsening despite rapid economic growth in the region, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report said.

“The old mindset with its preference for male children has now combined with modern medical technology” that makes it easier to predict and abort unborn girls, said Anuradha Rajivan, the report’s lead author.

“It is not just female infanticide but sex-selective abortion of unborn girls that cause so-called ‘missing’ females,” she said, contrasting the issue with recent improvements in female life expectancy and education.

The UNDP report found that East Asia had the world’s highest male-female sex ratio at birth, with 119 boys born for every 100 girls.

This far exceeded the global world average of 107 boys for every 100 girls.

“Females cannot take survival for granted,” it said.

“Sex-selective abortion, infanticide, and death from health and nutritional neglect in Asia have left 96 million missing women... and the numbers seem to be increasing in absolute terms.”

The regional figure was skewed by enormous birth gender disparities in China and India, which between them accounted for about 85 million of the report’s “missing” figure.

The number was calculated from the actual sex ratio in the population compared to what it would theoretically be, if equal treatment were given to the sexes during pregnancy, birth and afterwards.

Despite Asia’s economic growth, the report found that millions of women remained shut out of the benefits of greater prosperity.

The region ranks near the worst in the world on issues such as health, education, employment and political participation and protecting women from violence.