Declining sex ratio i.e. the reduction in number of girl children is causing a great threat to the survival of human beings. Women constitute one half of the total population of the world and without them; the survival of the human species is not possible. It is the time to study all the factors responsible for such a decline in the population of the world particularly in this country. No doubt we have made many efforts to secure gender justice and gender equality, but a few patches of achievements have been released and still a lot has to be done.
There are major causes responsible for declining sex ratio. In our male dominated society, in both the affluent and backward regions of the country, the birth of a girl child is still frowned upon. Girls are killed even before they are born when the parents realize that the life inside the womb is not a boy. Sex determination of unborn baby is illegal and is banned by the Govt. But the doctors are involved in many cases in sex determination practice for earning money. They manipulate and exploit science and technology to satisfy their voracious greed without bothering morality. This resulted in the steady decline in the sex ratio.
This disheartening trend projects the materialistic and utilitarian mindset of people who through female feticide are denying girls the right to be born and their only crime is that they are girls. Apart from female feticide, the act of female infanticide and abandoning of new born girls are also prevailing in the society. A number of cases of abandoning of new born girls published in newspapers daily. The question arises - can we dream of a society with just total male population? We deny our own child the right to born and talk about human rights for downtrodden, disables minorities etc.
The problems of insecurity of girls are also declining the population of girls to some extent. The cases like rapes, murder after rapes, sexual harassment, eve teasing, kidnapping, gender inequality molestation, child pornography etc occur frequently which creates the problem of security of girls in the minds of parents. Minor girls and school going girls become easy prey to the offenders. Girls usually shy away from law because of its inhuman and sadistic attitude towards the victims and that devalue their moral self. Marriage has become a profitable business which puts the bride on the debt side and the groom on the credit side. In the name of dowry, thousands of women are burnt alive.
We should change the mindset of women in particular because women are the enemy of women. If women want to remove discrimination against women, 80% cases of social evils of women will be automatically solved. To some extent, women are themselves responsible for atrocities against women. Women should be empowered with education, law and finance so that they can stand on their own and fight against each and every atrocity against them. It is impossible to think of about the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved. The need of the hour is to save the child to save the future.