All-women meeting against female foeticide at Bibipur - A jolt to the patriarchal set-up

WOMEN gave a jolt to the patriarchal set-up in a Haryana village by holding an all-women meeting against female foeticide at Bibipur village. The gram sabha meeting, graced by some women district officials, was attended by about 225 women from 14 wards. They charted out a programme against female foeticide, made resolutions, gave speeches and created a kind of history in the region. Certainly, it made a pageant of a vital social issue that concerns demographers and sociologists alike. An all-women meeting in a region where nothing moves without the will of the man is a welcome step, but whether it will lead to some concrete action is the moot question officials need to ask.

Gender bias is layered and deeply entrenched in the social apparatus of the region. Are women of the region empowered to decide whether they want to keep a female foetus or not? When a foetus is aborted, the decision is not taken by the mother alone; the entire family deliberates and implements what it feels is right. The woman is often just a silent consenter. It is common knowledge in the region that the AXN worker, who is supposed to keep a track of pregnancies, is part of the same community; doctors too are known, and the community loyalties take precedence over the law. No one spills the beans because they believe what they do is justified.
When women members make such suggestions like reporting each pregnancy in the second month itself, inadvertently they tighten the noose around their own limited freedom. It could translate into banning of all abortions, irrespective of gender considerations. Secondly, schemes like depositing Rs 10,000 for the girl child instead of spending it on abortion sound more populist than doable work plans to improve the gender ratio. More than women, it is the men who need to hold meetings to change their mindset because they hold the power of taking decisions