Kwtia

"When she woke up she asked about her baby. "Again a girl! Are you not ashamed of yourself? The third time and still a girl." Malli did not open her mouth after that. Neither did she ask for her newborn. She knew what awaited her. She knew the eventuality. She knew her mother-in-law. She knew her husband, who had threatened to send her to her parental home if she delivered a baby girl again.
She knew someone may have already inserted a grain into her daughter's mouth, or fed her yerakkam pal, or may have drowned her in a bucket of water. She knew everything, but she remained silent. The hapless young mother of two unwanted girls wanted to sleep forever." (Rediff)

I have been reading a book I picked up at one of the Kuwait Bookshop branches (someone in purchasing is doing a good job these days) ..It's called 50 Facts that Should Change the World..
And in recognition of the 15th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (this last saturday the 20th) i thought i would mention one of the many sad facts that are in the book..a fact that has something to do with the painful quote above..

China has 44 million 'missing' women

What's that about?
"The phenomenon of "missing women" is almost certainly due to behavioral factors that reflect a preference for male children. These include selective abortion, infanticide and neglect (Foster and Rosenzweig, 2001). The result is that an estimated 30-70 million women
are "missing" from India and China alone." (Nancy Qian)

As defined by UNICEF, Female infanticide is defined as the abortion of a fetus because it is female or the killing of an infant by a relative because it is female. Infanticide has been practiced as a brutal method of family planning in societies where boy children are still valued, economically and socially, above girls... Medical testing for sex selection, though officially outlawed, has become a booming business in China, India and the Republic of Korea. (V-Day)

In case you thought it only happens in developing countries..Infanticide is a worldwide problem..though its causes differ among countries..

In the US:

Of all children under age 5 murdered from 1976-2002 --
31% were killed by fathers
30% were killed by mothers
23% were killed by male acquaintances
6% were killed by other relatives
3% were killed by strangers
(US Dept of Justice)

Statistically, the US ranks high on the list of countries whose inhabitants kill their children. For infants under the age of 1 year, the American homicide rate is 11th in the world, while for ages 1 - 4 it is 1st and for ages 5 - 14 it is 4th. From 1968 to 1975, infanticide of all ages accounted for 3.2% of all homicides in the US.(karisable.com)

Nearly five infants under the age of 1 are killed in the United States each week, according to a CNN review of FBI statistics.(1995 study)

China and India:
"gendercide" in China has resulted in the deaths of at least 50 million girls.
The government is promoting what it calls "Girl Care Project" – teaching rural families to value daughters as much as sons " (WND)

"(Amrtya) Sen used the concept of "missing women" to dramatize the wrenching consequences, in many parts of the world, of anti-female bias in nutrition, health care, and other basics of life. In China and other countries where there is a strong preference for male babies, sex-selective abortion and even infanticide of female babies undoubtedly contribute to the number of missing women."(Dollars and Sense)

For more information about female infanticide in China and India see Gendercide...or here..

Gender-based infanticide, abortion, malnutrition and neglect are believed to be behind 60 to 100 million women ‘missing’ from the world’s population. 90 per cent of child domestic workers are girls between 12 and 17 years old.(UNICEF)

‏81:8 واذا الموؤودة سئلت
‏81:9 باي ذنب قتلت
And when the girl-child, buried alive, is asked for what possible sin she was murdered'

Holy Quran 81:8-9