Title: Population masculinization in Asia' Causes and policy implications
1Population masculinization in Asia.Causes and
policy implications
- CZ Guilmoto, IRD, Paris
- Hanoi,
- 20 December 2007
2- Why avoid girls ?
- A tragedy of the commons
3Why avoid girls ? The preconditions of
discrimination
- 1 People need to be able to do it
- Feasibility and supply factors
- 2 People should be willing and ready to do it
- Social acceptance and demand factors
4To be able
- To be feasible, prenatal discrimination requires
the increased accessibility of new technologies
at reduced costs, a responsive private health
sector - It also means the absence of legislation against
illegal abortions or incomplete implementation of
existing laws.
5To be willing
- 1 Sex selection methods need to be acceptable
- 2 Boys need to be more advantageous
- higher costs of girls (protection and care,
marriage expenses, dowry, etc.) - boys also more profitable as a source of
economic support to parents throughout life - 3 Boys also traditionally required
- for rituals, perpetuation of the family line,
inheritance
6Synthesis
Old methods
New technology, abortion
Infrastructures
Able
Law enforcement
Sex selection
Economics of son preference
Ethics
Socioeconomic rationale
Willing
Rituals
Prestige
Fertility decline
Social change and gender equity
7- Why avoid girls ?
- A tragedy of the commons
8- Tragedy of the commons a situation in which
individual interest gradually destroys a public
good enjoyed by everyone (such as for
environmental degradation). - Is the current sex ratio crisis an emerging
tragedy of the commons in which families by
artificially rising the probability to bear boys
will cause collective disaster ?
9- The scenario
- Avoiding female births carries social or economic
advantages for many households - Given the availability of appropriate methods,
many parents will therefore manipulate SRB - Governments do not know, do not want to
interfere, or do not fear consequences - Negative consequences (externalities) affecting
every one, but only after a 25-year lag and
self-regulation may come to late
10Fighting against sex selection
Protecting the girl child
Monitoring new technology and their use
Supply-sideTechnology is not for sex selection
Enforcing the law to curb illegal use of prenatal
diagnostic
Sensitization on future gender imbalances
Balanced sex ratio
Positive discrimination and pro-girl policies
Demand-side Girls are beautiful
Giving women a larger role in traditions
Showcasing women's success
11Government interventions
- Supplycurbing the supply of sex selection
methods customers, providers, facilitators - Demand factorsCounterbalancing the disadvantage
of daughters over sons transfers and benefits
towards girls, changing gender unfair laws,
creating quotas, etc. - Attitudes and mindsetChanging the gender bias
through advocacy, sensitization, etc.
12Social change and mobilization
- 1 Media coverage of imbalances and their
consequences - 2 Local civil society initiatives
- 3 Exogenous social transformations womens
employment and education, urbanization and
economic change, etc. - 4. Endogenous change self-corrective behaviour
13Future options (1)
- Spontaneous social change and laissez-faire
- Risky and lengthy
- Diffusion to new segments of society
- Impact of increasing prosperity, education,
urbanization, improved private health care - New technology
14Future options (2)
- Ensuring proper monitoring of sex ratio trends
using reliable local statistics - Regulating sex determination and curbing illegal
sex selection - Tackling the demand side to address gender
inequity in society through targeted campaigning,
legislation, subsidies, etc.
15SRB in South Korea, 1970-2005
16A summary
- Sex selection is only a part of a wider
environment of gender violence and discrimination - It is a new trend closely related to the
diffusion of sex selection technology - Its full impact will be only felt by society in
the coming decades when it is too late to correct
it - Possible policy interventions are numerous,
diverse and often effective.
17Thank you