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Indian Journal of Community Medicine Vol. 32, No. 4, October 2007300

300 CMYK 

Study on Knowledge, Att itude and Practices Regarding Gender Preference

and Female Feticide Among Pregnant Women

BN Vadera, UK Joshi, SV Unadakat, BS Yadav, Sudha Yadav

Skewed sex ratio is an issue of major concern and has

long-term social and demographic consequences. At

the heart of the problem is the low status of women in

society, a patriarchal social framework and value system

based on ‘son mania’. The problem is getting worse as

scientiÞc methods of detecting the sex of the foetus and

for termination of pregnancy are improving. This seems to

be fulÞlling the long felt need of the people through female

feticide. In this light, the study of factors inßuencing sex

ratio becomes very relevant for better understanding of 

the problem.

Materials and Methods

A cross-sectional study was undertaken with 195

pregnant women who attended the antenatal clinic

(ANC) of G.G. Hospital attached to M.P. Shah Medical

College, Jamnagar, Gujarat. The study was carried

out from August 2006 to September 2006. Every Þfth

women attending the ANC was selected for the study. A

pre-tested and pre-structured questionnaire was used

to collect information on their knowledge and attitudes

towards gender preference and female feticide. Chi-square was used as a test of signiÞcance.

Results

Of the 195 pregnant women selected for the study, 70.3%

were from urban area and 29.7% from rural area. It was

discovered that 20.5% were illiterate and 79.5% were

literate. Out of 195 women studied, 114 (58.5%) gave

preference to male child; the major reasons for this being

social responsibilities are carried out by males (42.5%),

for propagation of family name (23%), dependable in the

old age (16%), pressure from family (11%), to performcremation (4%), dowry (3%) and females are economic

liability (3%).

Our study revealed that socio-demographic factors

affect gender preference. Preference to male child was

higher among rural women (70.68%) than that of the

urban women (53.28%). The association was statistically

signiÞcant [Table 1].

Preference to male child was higher in women who

had no male child previously (65.28%) than those who

already had a male child (42.50%). This difference was

also statistically signiÞcant [Table 1].

Of the 195 women, 40 (20.51%) admitted that they will

go for female feticide. The inclination to female feticide

was higher in women who showed son preference.

One hundred and ten (54.4%) women were aware about

consequences of female feticide. Consequences of 

female feticide expressed by these women were: ‘men

won’t Þnd bride’, ‘families can’t be run’, lead to an all-male

family and increase in violence against women.

The awareness of consequences of female feticide grew

with literacy status. It was 35% among illiterate women,

53.4% in primary level literacy and 73.13% in secondary

and above. The difference was statistically signiÞcant

[Table 2].

Discussion

In our study, 58.5% of women gave preference to male

child. A study carried out by Puri et al. showed that 56%

women in the slums of Chandigarh showed preference

to male child,(1) which is very similar to our observation

in the present study.

The important reasons for son preference are social

responsibilities taken by males, propagation of family

name, support in the old age, to perform cremation and

dowry. As per a report published by UNFPA in conjunction

with Ministry of H&FW and Of Þce of Registrar General

and Census Commissioner India 2003, there is a strong

preference to son in India, which is inßuenced by many

socio-economic and cultural factors, such as son being

responsible to carry forward family name and occupation,

source of support at the old age and to perform religious

rites during cremation and practice of dowry.(2) The results

are similar to those found in the present study.

The preference to male child was higher among ruralwomen than in the urban women. This difference was

statistically signiÞcant. Narayan Das had also observed

a similar difference between the rural and urban

Department of Community Medicine, Shri M.P. Shah Medical

College, Jamnagar, Gujarat, India

Correspondence to:

Dr. B. N. Vadera,

Department of Community Medicine, Shri M.P. Shah MedicalCollege, Near G.G. Hospital, P.N. Marg, Jamnagar, Gujarat, India.

E-mail: dr.vadera@gmail.com

Received: 13.06.07

Accepted: 18.10.07

S hort Article

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Indian Journal of Community Medicine Vol. 32, No. 4, October 2007 301

population in his study of “Sex Preference and FertilityBehavior”.(3)

The preference to male child was higher in women with

no previous male child. Puri et al. found that preference

to son was higher among women having no male child

than those already having a male child.(1)

The present study reveals that 20% of women would go

for female feticide if they discovered the gender of the

fetus. Ajinder Walia reports about the attitude towards

female feticide to be 41.25% in his study on “Female

Feticide in Punjab: Exploring the Socio-economic andCultural Dimensions”.(4)

One hundred and ten (54.4%) women were aware about

the consequences of female feticide. The consequences

of female feticide expressed by them were: ‘men won’t

Þnd bride’, ‘families can’t be run’ and lead to an all-

male family. Similar implications of female feticide were

reported in an earlier study on female feticide carried out

by Ajinder Walia.(4)

Education inßuences one’s awareness regarding the

consequences of adverse sex ratio. This awareness

increases with education status.

Conclusion

The present study shows a clear picture of factors

affecting the present sex ratio. The existence of son

preference at an alarmingly high rate in our society

is the root cause of imbalanced sex ratio. Moreover,

the inclination to female feticide is reported in one-

Þfth of women studied in spite of them being aware

of the consequences of imbalance in sex ratio. Socio-demographic factors do play a role. Our study revealed

that residential area and sex of the previous child affect

a woman’s preference for her next child, while education

increases awareness regarding the consequences of 

adverse sex ratio.

References

1. Puri S. Gender preference and awareness regarding

sex determination among married women in slums of 

Chandigarh. Indian J Community Med 2007;1:60-2.2. Of Þce of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner,

India, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, United Nations

Population Fund; Missing…. Mapping the Adverse Child

Sex Ratio in India. 2003. p. 1.

3. Das N. Sex preference and fertility behavior: A study of 

recent Indian data. Demography 1987;24:517-30.

4. Walia A. Female feticide in Punjab: Exploring the

socio-economic and cultural dimensions. J Soc Issues

2005;10:1.

Table 1: Association between son preference and socio-economic characteristics (n = 195)

Variables Son preference (%) No son preference (%) χ2  P-value Significance

Residential area

Urban 73 (53.28) 64 (46.71) 5.08 <0.05 SigniÞcant

Rural 41 (70.68) 17 (29.32)

Sex of previous child

Male 17 (42.50) 23 (57.50) 5.28 <0.05 SigniÞcant

No male child 97 (62.58) 58 (37.41)

Table 2: Association between education and awareness

regarding consequences of female feticide

Awareness present (%) No awareness (%) Total

Illiterate 14 (35) 26 (65) 40

Primary 47 (53.40) 41 (46.60) 88

Secondary 49 (73.13) 18 (26.87) 67

Total 110 (56.41) 85 (43.59) 195

χ2 = 15.40, P ≤ 0.01

Source of Support: Nil, Confl ict of Interest: None declared.

Guarantor o f the paper: Dr. Sudha Yadav, Professor and Head, Department

of Community Medicine, Shri M.P. Shah Medical College, Jamnagar, Gujarat.

Vadera BN, et al.: KAP study on gender preference