Disclaimer: The topic of Female Infanticide may be disturbing to some viewers. This is a mainly researched based topic in order to educate readers about this situation, where it comes from, and how it is produced.
Homicide, genocide and suicide are all topics that we’re used to hearing. Although it is seldom discussed, the concept of female infanticide, or the intentional killing of baby girls due to preference for male babies and from the low value associated with the birth of females (according to The PixelProject), still exists all over the world; female infanticide can also be referred to as gender-selective killing or “gendercide”. And while many ignorant people claim the action is "god's will" or an attempt to reduce overpopulation, infanticide is undoubtedly centered upon the sexist notion that males are superior. So the question stands: Who are we to say one gender/sex is superior to the other when our Gurus loved and treated everyone equally?
Acts of female infanticide are primarily seen in India and China. China had a one-child policy where every family can only have one child in order to steady the population and prevent overpopulation in the country. Along with the governmental policy in China, the society is heavily structured on Confucian values created between 551 BC and 479 BC which prioritize fidelity, honesty, learning, and a strict social structure. In Confucian families, women are submissive and inferior to all men in the family with strict roles and boundaries. Men, on the other hand, carry the legacy of the family in order to preserve their bloodlines and ancestry. Given these harsh Confucian values and the governmental one-child policy, families in the modern era are stressed to have a son. In China, after learning the sex of the child during pregnancy and being unhappy with it, the abortion procedure costs approximately $2.60. As a result, the difference in sex ratio “ranges between 1.04 to 1.43” (Female Infanticide in China). However, in India, knowing the sex of the child is prohibited in order to prevent gender based-infanticide in the country, but the process of learning the sex and aborting the child during pregnancy costs $150. Although it is a governmental policy in India, female infanticide continues to exist and more so after the child is born when the sex is revealed during labor. Families still commit intentional killings of newborn baby girls in order to satisfy their own ego, family reputation, and legacy. Many small villages in India continue to practice dowry so families choose to commit female infanticide in order to avoid paying dowry mainly because they live in poverty. As a result of female infacticide in India, “The female child population in the age group of 0-6 years declined from 78.83 million in 2001 to 75.84 million in 2011.” (Down To Earth, DTE Staff) India and Pakistan are currently facing the highest rate of female infanticide due to societal pressures. They have created this idea that “you could have 100 sons but one daughter is a burden,” and that is what results in sex-based abortion and neglection for young girls and newborn babies.
As we have heard recently in the news and on social media, femicide, is on the rise in Turkey and Mexico. It is quite depressing to see that these practices are being spread throughout multiple countries worldwide. Multiple marches and protests are going on to shed light and educate others on this issue. The oldest to be killed was 80 years old and the youngest was just one year old in Mexico. Just in the month of July, 103 women were killed due to severe gender-based hate crimes. When women in Mexico protested against femicides by staying indoors, not going to work or school and off social media to show the impact of women in the society, they were just seen as “exaggerated.” All we can do, especially during the global pandemic, is educate ourselves, our friends and our families on the injustices of the world and learn from them while teaching the future generations about our history and how those ideologies are unjust and should not be repeated.
This follows the idea that gender based discrimination is seen everywhere. We can even see this take place within our own Sikh Camps. Personally, I have seen this take place multiple times when it comes to little children paying attention and listening to their Kaur role models. When it was time to wrap up the kids for an evening activity, there was a young group of boys who were writing inappropriate language on the whiteboard and giving no attention to the instructions being given for the evening activity. One of the bhenjis decided to go over to the boys and tell them to listen, but they ignored her and kept on writing on the board. Then, when I (Avneet), saw this, I came over and told the young boys the exact same thing as the bhenji did; this time the boys stopped what they were doing and listened immediately and took their places in the group activity. The children’s disregard to the bhenji and respect to myself was not the fault of the children but a factor are parents who most likely socialized their children to believe in female inferiority. Although I stepped up and helped with the situation, I do think there could have been a better way of execution of my part - a way that allows me to empower women alongside helping them. Instead of simply just telling the boys the same thing as the bhenji did, I could have told the young boys that “she’s (the bhenji) right”. By doing this, I could have empowered the bhenji and reinforced in the children’s mind that yes, what she is saying matters and yes, you should listen to her because her word should matter just as much as my own.
Additionally, a study was conducted in Pakistan and Punjab that examined how gender-based discrimination is seen in textbooks and classrooms. As we all know, we soak up the most information when we are very young, which is why we have to carefully choose what we teach young children, because it influences their ideology and morals. How women and men are depicted in textbooks can subconsciously influence the way young children see the world. Textbook studies in Pakistan reveal that when women are represented in textbooks, if at all, they are given the more submissive roles. This makes changing social structures harder because children grow up with these false ideals, starting from when they were enforced and solidified through school textbooks. Aside from Pakistan, there are pockets of gender discrimination in Punjabi textbooks as well. Women were almost completely excised from the books and if they were represented at all, they were given the typical domestic roles in society, such as cleaning, cooking and raising children. “Girls were presented in traditional supportive roles, helping their mothers in household tasks and playing with dolls, having less intelligence and exposure. Their indoor activities were reading story books, making traditional embroidered clothes and keeping the house clean.” (Source to the research study below). Men in the textbooks were seen with roles of authority and leadership while women were their support. There was a clear gender based division and these pictures and images subconsciously taught younger children the societal “rules.” The best way to handle this is, again, educate ourselves and do your part by teaching your children and the majority of the younger generation that those societal “rules” are unjust.
It’s easy to see that this ideology will not be abolished anytime soon. Our society will naturally evolve into a more loving and accepting one but the only way to make that happen is to do at least your own part living in this kalyug (confusing time/era).
The solution to this is the solution to ALL problems - Ik (oneness). We have to reinforce this idea everywhere we go, not just in camps or at the Gurdwara. Yes, discrimination and infanticide is everywhere and it takes time and patience for that to either subside or be abolished. The only thing we should put all of our time and focus on, is the oneness that’s within us all. As soon as we can all realize the Waheguru within us, our view of the world is completely different. The people we see on the streets and at the mall and at camps are our brothers and sisters and they all have Waheguru within them. We are all from one source, the Ik, so why do we call people bad? Why do we hate? What you can do individually is so powerful - learning, loving and practicing the Ikness. What I do personally, is ask myself if I have done harm, made others feel worthless, or simply seen people a different way. If so, I take a step back and look at the big picture. Sikh or not Sikh, homosexual or hetersexual, man or woman, we are all the same and from the same source, how can we judge others? After all, we are all brides ready to be married to our husband, Waheguru.
Avneet Singh, 18, PA & Tavleen Kaur, 17, TX
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