46 million girls went missing in India

46 million girls went missing in India

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains I and II – Indian Society; Social/Welfare issue

In news:

According to the UNFPA’s State of the World Population 2020 report –

• One in three girls missing globally due to sex selection, both pre- and post-natal, is from India.

• 46 million girls of the total 142 million went missing in India. 
• The number of missing women has more than doubled over the past 50 years.
• India has the highest rate of excess female deaths at 13.5 per 1,000 female births or one in nine deaths of females below the age of 5 due to postnatal sex selection. (as per 2014 study)
• The main reasons for sex ratio imbalances at birth – due to gender-biased sex selection and excess female mortality due to deliberate neglect of girls because of a culture of son preference.