The full extent of India's 'gendercide'

In Asia boys are no.1 the most recent census completed by the Indian government showed a growing gender imbalance with 915 girls for every 1,000 boys a decrease since the previous census was taken. Why the imbalance?

With no social safety net in India boys are coveted because they will remain in the family after marriage bringing a large dowry from the brides family insuring that his parents will be taken care once they have reached retirement age. Yet with such a large and growing gender disparity significant social problems await India if the trend isn't reversed. Given peoples attitudes there seems little chance of that as this paper published in the Lancet points out.

Latest research shows selective abortion is concentrated in families where the first child has been a girl. Parents welcome a first daughter but want their second child to be a son. In these families the gender ratio for second births fell from 906 girls per 1,000 boys in 1990 to 836 in 2005, implying between 3.1 million and 6 million female foetuses have been aborted in the past decade.

Think about that number: 3.1 million to 6 million female fetuses aborted in a single decade

Wealthier, better-educated couples are the worst offenders, the findings show, putting paid to hopes that socio-economic progress would lead to a change in attitude. Although all strata of Indian society share a preference for sons, better-off families have access to and can afford the ultrasound tests to reveal the sex of a foetus.

Usually the better educated a person is they are less likely to abide to these types of cultural mores.

The fact that doctors are complicit in furthering this disturbing trend is just ethically wrong

The market for sex determination is said to be worth at least $100m (£62m) a year, with 40,000 registered ultrasound clinics. Although attempts have been made to increase penalties under the act, out of 800 court cases against doctors in 17 states there have been only 55 convictions.

In a commentary published alongside the paper, Dr S V Subramanian of the Harvard School of Public Health, said: "The demand for sons among wealthy parents is being satisfied by the medical community through the provision of illegal services of sex-selective abortion. The financial incentive for physicians to undertake this activity seems to be far greater than the penalties associated with breaking the law."