Gendercide - Femicide

Femicide

Main article: Femicide See also: Violence against women

Femicide is defined as the systematic killing of women for various reasons, usually cultural. The word is attested from the 1820s. Multiple studies have shown that high rates of femicide also increase incidences of gang rape and girls being trafficked for sex on the black market. According to the United Nations, the biologically normal gender ratio at birth ranges from 102 to 106 males per 100 females. However, ratios higher than normal – sometimes as high as 130 – have been observed. This is now causing increasing concern in some South Asian, East Asian, and Central Asian countries. Such disparities almost always reflect a preference for boys as a result of deeply embedded social, cultural, political and economic factors. Organizations such as All Girls Allowed, the United Nations, and Amnesty International have all spoken out in favor of efforts to end gender-selected abortions.

The most widespread form of femicide is in the form of gender-selective infanticide in cultures with strong preferences for male offspring such as China and India. According to the United Nations, male-to-female ratios, which range from 102-106 boys for every 100 females in normal circumstances, have experienced radical changes. Countries with high populations of immigrants, especially from Asian countries are also experiencing a rise in gender-selected abortions targeting females. Among the countries that have the highest levels of infanticide are China, India, Taiwan, etc.

China’s culture has a strong preference for males. Because of their one-child policy, couples will selectively abort females until the desired male is conceived. Only five females are born for every six males in China. Gender-selected abortions are particularly a problem in regions of China where the one-child policy is more severely implemented. In 2005, there were 32 million more men than women under 20 in China. In 2007, the national government estimated that China has 37 million more males than females. By 2020, the Chinese government estimates that there will be at least 30 million men of marriageable age that may be unable to find a spouse. Sex Ratios at birth over time in China: 106:100 in 1979 (106 boys for every 100 girls) 111:100 in 1988 117:100 in 2001 120:100 in 2005

In India, male children are preferred because the parents are looking for heirs who will take care of them in their old age. Additionally, the cost of a dowry, the price the family has to pay for their daughter to be married off, is very high in India; while a male heir would bring a dowry to the family by way of marriage. One female is born for every two males in India. According to the British publication, The Independent, the 2011 census revealed 7.1 million fewer girls than boys aged under the age of seven, up from 6 million in 2001 and from 4.2 million in 1991. The sex ratio in the age group is now 915 girls to 1,000 boys, the lowest since records began in 1961.

There have been reports of femicide in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. The murders in Juarez are also known as las muertas de Juárez ("The dead women of Juárez"). According to the Organization of American States Inter-American Commission on Human Rights: the victims of these crimes have mostly been young women, between 12 and 22 years of age. Many were students, and most were maquiladora workers. A number were relative newcomers to Ciudad Juárez who had migrated from other areas of Mexico. The victims were generally reported missing by their families, with their bodies found days or months later abandoned in vacant lots, outlying areas or in the desert. In most of these cases there were signs of sexual violence, torment, torture or in some cases disfigurement. According to Amnesty International as of February 2005 more than 370 young women and girls had been murdered in the cities of Ciudad Juárez and Chihuahua.

More recently, prosecutors from the state of Chihuahua reported that in 2010, 270 women were killed within the state, of these murders 247 occurred in Juarez. In 2011, Chihuahua's Attorney General, Carlos Manuel Salas, announced during a briefing in August 2011 that 222 women had been killed in Chihuahua since January of that year. Of these 222 murders, 130 of them occurred in Ciudad Juarez.