Of all places in this world, India is probably the country with the most serious gender imbalance. Let's take the state of Haryana for example. Despite its relative prosperity, it has one of the lowest sex ratios in the country, in the 0-6 age group, with only 820 females for every 1,000 males. Some districts in this state, like Kurukshetra (775), Sonipat (783) and Ambala (784), figure among the 10 districts nationwide with the lowest sex ratios in that age group.
Just recently, a new study revealed a cumulative deficit of 10 million females from 1985 to 2005.
Despite being outlawed in 1994 with the Prohibition of Sex Selection Act, the practice of selectively aborting female fetuses persists to this day.
So far, this law has often been circumvented or laxly enforced. Only one conviction has taken place under its provisions. Theoretically, it gave the Indian government the right to fine, imprison and suspend doctors who used ultrasound for sex selection (that is, told the parents that their child would be a girl to allow them to terminate the pregnancy). However, India still experienced a shortfall of roughly half a million female births in the three years after this law took effect.
