Fighting the gender bias

BARELY a day or two after the conclusion of the annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland — of the world's top leaders, policy-makers and social reformers to develop nations, uplift humanity and ease suffering — the world woke up to yet another instance of atrocity against a hapless woman in Afghanistan, who was strangled for giving birth to a baby girl for the third time. Cases of gender discrimination and violence against women are not uncommon in Asia. Instances of selective abortions after pre-natal sex determination and excesses against women, too, are not uncommon in the subcontinent.

But what is exasperating is the occurrence of such cases with periodic regularity despite so much talk about women's emancipation, empowerment and gender equality. This makes it clear that all that self-righteous rhetoric is not being translated into action. While the incident in the Kunduz region of Afghanistan, in which a 28-year-old woman was strangled by her husband and mother-in-law, is deplorable and heinous to say the least, it becomes imperative on the part of governments and votaries of women's liberation to look into the issue with all seriousness.

Asian countries, especially China and India, have to grapple with this issue in all earnest as it is already reflecting on the demographic sex ratio with glaring imbalances. The eradication of the deep-rooted notion that a girl-child is burden on a family is not easy as it needs prolonged concerted measures to change the mindsets. Greater emphasis on the education of girls and providing them job avenues would help a lot. Though no religious tenets sanction discrimination on the basis of gender, the preference for boys over girls is still prevalent in some societies, where people are still deprived and marginalised. There has got to be a synergy between governments, civil societies and social activist groups to work among the people in motivating the masses against the gender bias.