Female Infanticide

Violence against women in India begins before the woman is even born.

According to the 2011 Government of India Census, the female to male ratio in Punjab is 893 to 1000. This unnatural disparity is largely a result of sex-selective abortion. Punjab's ratio remains among the worst in the country. The immense problem of female feticide compelled the Government of India to pass the Pre-Natal Determination Test (PNDT) Act in 1994, which outlawed ultrasound testing to determine the gender of a fetus. However, this act remains poorly enforced, and has had little impact on common practices on the ground, (1).

The United Nations has declared that India is the most deadly country for female children. In 2012, female children aged between 1 and 5 were 75% more likely to die as opposed to boys. The children's rights group CRY has estimated that of 12 million females born yearly in India, 1 million will die within their first year of life.

An artist who explores concepts of human rights and women's rights is Jagdeep Raina. Through his artwork, he shines light onto topics that are often overlooked by the mainstream media.

Below is his artwork "Female Infanticide."

"Each woman is pregnant," explained Jagdeep. "The one on the left is holding a dead infant, the woman on the right has a crack in her belly showing hands scrambling to get out, while a girl with long black is hair is trying to crawl out of the womb, and the cracked pregnant belly on the left shows a resilient girls face." See more of Jagdeep's work here: http://jagraina.tumblr.com/ and here http://instagram.com/jagdeepraina

1. http://sikhchic.com/1984/violence_against_women_the_state_of_punjab_part_v