A two-day national consultation to test the feasibility of a three-pronged approach to tackle the country’s sex ratio crisis was organised in New Delhi on August 17 and 18, 2005 by ‘We Can’ allies and FORCES, a national network of 3,000 organisations from nine states that advocates for the rights of children in the 0-6 age group.

The new approach adopted at the consultation looked at the issue of sex ratio against the larger backdrop of violence against women. It aimed to integrate strategies; seek fresh areas of intervention; and highlight best practices for replication across the country.

The spur behind the effort was the recognition of the need for a far more comprehensive framework to deal with the adverse sex ratio in the country (that is unfavourable at 933 women per 1,000 men) and the sharp decline in child sex ratio (that fell from 945 in 1990 to 927 in 2001).

In a rare show of solidarity, policy makers, planners, representatives of civil society organisations, and members of international agencies collaborated to express concern for the country’s vanishing girls and women, review policy and legal gaps, consolidate efforts and provide a blueprint for future planning.

Inaugurating the consultation titled Looking to the Future: Collective Strategies To Combat Declining Sex Ratios, Dr Malini Bhattarcharya, Member, National Commission of Women, observed, “The struggle against the decline in sex ratio and the devaluation of women has been a long one.”

She said, “We recognise the difficulty in implementing the Preconception and Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act 1994. Priority needs to be given to the implementation of this Act by central and state governments. The infrastructure to implement the Act needs to be activated; advocacy efforts need to be stepped up and the medical community must be sensitised to play a role to improve the sex ratio.”

Dr Loveleen Kacker, Joint Secretary, Department of Women and Child Development, Government of India, said, “Census statistics show no progress in social indicators. We need to invest in human development and focus on changing rigid social attitudes that endorse inequity and discrimination.”

“There is a need to develop nationally relevant strategies and bridge the gap between the field and policy-level initiatives, said Dr Roma Solomon, Convener, FORCES.

“The national consultation can go a long way to change people’s attitudes and practices as well as mobilise people to act to prevent and end violence against women,” said South Asia Regional Director for Oxfam, Allison Aldred.

Dr Vibhuti Patel, Department of Economics, SNDT College, Mumbai, identified priority areas to be: improvements in the socio-economic status of women, medical ethics, the implementation of the PNDT Act, gender sensitisation in schools and colleges and reaching out to religious groups, women’s organisations, UN bodies, and human rights’ activists.

Activist Sabu George called for a stronger commitment from the legal and medical fraternity to address falling sex ratios and the issue of violence against women.

Dr Shalu Nigam, Centre for Women Development, advocated reconsidering coercive population control by the State; privatisation of health services; marketing of technology that has an adverse impact on sex ratios; property and personal laws.

Human rights’ activist, Swami Agnivesh, highlighted his plans for a March of A Million – a march of thousands of people from Gujarat to neighbouring states – to protest against female foeticide.