June 17 – In ten years (2001-2011) India lost nearly three million girls, one million more than boys, and now there are 48 girls missing for every thousand male children compared to 1981. These are the latest official estimates released from the statistical service of the Indian Government, highlighting not only a gradual decline in child population, but also a clear imbalance in the male/female birth ratio. The gap is more evident in the 0 to 6 years age group, a sign that the female infanticide practices on female fetus or newborns are still a reality in the country. To stop this terrible phenomenon, Terre des Hommes has been, since 1998, conducting interventions to save girls from infanticide in Tamil Nadu thanks to its local partner, Terre des Hommes Core Trust, supported by private funds and contributions from the Agras Delic group, who donates 2% of all its Schesir branded products sale proceeds in Italy for the month of February. “We want to get to produce a cultural and behavioral change that reduces this horrible practice – says Paolo Ferrara, communications manager of Terre des Hommes – In the 15 years of the project activities in the district of Salem, we have had excellent results: we identified and visited 6,368 pregnant women who were considered at risk, we rescued 1,259 children (1,175 females, 84 males), of which 402 were given up for adoption (393 females, nine males) while we supported the families in greatest need for children education, health care, provision of food and small loans to start simple activities that would see a small profit. With the contribution by Agras Delic, we will be able to finance the monitoring of families at-risk and empower saved girls to continue their studies and receive professional training to starts working and enable them to become independent.”
Terre des Hommes and Schesir together against infanticide in India
