The film “It’s a Girl,” which explains how gendercide, the killing of a specific sex, is affecting the populations in two different countries, was presented on Tuesday, March 26 on Shippensburg University’s campus.
The film takes viewers to India and China, the two countries that are still facing gendercide issues today. People in both countries feel as though giving birth to girls is nothing but a loss. However, they think giving birth to boys is a blessing and will bring wealth to the family.
The film first takes viewers to India where more girls are eliminated than are born in the U. S. One out of four girls will not make it past puberty.
Couples wish for their first child to be a boy. If the child is not a boy, the mother will either be forced to kill the baby or will kill the baby willingly.
The murdering of babies is usually done by strangling, suffocating or poisoning food that will be fed to the baby.
Some mothers feel if they keep their baby girls, they are doing nothing but setting them up for a depressing life in poverty. If wives do not give their husbands sons, they can be severely punished.
Men will take action by murdering their wives, which is referred to as a dowry death.
According to the film, more than 100,000 women are murdered each year if they do not produce sons. The murders of the wives are very rarely investigated.
Women are not perceived as equal to men, therefore their deaths are not viewed as that big of a deal.
Wealthy couples will turn to ultrasounds in order to see the sex of the baby. If the baby is a female, they will abort it immediately.
The Preconception and Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, which was put into action in 1994, made it illegal to abort a baby because of its sex. Many families will pay a doctor to do an illegal abortion in order to get rid of their baby if it is a girl.
The second half of the film takes viewers to China where things are quite similar.
In China, the one child policy is enforced. Couples whose first child is a girl may try again to have a boy.
If they are unsuccessful, they may not have another child.
If this rule is broken and the couple is caught, the woman will be forced to have an abortion and become sterilized so they can no longer have children.
This policy prevented 400 million child births in the past 30 years in China.
Many couples in China will abandon their babies if they are girls. These abandoned babies are placed into homes similar to orphanages.
Because they are considered non-existent, the children will never be able to lead successful lives. They are unable to attend school or obtain a job when they are older.
There are 37 million more males than there are females in China. Because of the scarce number of females in China, many of them are kidnapped at a young age.
People will steal little girls in order for their future sons to be guaranteed a wife. According to the film, 70,000 children are stolen each year.
This film was created in order to shine light upon what is happening to people in different countries just because of their sex.
Women are coming together and speaking out against gendercide in order for their children to have a better and more equal chance at life.
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