100
Million Women are Missing
In
Europe and the North America, there has been a consistently high
ratio of women to men. Currently the gender ratio is 1.05; that
is, for every 100 men, there are 105 women living. In other parts
of the word, this is not the case. In fact, Sen (1990) claims that
overall there are only about 98 women to 100 men worldwide, and
in some countries, the number can below 90.
When given equal access
to adequate food and medical care, women live noticeably longer
than men. The statistics in Europe and the North America bear this
out. Despite this biological advantage, there are areas of the world
where women have a much higher rate of mortality than men, such
as China, South Asia and North Africa. This raises questions about
the types of gender inequalities that result in premature death
of women and girls.
Amartya Sen
wrote a paper in 1990 saying More Than 100
Million Women are Missing, “women who are simply not there
due to unusually high female mortality compared with male mortality
rates.” (Sen 2001). To understand the magnitude of the problem
in high mortality regions, he calculated the number of women who
are actually living compared with the number that one could expect
if mortality rates were on par with Europe and North America. The
missing women are those people who died prematurely due to neglect
of nutrition or healthcare, or who were victims of gender bias before
birth.
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Visualizing
100 Million women
In
1990 Sen estimated the number of missing women at 100
Million, ranking it among the worst human catastrophes
in the 20th Century. Klasen and Wink note that this number
of missing people is larger than:
• All the combined famines in the 20th century
• The death toll of World War I and II combined
• The casualities from major epidemics, such as
the 1919-20 global influenza epidemic or the current AIDS
pandemic.
In demographic terms, 100 Million missing women represents
70% of the current female population in the United States.
(source: World Bank)
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Causes
of Mortality Inequality
Mortality
Inequality is the term used to describe the higher rates of death
among women and girls compared to men and boys. This increased mortality
is often the result of the failure to give young girls and women
medical care similar to what boys and men receive, or an unequal
access to food and social services. Together, these result in a
higher rate of disease and increased mortality of women and girls.
Much of the allocation of food and medical care is done within individual
households. Families with scarce resources may choose to care for
boy children over girls. In some regions boy children are valued
more highly than girls. The reasons for this differential valuation
are not fully understood but often include an expectation that boys
will grow up to be wage earners or family workers, and may provide
for their parents as they reach old age. By contrast, girls are
less likely to earn an income, and a dowry system may mean that
the household has to fund gifts for her husband, and his family,
if she is to be married. Women's limited economic opportunities
seem to be part of the reason for higher mortality amongst girls.
Klasen and Wink point out that the comparative neglect of female
children is generally worse in rural areas and is particularly severe
for later-born girls and among those even worse for girls with elder
sisters.
Gender
Discrimination before Birth
In some societies, there is a preference by some parents to have
boy children over girls and this bias can begin before birth. With
the advent of current medical technology that allows prospective
parents to determine the gender of their baby before birth, sex-selective
abortion have become common in some areas, such as East and South
Asia, especially China and some states in India.
Klasen and Wink highlight studies which show evidence of rising
sex ratios at birth, showing that gender bias is increasingly extended
before birth. China’s “one child” policy may also
be increasing the number of sex-selective abortions.
Ways
to reduce mortality inequality
When
women are able to work outside the home, and bring in economic support,
there is reduced female mortality. This means girls and women are
seen as more valuable to the family unit and are less often discriminated
upon.
In addition, there is a correlation between high mortality and female
literacy rate and women’s right to own property.
Free access to nutrition and health care reduces the need for households
to ration scarce resources. Increased educational and employment
opportunities for adult women can improve the situation for girls
today.
How
do women’s mortality rates change with increased globalization?
In many countries, global integration may reduce the role of the
state in the economy, and be associated with reductions in health,
education and social welfare expenditures. These changes may put
new burdens on women, particularly poor women. Reductions in state
expenditure, particularly in these areas of health, education and
welfare, often increase the domestic work of maintaining the household
and looking after children. These tasks usually performed by women.
Women may be forced to work longer hours seeking to replace state
provision of education and health care. This puts the education
and health of children in jeopardy and, in where there is high female
mortality, put girl children at added risk.
References
Sen, A. (2001)
“Many
Faces of Gender Inequality”, The Frontline, October 27,
2001.
Sen, A. (1990).
"More Than 100 Million Women Are Missing"
New York Review of Books (12/20/90): 61-66.
Klasen and Wink,
Missing
Women: Revisiting the Debate,“(2003), Feminist
Economics 9
(2-3): 263-299.
World Bank,
Bank World Development Indicators CD-ROM
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