Call to Stem Dipping Sex Ratio - NAC Urges Govt to Formulate National Policy
The Telegraph - New Delhi, India, 4/30/2012
The National Advisory Council has asked the Centre to formulate a national policy to stem the declining sex ratio at birth that it believed was ‘located at the complex interface of the status of women in Indian society, patriarchal social mores and prejudice, spread and misuse of medical technology and the changing aspirations of urban and rural society’. The council’s draft recommendations - prepared by members Farah Naqvi and A.K. Shiva Kumar and posted on its website for comments - outlined four major constituents that could be a ‘guide and a template’ for initiatives the Centre and the states might take in the future.
Another Gender Bias: In Gujarat, Birth Control Onus on Women
Daily News and Analysis - Ahmadabad, India, 4/30/2012
Despite the government’s efforts to encourage men to go in for sterilisation, Indian men continue to view vasectomy with suspicion. As a result, women still far outnumber men when it comes to undergoing sterilisation surgery for family planning. AMC data for 2011-12 indicates that only 555 men opted for vasectomy against 25,631 women who went in for tubal ligation (i.e. tubectomy). The data raises several questions about the attitude of Indian men towards sterilisation and their apparent indifference towards the health of their wives who, as a result, have to go in for tubal ligation instead.
Adolescent Report Card: 47% Indian Girls Unhealthy
Daily News and Analysis - New Delhi, India, 4/30/2012
According to the UNICEF Global Report card on Adolescents 2012, 47% of adolescent girls aged 15 - 19 in India were underweight with a body mass index of less than the prescribed level of 18.5. The south Asia region as a whole fared badly on the body mass index level with Bangladesh and Nepal having 35% and 26% underweight adolescent girls respectively. On sexual behavior among adolescents, UNICEF found that girls were more likely than boys to have sex before age 15. In India, 8% of adolescent girls had sex before the age 15 and 3% of adolescent males had sex before age 15.
S`pore Elite in Child Sex Scandal
Bangkok Post, Singapore, 4/29/2012
Prostitution is legal in Singapore, but 48 men ranging in age from their early 20s to late 40s have so far been charged under a 2008 law making it a crime to pay for sex with a girl under 18. Singapore has long been perceived as a conservative, even prudish, city-state but it has a thriving sex industry dating back to its beginnings as a key trading port of the then British empire. The latest case has shown a spotlight on its pragmatic approach, which instead of seeking to close down the sex industry aims to tightly regulate the trade to protect minors and ward off criminal involvement.
Kochiites Welcome Red Ribbon Express
Deccan Chronicle - Kochi, India, 4/29/2012
Kochiites thronged Red Ribbon Express, the eight-coach train touring the country to create awareness on HIV and AIDS. Free diagnosis of blood group, blood pressure check and similar tests were carried out at the Ernakulam Junction railway station in this connection. A counter was opened at the station for the services as visitors including activists, health workers, students and passengers read the exhibits and surveyed LCD screens on how to prevent the disease. A street play was held to bring out the stigma prevailing in society against AIDS patients.
54% of Sri Lankan Adolescent Girls Think Wife-Beating Can be Justified
The Sunday Leader, Sri Lanka, 4/29/2012
A recent UNICEF Progress Report on adolescents has revealed that 54% of Sri Lankan girls between the ages of fifteen and nineteen think that a husband is justified in hitting his wife. The statistics highlighting such attitudes among Sri Lankan girls towards marital violence are even higher than those pertaining to other countries in the region. According to the report, 53% of Indian girls in the same age group think that a husband is justified in beating his wife, while in Bangladesh and the Maldives, 41% of young girls share the same opinion.
Political Will Needed to Promote Gender Equity in Health Sector
The Nation - Karachi, Pakistan, 4/28/2012
Political will is needed to strengthen existent institutions and pave way for gender equity in the health sector programmes, said PMA Sindh President Dr Samrina Hashmi. Talking to APP, she suggested need to streamline services provided to masses in health sector, with specific reference to reproductive health, mental health, population welfare, mother and child care besides violence related issues. Dr Samrina Hashmi agreed that ‘Gender Concept’ could be promoted on sound grounds through modification in the school and college curriculum.
Govt to Look Within as AIDS Crusade Loses Foreign Funds
The Pioneer - New Delhi, India, 4/28/2012
The Union Health Ministry`s crusade against HIV-AIDS seems to be heading towards tougher days given the tightening purse strings and falling enthusiasm among foreign donors who have contributed the bulk of capital required for the programme. The Ministry is now looking to its counterparts within the Government and the corporate sector to help the mission, which entered its fourth phase in March 2012, sustain momentum.
After HC Assurance, Girl in Same Sex Relationship Gets Back to Work
The Times of India - Bathinda, India, 4/27/2012
Twenty-year-old Swaran Kaur, the Punjab police constable who is in a lesbian relationship with her friend Harsharan Kaur, 28, went back to work after the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed Bathinda SSP to ensure protection to the couple from their families, who have been hounding them. Swaran joined back after a gap of six days during which she had asked the Bathinda SSP SS Gill for security cover but her request was rejected. The partners have decided not to go back to their village Balahar Vinjhu for the time being as their parents and villagers are adamant and dead opposed to their relationship.
Regressive Bill on Legal Age for Sex Gets Cabinet Nod
The Times of India - New Delhi, India, 4/27/2012
The Union Cabinet cleared a Bill that seeks to raise the age of legal sex from 16 to 18, provoking sharp criticism from child rights activists, who called it a regressive step. The Protection of Children against Sexual Offences Bill, 2011, says sex under the age of 18 - even if consensual - would be deemed as statutory rape. Activists are taken aback by the move as it comes at a time when sexual mores have become easier and the global trend has been one of puberty coming at an earlier age.
News Archives
2022
248