Que : State the social problems arising due to decreasing sex ratio.

  The sex ratio is the number of females per 1000 males. Sex ratio is a social indicator to measure the extent of equality between males and females in a given society of a country at a given time. Due to many reasons like conservative social customs, illiteracy, poverty, religious beliefs etc., the sex ratio in the society is mostly not in favor of females, resulting in problems in the society.

•  Since India is a male-dominated country, there is a fluctuation in sex ratio in India. But the number of females has always been less than that of males. This high difference in sex ratio gives rise to social disintegration.
  
•  There are great disparities in sex ratio in India at the regional level. Only two states in India, Kerala and Puducherry, have a high sex ratio.
  

❖ Social problems arising due to declining sex ratio:

➢ Gender imbalance:

o Prof. Amartya Sen in his world famous article “Missing Women” has statistically proven that there has been a decline of 100 million women in South Asia during the last century, which is due to discrimination experienced during their life cycle from womb to grave.

 Changes in marriage system:

• The unfavorable ratio ultimately creates an overall imbalance in the number of men and women and has an adverse effect on the marriage system, which damages the social system in other ways.
• In India, in some villages of Haryana and Punjab, the sex ratio is so poor that men bring girls from other states, these girls are often exploited.

• Increase in violence:

• Declining sex ratio leads to more violence against both men and women as well as human trafficking.
• Due to the increase in female foeticide, the sex ratio decreases, which leads to an increase in the rate of violence against women.

•  Impact on the social status of women:

• On the one hand, the small number of women reduces the decision-making opportunities of women at different levels of society, which in turn reduces the social status of women.

•  Political impact:
• The decrease in the number of women in a democratic governance system shows their inadequate participation in public decision-making regarding demographics. Which affects factors like economic growth, participation in employment, etc.

                         Globally as well as in India, campaigns and schemes launched for the upliftment of women, as well as the women’s reservation provided by the Central Government under the Nari Shakti Vandana Act, etc., can prevent the declining sex ratio in society.