Women's Sexual and Reproductive Rights
In the late 70’s the family planning policy was started. This policy made it so that families could only have one child. For about 20 years no couples were allowed to have more that one child, except for under few conditions. Those who did have more than one child and were not allowed would be penalized. The big question is did the one-child policy actually help the total population. Although the population is still increasing and went from 996 million to 1266 million, just imagine if there were no cutback in children how much higher the population would be. The one-child policy reduced the birth rate from 31 to 17 per thousand and the growth rate from 2.4% to .9% per year.
The one-child policy caused many families to have sex-selective abortions, where most families are aborting the female fetuses; the ratio is 116 males to every 100 females. The want for a male child is so bad that men use the threat of divorce as a way to try to get their wives to abort the female children. There is a gender imbalance in China because of people having more male children. There is becoming a shortage of women old enough to marry, which is causing people in rural areas to kidnap young women, these women normally become prostitutes or are sex slaves.
In 2004, the one-child policy was finally sought to be a problem and a plan called Care For Girls was invented. This plan offered families incentives to try to help stop the abortion of females. These incentives could be offered; tax breaks, free school, and free insurance. One of the reasons many thought that most couples wanted a boy was because they believed that they would better support their parents when they got older.
The one-child policy caused many families to have sex-selective abortions, where most families are aborting the female fetuses; the ratio is 116 males to every 100 females. The want for a male child is so bad that men use the threat of divorce as a way to try to get their wives to abort the female children. There is a gender imbalance in China because of people having more male children. There is becoming a shortage of women old enough to marry, which is causing people in rural areas to kidnap young women, these women normally become prostitutes or are sex slaves.
In 2004, the one-child policy was finally sought to be a problem and a plan called Care For Girls was invented. This plan offered families incentives to try to help stop the abortion of females. These incentives could be offered; tax breaks, free school, and free insurance. One of the reasons many thought that most couples wanted a boy was because they believed that they would better support their parents when they got older.