India’s population has tripled in size in the last 50 years, hitting a record 1.2 billion in 2010. India is set to outpace China by 2030, even though the population growth is slowing. But the data has a disturbing side, the ratio of boys to girls has dropped again. For every 1,000 boys only 914 girls are born. The gender imbalance is a result of sex selection, and may have far-reaching adverse effects for the country. Mara Hvistendahl, author of the book “Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls and the Consequences of a World Full of Men”, says even as literacy rates among females increase, the gender imbalance will led to women in poorer regions becoming “commodity” items, in danger of kidnapping or trafficking.
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