[Vnbiz] Chilling truth about Vietnam’s boy fixation

[Tran Dinh Hoanh]

Dear CACC,

This is really alarming.  The imbalance will show dire consequences very
soon.  We need to educate people on gender equality and the serious social
consequences of imbalance of the sexes.

BTW, why the heck would someone prefer boy over girl, or girl over boy?  I
don't get it.  I have 2 daughters and no boy and I am perfectly happy.
What's the big deal?

Have a great day!

Hoanh


On 10/24/07, Tai Phan <k.phan007 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> [ Vietnam Business Forum ]
>
>
>
> *Chilling truth about Vietnam's boy fixation
>
> *Straits Times/ANN
> HaNoi, Oct. 22: Visitors to primary schools in Viet Nam often feel
> chillingly uneasy to see rooms packed with boys. At a typical Ha
> Noi kindergarten, teacher Nguyen Thi Thuy has noticed a rather dramatic
> change over the past five years.
> "This year, my class has 25 children," said Thuy. "Seventeen are boys and
> only eight are girls. When the little boys grow up, most of them will not be
> able to find a wife""
> A preference for sons has skewed birth ratios across Asia, especially in
> China and India, but its sudden appearance in Viet Nam and the size of the
> imbalance has stunned experts. Ten years ago, Vietnam's gender birth ratio
> equalled the accepted international average of around 104 boys to 100 girls.
>
> But over the past few years, in tandem with rising incomes and easier
> access to clinics that determine foetal sex and conduct abortions, the
> number of male births has raced ahead of female ones.
> Already, the number of boys born in many regions of Vietnam exceeds those
> of girls by 20 per cent or more.
> Recent surveys by the Population, Family and Children Science Institute
> show that the male-female ratio is as lopsided as 135 boys to 100 girls in
> some districts.
> Last month, Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Ba Thuy revealed that in the
> first quarter of this year, 337,600 babies were born, of which 183,600 were
> boys and 154,000 were girls, for a national ratio of about 118 boys to 100
> girls.
> The imbalance may worsen because the current lunar year of the golden pig
> has raised hopes for sons to bring good fortune to families.
> Vietnam has a two-child policy. Many couples try to have a boy as their
> first-born, and then would not mind if their second child is a girl.
> It is common to see couples with two sons, or a son and a daughter, but
> rare to find those with two daughters.
> It is now expected that the national gender ratio at birth may be as high
> as 120 boys to 100 girls this year.
> Experts become uneasy when the boy-to-girl disparity hits a ratio of
> 106:100, but when it exceeds 110:100, alarm bells start ringing about
> potentially calamitous long-term effects.
> Said Mr Ian Howie, the United Nations Population Fund's Vietnam
> representative: "An imbalance of sexes fuels human trafficking and sexual
> exploitation. It endangers economic development and increases social
> instability as a growing population of men searches for partners."
> He said skewed gender ratios occur when there is a strong preference for
> sons, access to determining the sex of unborn babies and readily available
> abortion services.




-- 
> Tran Dinh Hoanh, Esq., LLB, JD
> Washington DC
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