In some parts of the world, the most dangerous thing that could happen to a person would be to be born a girl. Not all countries value little girls; in fact, some countries participate in the practice of feticide (the killing of fetuses) upon finding out babies are girls, and in infanticide (the killing of babies) upon discovering that the babies are girls once they are girls. This is called gendercide, and it is an evil practice.

Female gendercide takes place especially in India and China, where boy babies are valued above girl babies. In India, girls are expensive, as the parents of the girl are expected to pay a dowry when she gets married. In China, parents are limited in how many children they can have, and boy children are preferred to girl children. In both countries, boy children carry on the family name, whereas the girl children do not.

This gendercide of girl children has skewed the sex ratios in these countries. The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences predicts that by 2020, there will be 30-40 million more young men than young women. The sex ratios are also skewed in India, and will continue to become more skewed as the years go on.

There is hope, however. There are things that you and I can do to help end the practice of global gendercide. Here are a few things you can do right now to join the fight against global gendercide:

1. Do your research. The more you learn about gendercide, the more easily you’ll be able to teach others about it. Which leads to…
2. Tell others about it! Talk to people, blog, email, share on social media, whatever you prefer. The more people who know about this, the likelier it is that people will want to do something about it.
3. Petition world leaders to put a stop to this practice. You can either sign petitions that already exist online, or write your own letters to leaders, explaining why you believe this practice should end.

With our combined efforts, we can stand united as we fight against the evil that is global gendercide. We must never give up until this practice has ended.