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SELECTIVE ABORTION OF GIRLS INCREASES IN ARMENIA: UN
Agence France Presse
Dec 19 2011
YEREVAN - The percentage of male children born in Armenia has risen
significantly due to an increase in female foeticide, the United
Nations Population Fund said on Monday.
More than 7,000 ArmenianS women have had selective abortions over
the past five years, according to a new study carried out by the UN
Population Fund with the Armenian health ministry and the Institute
of Perinatology.
The gender ratio of births is 110-120 boys to 100 girls, higher than
the accepted norm of 102-106 boys to 100 girls, the study said.
The trend could cause demographic problems for the small ex-Soviet
state, UN Population Fund official Garik Hayrapetyan told a news
conference in Yerevan.
"In ten to 20 years, we will face a deficit of women -- that means,
of potential mothers," Hayrapetyan said.
Selective abortion is a problem in countries like China and India.
But it has also reached "worrying proportions" in Caucasus states
Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, the Council of Europe's Parliamentary
Assembly said in a resolution on gender selection in October.
The resolution said that pressure on women to have selective abortions
should be seen as "a form of psychological violence".
From: A. Papazian
Agence France Presse
Dec 19 2011
YEREVAN - The percentage of male children born in Armenia has risen
significantly due to an increase in female foeticide, the United
Nations Population Fund said on Monday.
More than 7,000 ArmenianS women have had selective abortions over
the past five years, according to a new study carried out by the UN
Population Fund with the Armenian health ministry and the Institute
of Perinatology.
The gender ratio of births is 110-120 boys to 100 girls, higher than
the accepted norm of 102-106 boys to 100 girls, the study said.
The trend could cause demographic problems for the small ex-Soviet
state, UN Population Fund official Garik Hayrapetyan told a news
conference in Yerevan.
"In ten to 20 years, we will face a deficit of women -- that means,
of potential mothers," Hayrapetyan said.
Selective abortion is a problem in countries like China and India.
But it has also reached "worrying proportions" in Caucasus states
Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, the Council of Europe's Parliamentary
Assembly said in a resolution on gender selection in October.
The resolution said that pressure on women to have selective abortions
should be seen as "a form of psychological violence".
From: A. Papazian