Laws and Son Preference in India- A Reality Check

This study underscores the need to connect the dots if the practice of son preference and its manifestation, discrimination against daughters, is to be addressed. Clearly, it is not only about implementing the PCPNDT Act but also the various laws that can indeed play a central role in moulding the process of social change to eventually eliminate discrimination against girls. While attitudes and perceptions need to change to accept daughters equally as sons, this change can be accelerated if it is brought about in a supportive legal and policy environment. The recommendations from this review essentially point to such steps that can indeed remove the legal bottlenecks which inadvertently, or owing to inaction, tend to promote discrimination or keep it intact. The lack of implementation of laws, their faulty or at times discriminatory provisions or the absence of certain laws, in fact, accentuate the factors that make girls unwanted, be it laws related to inheritance, dowry, harassment or child marriage. Taking action to enhance the social value of girls would therefore mean taking the first few steps to remove the legal bottlenecks highlighted in this review