By Catherine Redfern | 9 January 2006, 22:32

The BBC reports that sexism has caused the loss of “10m female births in India” in the past 20 years.

“Researchers in India and Canada for the Lancet journal said prenatal selection and selective abortion was causing the loss of 500,000 girls a year… The unusual gender balance in India has been known about for some time. In most countries, women slightly outnumber men, but separate research for the year 2001 showed that for every 1,000 male babies born in India, there were just 933 girls… The girl child has traditionally been considered inferior and a liability - a bride’s dowry can cripple a poor family financially.”

More really interesting statistics about the influence of sex selection practices on the ratio of men to women in different countries around the world can be found in the fascinating Atlas of Women.

The book shows that similar patterns can be seen in South Korea, China, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The book states “among the consequences, a shortage of women seems to be contributing to local and regional increases in trafficking and kidnapping of women.”