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Current Sociology
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Explaining Daughter Devaluation and the Issue of Missing Women in South Asia and the UK

Aisha Gill

Roehampton University, UK, a.gill{at}roehampton.ac.uk

Trishima Mitra-Kahn

Roehampton University, UK, trishima{at}gmail.com

Women in South Asia have a biologically abnormal chance of mortality from conception until their mid-thirties. This phenomenon (known as ‘missing women’) is related to son preference and daughter devaluation, which manifests itself in sex-selective abortions and gender-biased allocations of healthcare and nutrition. This article examines putative underlying determinants of the missing women phenomenon in South Asia (primarily India, but touching upon Pakistan and Bangladesh) and determines which of them are operative. It is found that these underlying determinants persist in migrant communities in the UK, though there is evidence that they find expression in different ways. The article presents an agenda for researching the phenomenon of missing women in the UK and suggests ways in which it might be eliminated.

Key Words: daughter devaluation • migration • missing women • sex-selective abortion • son preference

Current Sociology, Vol. 57, No. 5, 684-703 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0011392109337652
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