TERRIBLE

Study: 239,000 Baby Girls Die Yearly in India Due to Gender Bias

Because males take priority when it comes to care and nutrition.

Nearly a quarter of a million girls under the age of 5 die each year in India as a result of gender discrimination, according to a new study out Tuesday in The Lancet medical journal. Christophe Guilmoto of the Paris Descartes University, one of the study’s co-authors, said that figure excludes cases of abortion. “Gender-based discrimination towards girls doesn’t simply prevent them from being born, it may also precipitate the death of those who are born,” Guilmoto was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse. He attributed the deaths to girls receiving worse health care and nutrition than boys. The study, which examined population data from 46 countries to determine the effect of gender discrimination on female health, found that about 239,000 girls die a year in India from neglect caused by gender bias—a whopping 2.4 million over the last decade.