Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
Selective abortion leaves India with 63 million women ‘missing’
Five children make their way to school on the outskirts of Gauhati, India

WIDESPREAD selective abortion of girls has left India “missing” 63 million women, government officials said yesterday.

India’s annual economic survey reported that, in addition to outright femicide, boys were often better fed and received better healthcare.

Officials also said that “families where a son is born are more likely to stop having children than families where a girl is born.”

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Members of trade unions shout slogans during a nationwide strike to protest an interim trade deal with the United States, saying the agreement undermines the interests of farmers, small businesses and workers in New Delhi, India, February 12, 2026
Workers' Rights / 25 February 2026
25 February 2026

The biggest strike in global history is a template for our future. The silence tells you all you need to know, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE

A woman looking out of a window
Features / 8 September 2025
8 September 2025

AMANDA J QUICK warns about the ever-expanding influence of the sex industry – and the harm it unleashes on both the women involved and society collectively, especially the young