ArticleBMJ open2021
Prevalence and correlates of sex-selective abortions and missing girls in Nepal: evidence from the 2011 Population Census and 2016 Demographic and Health Survey.
Article in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed.
- Two decades of safe abortion policy evolution and reform in Nepal (2002-2025): progress, implementation, challenges, and opportunities.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2026Article
- Induced abortion after advent of fetal sex detection technology and child sex at birth.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Toward sustainable development goals in gender inequality: an analysis of gender preferences among urban pregnant women in a Southeast Asian country.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2023Article
- Article
- Eating for honour: A cultural-ecological analysis of food behaviours among adolescent girls in the southern plains of Nepal.PloS one · 2023Article
- Suspected illegal abortion and unsafe abortion leading to uterine rupture and incomplete abortion: A case report.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2022Article
- Estimation and probabilistic projection of levels and trends in the sex ratio at birth in seven provinces of Nepal from 1980 to 2050: a Bayesian modeling approach.BMC public health · 2022Article
- An empirical analysis of the impact of gender inequality and sex ratios at birth on China's economic growth.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- Girls start life on an uneven playing field: Evidence from lowland rural Nepal.Evolution, medicine, and public health · 2022Article
- Women's empowerment and fertility preferences of married women: analysis of demographic and health survey'2016 in Timor-Leste.AIMS public health · 2022Article
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5 authors.
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Abstract
objectivesThese were to: (1) produce national and subnational estimates of the sex ratio at birth (SRB) and number of missing girl births in Nepal and (2) understand the socioeconomic correlates of these phenomena.
designObservational secondary data analysis of (1) the 2011 population census of Nepal and (2) the Nepal Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) 2006, 2011 and 2016.
settingNepal.
participants(1) 2 567 963 children age 0-4 in the 2011 population census and (2) 27 329 births recorded in DHSs. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOMES: We estimate the SRB, and number and proportion of missing girls in the year and 5 years before the census by district. We also calculate conditional sex ratios (the SRB dependant on parity and sex of previous children) by province, time, education and wealth.
resultsWe find that 11 districts have significantly skewed sex ratios at birth in the 2011 population census, with the highest SRBs observed in Arghakhanchi (SRB=127) and Bhaktapur (SRB=123). 22 540 girl births were missing in the 5 years before the 2011 population census. Sex-selective abortion is geographically concentrated, especially in the Kathmandu Valley and Lumbini Province, with 53% of missing girls found in only 11 out of 75 districts.DHS data confirm this, with elevated conditional sex ratios observed in Bagmati and Lumbini Provinces; conditional sex ratios where previous births were all female also became more skewed over time. Skewed sex ratios are concentrated among wealthier more educated groups.
conclusionsIt is clear that sex selection will persist and develop in Nepal unless a coordinated effort is made to address both the demand for and supply of this service. Policies should be holistic and encompass economic and legal gender equity, and strengthen monitoring mechanisms to prevent technology misuse, without jeopardising the right to safe, free and legal abortion.
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