Tackling Daughter Deficits in Tamil Nadu, India

A well-known demographic feature in several East and South Asian countries is the continuing decline in the proportion of girls to boys. In India, till recently, the skewed sex ratio was treated as a Northern and Western Indian phenomenon. However, analysis of the 2001 Census shows that some of the districts with the most unbalanced sex ratios lie in the Southern state of Tamil Nadu. Notwithstanding its recent addition to the list of states exhibiting daughter deficit, the state has pioneered initiatives to prevent daughter elimination and to measure daughter deficit. The availability of district-level panel data on infant mortality and sex ratio at birth covering the years 1996-1999 and 2003, periods which may be characterized by sharp differences in programs and initiatives to reduce daughter elimination combined with spatial variation in these programs, provides an unusual opportunity to identify the causal effect of interventions on both, pre- and post-birth daughter deficit. We find evidence of daughter deficit in at least half the state’s districts with a majority of the deficit (60 to 70 percent) occurring before birth, potentially due to sex selective abortion as compared to after birth due to female infanticide and neglect. The temporal analysis over the period 1996-1999 and 2003, shows a 46 percent decline in post-birth deficit, without a corresponding increase in pre-birth deficit. Our difference-in-differences estimates suggest that at least 79 percent of the decline in post-birth deficit may be attributed to the set of policy interventions pursued by the state and civil society actors.

What Is the Relationship between Domestic Violence and Dowry?

Dowry is one of the reasons that daughters are viewed as burdensome in countries like India. At the same time, access to and control over their dowries (and other forms of assets including land) can play a significant role in women's well being, for instance by reducing the level of domestic violence they experience.York’s Knowledge Mobilization Unit provides services and funding for faculty, graduate students, and community organizations seeking to maximize the impact of academic research and expertise on public policy, social programming, and professional practice. It is supported by SSHRC and CIHR grants, and by the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation. This summary was prepared by Mary Choy. [email protected] www.researchimpact.c

DataTales: Investigating the use of Large Language Models for Authoring Data-Driven Articles

Authoring data-driven articles is a complex process requiring authors to not only analyze data for insights but also craft a cohesive narrative that effectively communicates the insights. Text generation capabilities of contemporary large language models (LLMs) present an opportunity to assist the authoring of data-driven articles and expedite the writing process. In this work, we investigate the feasibility and perceived value of leveraging LLMs to support authors of data-driven articles. We designed a prototype system, DataTales, that leverages a LLM to generate textual narratives accompanying a given chart. Using DataTales as a design probe, we conducted a qualitative study with 11 professionals to evaluate the concept, from which we distilled affordances and opportunities to further integrate LLMs as valuable data-driven article authoring assistants.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Double trouble-unveiling the hidden pain: bilateral paediatric parsonage-turner syndrome: an unprecedented encounter

Parsonage-turner syndrome (PTS), also known as idiopathic brachial neuritis, is a rare disorder characterized by sudden-onset severe shoulder pain followed by weakness and atrophy of the shoulder and arm muscles. This case report presents the clinical scenario of an 11-year-old girl diagnosed with PTS, highlighting the unique challenges and considerations in the paediatric population. In our case, a 11-year-old girl presented with sudden-onset severe bilateral shoulder pain, followed by weakness and atrophy of the shoulder and upper arm muscles. The clinical examination revealed muscle wasting and limited range of motion. The diagnosis of PTS was confirmed through MRI and electromyography (EMG) showing denervation in the affected shoulder muscles. Patient was managed with symptomatic supportive treatment in the form of analgesics and physical therapy. Patient is on the road to recovery and on regular follow up. We concluded that prompt recognition and appropriate management of PTS are crucial to optimize outcomes and prevent long-term disability, particularly in the paediatric population

Daughter Elimination: Cradle Baby Scheme in Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu’s two decade old Cradle Baby Scheme tries to ensure that female babies who would otherwise have been killed are given up for adoption. Civil society activists are not happy with the scheme because they feel that it only encourages parents to abandon female babies and is not a substitute for tackling the crime of sex selection and female foeticide. However, until the girl child is welcome in families, such a scheme will be needed

Census 2011 and Child Sex Ratios in Tamil Nadu: A Comment

Abstract. Inspired by Narayana (2008), published in this journal, this comment revisits the conclusion of a policy-driven decline in daughter elimination in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu using recently released data from Census 2011. Consistent with Narayana's work we find evidence to support the conclusion that government and NGO interventions have played a role in reducing gender differences in survival

Tamil Nadu and the Diagonal Divide in Sex Ratios

Between 1961 and 2001, India’s 0-6 sex ratio has steadily declined. Despite evidence to the contrary, this ratio is often characterised in terms of a diagonal divide with low 0-6 sex ratios in northern and western India and normal 0-6 sex ratios in eastern and southern India. While unexpectedly high rates of female infant mortality have been reported in Tamil Nadu, it is still regarded as lying outside the ambit of states with unusually low 0-6 sex ratios. Based on an analysis of patterns in sex ratio at birth, infant mortality rates and under-5 mortality rates for Tamil Nadu, this paper traces the development of daughter deficit in the state and examines the validity of the diagonal divide in sex ratios across India. We find evidence of daughter deficit in more than half the state’s districts with a majority of the shortfall arising before birth. The evidence presented here, combined with earlier work on declining 0-6 sex ratios outside northwestern India, suggests that the diagonal divide is no longer an appropriate distinction

Tackling female infanticide and sex selection in Tamil Nadu a failure?

This response to "Declining Child Sex Ratio and Sex Selection in India: A Demographic Epiphany"? (EPW, 18 August 2012) argues that contrary to the assertion in that article, state and non-governmental organisation interventions seem to have played an important role in reversing the decline in the 0-6 sex ratio in Tamil Nadu