The world is expected to welcome its 7 billionth inhabitant, probably on Halloween, somewhere in India. And some folks will be looking for a baby girl to win the title, to help showcase the shortage of girls in India:
SEVENBILLION1.wav :07 “...quite an alarming situation.”
SEVENBILLION1.mp3 :07 “...quite an alarming situation.”
That's Dr. Bhagyashri Dengle (bah-GISH-ree Ding-leh), speaking to us from New Delhi this morning. She is Executive Director of “Plan India”, a group that wants to raise awareness about India's "disappearing girls". She says despite laws against sonograms -- to tell the sex of the child ahead of time – and against selective abortion -- whenever it's a girl, rather than a boy – these practices continue, illegally.
OPTIONAL ADDITIONAL COPY (interviewee contact info below): She says in one province, they don't have enough girls to marry eligible men, so they buy girls from other provinces which, presumably have a surplus. She says another province has reports of two brothers marrying the same girl, due to the shortage.
More info here.
***TO GET YOUR OWN INTERVIEW***
Media contacts:
Shompa Mohanty
Communications Manager (India)
+91 (0) 1146558414
Shompa.Mohanty@planindia.org
Davinder Kumar
Press Officer (International Headquarters, UK)
+44 (0) 7739 326164
Davinder.Kumar@plan-international.org
Robin Costello
Director of Communications
Plan International USA
401-738-5600 ext. 1318
robin.costello@planusa.org
Meg Cangany
Media/PR Officer
Plan International USA
202-223-8325 x139
meg.cangany@planusa.org
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