Laura Rahm - Gender-Biased Sex Selection in South Korea, India and Vietnam: Assessing the Influence of Public Policy

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When I began researching the causes and consequences of the demographic sex imbalance in populations over 20 years ago, there were five countries with abnormally high childhood sex ratios; today, there are 19 countries in which practices of sex-selective abortion and/or female infanticide have led to an imbalance in the number of males and females in the birth and child populations. Research has advanced our knowledge of the individual, societal and state factors driving sex selection, but to date, there has been no systematic study of the policies used by states to counter sex-selective practices. Laura Rahms book, Gender-Biased Sex Selection in South Korea, India and Vietnam , fills this gap and lays the foundation for both research and policy to address the rising sex imbalance.

I had the great pleasure of corresponding with Laura at different points throughout her research and was impressed to learn that Laura was comparing state- and local-level policies aiming to reduce sex selection in South Korea, India and Vietnam through an interdisciplinary and mixed-method approach that involved field work in each of the statesthe opportunity to conduct research in three countries is increasingly rare in the current climate of cuts to research funding. The three countries in her study were well chosen: South Korea is unique for normalising its birth sex ratio after an abnormally high peak in the 1990s; Indias sex imbalance has a long history that shows little sign of abating; and Vietnam is one of the states that has only recently adopted sex-selective practices. The book is enriched by the numerous interviews with policy-makers, demographers and other officials as well as the in-depth analyses of the laws, campaigns and government policies.

Gender-Biased Sex Selection in South Korea, India and Vietnam offers insights into the effectiveness of the policies adopted to reduce the sex imbalance, including the analysis of gender equity and media campaigns in all three states, the problem of gendered language and reinforced masculinities in state policies in India and the unusual finding that the sex ratio at birth in Vietnam spiked in response to the introduction of anti-sex selection policies. The analysis reveals that anti-sex selection policies have had a limited impact on normalising sex ratios. This finding will be of considerable interest to the many countries facing imbalances in the sex ratio at birth. While demographers and other researchers have lauded South Korea as a success case, the argument here shows that the normalisation of the sex ratio at birth was the result of state and societal changes rather than the result of specific government policies targeting sex-selective practices. This raises concerns about the suitability of South Korea as a model for other countries to follow.

The book demonstrates that there is no one-size-fits-all solution, nor are there easy lessons that can be learned from one country and adapted for others. The comparison across countries raises questions about the meaning of, and the links between, methods, motivations and outcomes when addressing sex selection. If the desired policy outcome is simply reducing the sex ratio at birth, then the India model of legal bans and excessive monitoring seems like a viable solution; if, however, the desired outcome is to address the underlying causes of son preference so that daughters have equal life opportunities with sons, then the motivations and methods utilised by states need to be very different. The evidence here calls into question policy efforts only targeted at reducing access to sex-selective technology through laws and sanctions, suggesting that a real decline in sex ratio will only occur alongside a change in the motives for son preference.