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Cross-Country Comparison: Policies, Patterns and Processes

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Gender-Biased Sex Selection in South Korea, India and Vietnam

Part of the book series: Demographic Transformation and Socio-Economic Development ((DTSD,volume 11))

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Abstract

This chapter provides a cross-country comparison of the policy response to sex selection. The comparison reveals that each country follows diverse policy intentions ranging from protecting fetal rights in Korea, to women’s rights in India, to a balanced population structure in Vietnam. The three countries all responded with similar policy instruments including legal bans, awareness-raising, gender equity laws, and incentives. These instruments are typically implemented in concert over extended periods. Nevertheless, these policies fell short on impact. They did not deliver what they were designed to do: to improve sex selection. Although SRB normalized in South Korea, this was not due to policy changes. Neither India nor Vietnam has been able to reverse their sex selection trends to date. Despite policy inefficacy, international organizations frequently promote the same policy ‘toolbox’ to internationally harmonize policy interventions across vastly different terrains. This policy transfer has contributed to policy convergence. However, there is room for policy translation, adaptation and different focal areas in how the three countries deal with sex selection and its consequences. As such, they have prioritized certain areas over others in the 3-M-Model. South Korea has focused on the magnitudes, India on methods and Vietnam on motives, partly due to their unique path dependency and the different SRB transitional stages the countries are in.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This is reflected in a rapid rise in SRB, which starts from an already skewed level of 107 and extends over a decade until SRB reaching a plateau around 112–113. This rise occurred in the 1980s in South Korea and two decades later in Vietnam (see also Den Boer & Hudson, 2017).

  2. 2.

    This language was used among 55% of the Indian interview partners (26 out of 47 people). Especially policy makers (10 out of 17) and male interviewees (13 out of 20) referred to state authorities monitoring/tracking/catching women. See also Section “Pregnancy Tracking: Targeting Women or Improving Maternal Health?” in Chap. 6.

  3. 3.

    More critical observers stated during field research that Vietnam’s eagerness to address sex selection as a novel population problem was also due to administrative reasons. The governmental body in charge of population matters (GOPFP) had met their principle mandate (to lowering fertility to replacement level) early. It was suggested that the institutional structure would risk becoming obsolete in the absence of a new population mandate (e.g. addressing sex imbalances).

  4. 4.

    Scholars have also pointed to confusing and contradictory gender equality messages in social and economic reforms in South Korea (see Peng, 2011).

  5. 5.

    It took India much longer to recognize the seriousness of the issue and mobilize forces against it. The Modi administration has shown this high-level dedication with his flagship BBBP scheme.

  6. 6.

    See also the related literature on international norm diffusion (Keck & Sikkink, 1998; Prantl & Nakano, 2011; Risse et al., 1999).

  7. 7.

    It is important to note that all three countries have addressed sex selection from various angles including supply-side and demand-side measures, or as proposed here, measures targeting the motives, methods and magnitudes of sex selection. Yet, they have prioritized certain instruments over others.

  8. 8.

    For example, a 1997 poster campaign stated, “I want to be born with the blessing of mama and papa. I am frightened of abortion for being a girl. Please protect my life” (PPFK, 1998, p. 15). A 1998 slogan read, “Life is [...] born not by selection but by love” (PPFK, 1999, p. 19) and a 1999 campaign emphasized, “I don’t want to be written off! Induced abortion is really an action to write off a life” showing both a girl and a boy that are crossed out (PPFK, 2000, p. 18). See Section “Love for Daughters, Babies and other Pro-life Campaigns” in Chap. 5.

  9. 9.

    The concept of convergence in divergence is used in Information and Communication Theory to describe how systems become similar to varying degrees (Miike, 2007).

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  1. Center for Population and Development, Paris, France

    Laura Rahm

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  1. Laura Rahm
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Rahm, L. (2020). Cross-Country Comparison: Policies, Patterns and Processes. In: Gender-Biased Sex Selection in South Korea, India and Vietnam. Demographic Transformation and Socio-Economic Development, vol 11. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20234-7_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20234-7_8

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