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PATHWAY TO LEADERSHIP Foundation: Women’s Survival,
expectation than men, yet between 60 and
Sex-selective abortion has engendered highly
Health and Education
100 million “women” were missing from the
unbalanced sex ratios at birth, with long-term
demographic matrix. Subsequent research
implications for fertility, availability of mar-
Survival and Health
linking demographics, gender, and cultural
riage partners, social unrest, and state secu-
Early survival, health and well-being, fol-
norms highlight that women disappeared
rity.34 China has the highest ratio at 1.133
lowed by education constitute the founda-
because they were terminated in utero or soon
males for every female born, followed by India
tion of women’s leadership. In Asia, foeticide
after birth; their births were not registered; or
(1.120), Vietnam (1.117), Taiwan (1.084), and
and neglect threaten the survival of girls and
they were fatally neglected as infants.
Hong Kong SAR, China (1.075).35 As a result
33
diminish the pool from which to draw future
The norm for son preference, combined
of their “missing women,” India and China
female leaders. Amartya Sen, the Nobel lau-
with medical advancement and one-child
rank second-last and third-last, respectively,
reate in economics, initiated the discourse
or two-children policies in China and India,
of 135 countries in the GGG Report 2011’s
on “missing girls” when he noted the para-
respectively, have had significant demo-
health and survival sub-index.36
dox that women generally had higher life
graphic and socio-economic consequences.
In the Global Gender Gap rankings, girls’