Girl Child

I want to write about the women of India. It seems that the majority of women in this area are respected and treated well. But I have also seen that inequality and brutality are practiced under the guise of religious sanctity and and cultural requirements. When I was in the Vellore villages with a nurse, Greta, we visited one of the poorest families in town. A young girl was asleep on the floor with a 5 day old baby. She was groggy, slow to respond to our questions. And the infant was so dehydrated that his entire body seemed to be cracking and tenting when you pinched his skin. His fontanelle was sunk deep into his head. Greta explained that this girl was born with a very low intelligence and thus forced to marry a very poor potter. She had no money and also no knowledge on the care of an infant. I found this to be so disturbing. The other thing I have noticed in India are signs and statues that encourage women to cherish their female babies. The CHAD obstetric department will no longer provide ultrasounds because of the concern about pregnant mothers being forced or encouraged to abort female fetuses.
I've also heard of violence against women in other settings. In the community health clinic last week I saw a male toddler with a viral respiratory infection. His entire extended family rolled out for his doctor visit because of their concern for his health. The intern I was working with explained that if this was a female child she would not be brought into see a physician until she was much worse off. I was in the operating theatre yesterday and saw a woman who was to receive a split thickness skin graft for severe flame burns on the backs of her legs. Someone in the OR whispered to me that he has seen many horrible things like this come into the OR, but no one discusses the story of the cause "for good reason". Another story that Greta told us was of a girl from a large family of female children. Greta said that the girl received very little attention from her parents and when a boy cousin showed her attention she took it. She became pregnant with him and she was soon murdered for this.
As I said before I do believe that these stories are the minority and that most Indian women are respected. But inequality and violence against women does still exist and I thought it was important for me to write about so that I remember these stories and pray for change.