Son preference and sex selection against females in the UK: Evidence, causes, trends and implications

1980年代以来，重男轻女和产前性别选择程序日益普及，影响了生殖做法，并导致亚洲估计有1亿女孩失踪。在英国、美国和加拿大的亚裔社区中，出于男孩偏好的家庭决策也得到了证实，并引起了相关社区、妇女团体、卫生部门、政策制定者和整个社会的相当大的关注。这项建议的总体目标是通过在英国的亚裔社区中的生殖决策和实践来评估性别偏好，并获得对起作用的动态因素的背景了解，这些动态因素将为旨在解决男孩偏好和选择性生殖的潜在做法的基于伦理和性别正义的政策框架和干预措施提供信息。该项目涉及对英国、欧洲和亚洲关于男孩偏好的政策制定及其可能转化为性别选择的研究的需求(例如，见2015年《重罪法案》，第84(英国)条；欧洲委员会第1829号决议；人权高专办、人口基金、儿童基金会、联合国妇女署和世卫组织的机构间声明“防止性别偏见的性别选择”)。为了连贯地处理这一专题的多方面问题，该项目汇集了生殖、家庭动态、儿子偏好及其表现方面的专门知识，这将使与知情政策相关的定性和定量方法成为可能。我们将使用来自不同来源的现有人口统计数据，对基于性别的生育做法(例如停止规则)、出生性别比(SRB)、趋势和代际变化进行量化分析，为男孩偏好的人口统计表现提供新的和强有力的证据，并澄清近年来英国产前性别选择(PSS)的潜在证据。重男轻女，虽然根植于传统的父权制，但在性格上正在发生变化。虽然量化工作将为与男孩偏好有关的生育实践带来新的见解，但广泛的定性分析将询问亚洲社区内跨代家庭的性别偏好实践、男孩偏好变化因素和相关父权意识形态的背景做法。深入了解构成性别偏好的因素之间的相互依存关系，为促进性别不平等理论提供了难得的机会。这项工作将调查性别的社会秩序和变化的父权文化在亚洲社区的普遍程度，以及不同性别的社会制度之间的动态相互关系。这将有助于理解阶级、年龄和种族/民族的交集，将性别嵌入当代英国社会不断变化的社会结构中，揭示复杂的性别经历的潜在多样性，包括这如何挑战(或不挑战)性别规范的概念。拟议的工作还将提供丰富的案例研究，以推进跨国理论。结果可能支持旨在规范、文化和行为改变的知情政策干预。我们将在性别公正框架内进行伦理分析，并结合政策框架分析，为潜在干预措施的最佳做法提供信息，并支持沟通。在整个过程中，各种利益攸关方(学者、医疗专业人员、妇女团体/非政府组织、政策制定者)将参与这一多学科项目，包括卫生部(合作伙伴)，以提供关于男孩偏好和相关生育做法的最佳循证知识，这些知识与相关妇女、她们的家庭、社区妇女组织、医疗部门直接相关，并对在英国及其他地方促进性别平等的政策具有重要意义。

Son preference and the increasing availability of prenatal sex selection procedures since the 1980s have shaped reproductive practices and contributed to an estimated 100 million missing girls in Asia. Son preference motivated family-making decisions have also been evidenced among Asian communities in the UK, the USA, and Canada, and is of considerable concern for the communities involved, women's groups, the health sector, policy makers and society at large. The overarching aim of this proposal is to evaluate gender preferences through reproductive decision-making and practice among Asian communities in the UK and gain a contextual understanding of the dynamic factors at play that will inform an ethically founded and gender justice policy framework and interventions aiming to address son preference and potential practices of selective reproduction.The project speaks to demands for research on policy development with regard to son preference and its potential translation into sex-selection in the UK, Europe and Asia (see for instance Serious Crime Act 2015, section 84 (UK); resolution 1829 of the Council of Europe; the interagency statement 'Preventing gender-biased sex selection' of the OHCHR, UNFPA, UNICEF, UN Women and WHO). To coherently tackle the multifaceted aspects of the topic, the project brings together expertise on reproduction, family dynamics, son preference and its manifestations that will enable qualitative and quantitative approaches relevant for informed policy. Using available demographic data from various sources,, we will analyse quantitatively gender-based childbearing practices (e.g. the stopping rule), sex ratio at birth (SRB), trends and intergenerational changes, providing novel and robust evidence of demographic manifestations of son preference, and also clarifying potential evidence of prenatal sex-selection (PSS) in recent years in the UK. Son-preference, though rooted in traditional patriarchy is changing in character. While the quantitative work will bring novel insights into reproductive practices in relation to son-preference, an extensive qualitative analysis will interrogate inter-generational family dynamics within the Asian communities of contextualised practices of gender preferences and factors of changes in son preference and related patriarchal ideologies. An in-depth understanding of the interdependencies between factors underpinning gender preferences provides a rare opportunity to contribute to theories of gender inequality. This work will investigate the pervasiveness of the gendered social order and shifting patriarchal cultures within Asian communities and also the dynamic interrelation of differently gendered social systems. This will help understanding the intersection of class, age and race/ethnicity qualify gender embeddedness within the changing social fabric of contemporary British society, inform the potential diversity of complex gendered experiences including how this is challenging (or not) the very idea of gender norms. The proposed work will also provide a rich case study to advance transnational theories.Outcomes are likely to support informed policy interventions aimed at normative, cultural and behavioural changes. We will conduct an ethical analysis within a gender justice framework combined with a policy framing analysis, to also inform best practice of potential interventions and support communication. Throughout, a variety of stakeholders (academics, medical professionals, women's groups/NGOs, policy makers) will be engaged in this multi-disciplinary project, including the Department of Health (partner), to provide the best evidence-based knowledge on son preference and related childbearing practices, which is of direct relevance to the women concerned, their family, community-based women's organisations, the medical sector, and of importance to inform policies promoting gender equality in the UK and beyond.