Gendercide

Senator Rónán Mullen, 9th March, 2010, Order of Business: In the context of international women’s day, I draw attention to a stirring article in The Economist entitled “Gendercide”. Some 100 million women have gone missing in the world as a result of abortion or infanticide because of sex selection policies, especially in China and India. I am concerned that the women’s movement has lost sight of this. I am concerned that its members are almost nervous to question the choice of killing a born or unborn female child lest they blaspheme at the altar of choice at which they are supposed to worship. I would like the Minister for Foreign Affairs to come to the House and inform us of what the Government is doing to raise this troubling issue in international fora. This is as important as any other human rights abuse in any other part of the world.