The most comprehensive compilation of information on the status of
women in the world.

Latest items for ISSA-LAW-1

March 15, 2024, 2:30 p.m.
Countries: Gabon
Variables: ISSA-LAW-1

"The assistance programme provides for access to health care (National Health Insurance and Social Protection Fund), microcredits for income-generating activities (National Fund for Social Action), [and] food aid, [as] assistance to girl mothers" (24). "[The State, through the National Health Insurance and Social Protection Fund] provides training for [girl-mothers]" (29).
Nov. 6, 2023, 11:49 p.m.
Countries: China
Variables: ISSA-LAW-1

"[The National Plan on Population Development (2016–2030)] provides for the in-depth implementation of the 'Care for Girls' campaign to improve girls’ living environment and put in place a system of supportive policies for the development of families with girls" (10).
Dec. 26, 2022, 6:07 p.m.
Countries: Bolivia
Variables: ISSA-LAW-1

"[T]he Bolivian government enacted a law to protect victims of femicides, infanticide, and rape of children and adolescents, given the cases in the country in which convicted rapists and murderers have been released" (para 2). "The penalties for prevarication in cases of femicide and infanticide are increased to up to 20 years in prison. The Bolivian Ministry of Justice said that criminal proceedings would be initiated for delay and revictimization would not be allowed" (para 5).
June 7, 2022, 10:47 a.m.
Countries: China
Variables: ISSA-LAW-1

" Guided by the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Maternal and Infant Health Care, the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Population and Family Planning, Measures for Implementation of the Law on Maternal and Infant Health Care, the Regulations on Administration of Technical Services for Family Planning, the Provisions on the Prohibition of Non-medical Foetal Sex Identification and Sex-selective artificial pregnancy termination, and other laws, administrative regulations as well as local laws, regulations and rules, all local governments have strictly investigated and harshly dealt with the practices of non-medical foetal sex identification and sex-selective artificial pregnancy termination" (47).
March 25, 2022, 10:05 p.m.
Countries: Kosovo
Variables: ISSA-LAW-1

"The boy-to-girl ratio at birth was 109 boys to 100 girls. According to UNICEF the government did not take steps to address the imbalance" (24).
Jan. 24, 2022, 1:07 p.m.
Countries: India
Variables: ISSA-LAW-1

"To counter sex selection, almost all states introduced 'girl child promotion' schemes to promote the education and well-being of girls, some of which required a certificate of sterilization for the parents to collect benefits" (47).
Oct. 25, 2021, 2:40 p.m.
Countries: Vietnam
Variables: ISSA-LAW-1

"To address the issue of gender equality, the government has issued legal documents prohibiting gender identification prior to birth and prohibiting gender-based violence and discrimination. Violations of these provisions are subject to fines or even imprisonment. The government continued to work through the 2010 National Strategy on Gender Equality. At the local or provincial level, some authorities give cash incentives for giving birth to female children. For example, Hau Giang provincial authorities awarded couples that give birth to two females a one-time sum of VND 390,000 to 1.3 million ($17 to $56)" (30).
Sept. 13, 2021, 2:24 p.m.
Countries: China
Variables: ISSA-LAW-1

"The law also prohibits health-care providers from providing illegal surgeries, ultrasounds to determine the sex of the fetus that are not medically necessary, [and] sex-selective abortions" (68). "A 2016 regulation released by the PRC’s National Health and Family Planning Commission, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, and the State Food and Drug Administration bans nonmedical fetal sex diagnosis and aborting a pregnancy based on gender selection. It stipulates that no unit or individual should carry out or promote such procedures. In September 2018 five government departments, including the National Health Commission and the State Drug Administration, jointly released a regulation on banning the use of ultrasonic diagnostic equipment to...more
Aug. 6, 2021, 4:21 p.m.
Countries: Niger
Variables: ISSA-PRACTICE-1, ISSA-PRACTICE-2, ISSA-LAW-1

"Infanticide occurred, and a sizeable proportion of the female prison population was incarcerated for this crime, which was often committed to hide pregnancies out of wedlock" (p 18).
June 25, 2021, 7:30 p.m.
Countries: Montenegro
Variables: ISSA-LAW-1

"The use of abortion to choose sons over daughters has been illegal in this demographically challenged former Yugoslav republic of some 623,000 people since 2009" (Para 4). "Amid signs of rising sex-selective abortions after the fall of communism, it banned them more than a decade ago. The use of early genetic tests to determine gender is also explicitly prohibited under Montenegrin law" (Para 25).
Feb. 4, 2021, 2 p.m.
Countries: India
Variables: ISSA-LAW-1

"The advisory committees have been directed to seize records, seal machines and institute legal proceedings if they notice any violation of the Act. On confirming the breach, the advisory committees should inform state medical councils and seek cancellation of the errant doctor’s licence to practice and suspension of the registration of the ultrasound clinic" (para 3).
Nov. 6, 2020, 11:29 a.m.
Countries: China
Variables: ISSA-LAW-1

“Such crime [abandoning a child] can result in a sentence of up to five years, according to Chinese laws” (para 17, 19).
Aug. 11, 2020, 7:11 p.m.
Countries: India
Variables: ISSA-LAW-1

“Considering the use of technology, diagnostic means and the lack of a legal sanction behind prohibiting female foeticide, the Indian legislature banned the use of pre-natal sex determination for the purpose of abortion a penal offence. Despite the fact that laws have made India’s pre-natal gender tests illegal, the 2011 census in India has indicated the futility of the efforts made to curb female foeticide. India’s overall female-to-male ratio, it appears, has not improved much since 2001, when the last census was conducted. In May 2011, Lancet, a British Medical Journal indicated that over 12 million Indian girls were aborted in the womb over the last three decades in the...more
Dec. 14, 2019, 2:59 p.m.
Countries: India
Variables: ISSA-LAW-1

"Under Indian law the sex selection of foetuses and abortion of babies because of their gender is illegal" (para 11). "Sex-selection [is] illegal in India, says Mr Chaudhry" (para 34).
Dec. 8, 2019, 5:09 p.m.
Countries: Nepal
Variables: ISSA-LAW-1

"Though sex-determination tests and sex-selective abortion are illegal in Nepal, punishable by imprisonment from 3 months to 6 months, evidence suggests that it does occur" (2).
June 14, 2019, 4:05 p.m.
Countries: India
Variables: ISSA-LAW-1

"Almost all states also introduced 'girl child promotion' schemes, intended to counter sex selection, some of which required a certificate of sterilization for the parents to collect benefits" (41).
June 11, 2019, 12:13 p.m.
Countries: China
Variables: ISSA-LAW-1

"The law also prohibits health-care providers from providing illegal surgeries, ultrasounds to determine the sex of the fetus that are not medically necessary, sex-selective abortions, fake medical identification, and fake birth certificate" (56).
June 11, 2019, 9:13 a.m.
Countries: Montenegro
Variables: ISSA-PRACTICE-1, ISSA-LAW-1, ISSA-DATA-1

"Although it is illegal, medical professionals noted that selective sex selection took place, resulting in a boy-to-girl birth ratio of 110:100. The government did not actively address the problem" (Pg 27).
March 29, 2019, 4:03 p.m.
Countries: China
Variables: ISSA-LAW-1

"According to the the World Bank, in 2013 the gender ratio at birth was 116 males to 100 females. This was a decline from 2010, when the ratio was 118 males for every 100 females. Sex identification and sex-selective abortion are prohibited, but the practices continued because of traditional preference for male children and the birth-limitation policy" (page 58). "The law forbids infanticide, but there was evidence that the practice continued. According to the National Population and Family Planning Commission, a handful of doctors were charged with infanticide under this law. Female infanticide, gender-biased abortions, and the abandonment and neglect of baby girls remained problems due to the traditional preference...more
Nov. 12, 2018, 8:37 p.m.
Countries: Kosovo
Variables: ISSA-LAW-1

"According to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the government did not take steps to address this imbalance, such as regulating private clinics, or helping to increase women’s social status" (para 123)
Oct. 26, 2018, 8:42 a.m.
Countries: Senegal
Variables: ISSA-PRACTICE-2, ISSA-LAW-1

"If police discovered the identity of the mother, she faced arrest and prosecution" (page 18).
Oct. 12, 2018, 10:54 a.m.
Countries: China
Variables: ISSA-PRACTICE-1, ISSA-LAW-1

"In June, the Guardian reported that the Jiangxi province ordered that women seeking an abortion after 14 weeks must get 'signed approval from three medical professionals' before they can access the procedure. The newspaper reported that this is to help prevent selective-sex abortions (an illegal procedure), but that women are still concerned. 'What is the purpose and basis of this policy? The reproductive rights of women in this country seem to be a joke, a Weibo user wrote, according to the Guardian" (para 4-5).
Sept. 13, 2018, 7:25 a.m.
Countries: Pakistan
Variables: ISSA-LAW-1

"Child infanticide is a criminal offence in Pakistan and police say poverty and illiteracy are root causes" (para. 6)
Sept. 5, 2018, 9:59 a.m.
Countries: Taiwan
Variables: ISSA-LAW-1

"Medical institutions may not carry out gender-biased sex selection procedures. Clinics and hospitals with higher rates of imbalance may be put under surveillance, and doctors who facilitate gender-biased sex selection can be fined. There were no reported cases of the authorities imposing these fines during the year" (11).
March 20, 2018, 1:29 p.m.
Countries: Gambia
Variables: ISSA-PRACTICE-1, ISSA-PRACTICE-2, ISSA-LAW-1, ISSA-DATA-1

"The Committee is concerned that women in detention live in deplorable conditions and are subjected to violence, including rape, by guards and/or male detainees, and that such cases are not adequately investigated and prosecuted. The Committee also is concerned that most women in detention have been convicted of infanticide. The Committee urges the State party to ensure that living conditions in detention centres are compliant with the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules); that women are under the supervision of female guards and that gender-sensitive complaint mechanisms are available to them; and that all cases of violence against...more
Oct. 11, 2017, 1:30 p.m.
Countries: China
Variables: ISSA-LAW-1

"Some parents are still getting illegal tests to find out the sex of their unborn child, in order to decide whether to get an abortion"(para 2)."Xiao Zhu used gene detection technology, which claims to be able to predict a baby's sex by analyzing a small amount of the pregnant mother's blood.The procedure is illegal on the Chinese mainland, so many parents-to-be are looking to Hong Kong clinics that offer this service. The government is trying to battle against countless generations of preference for boys"(para 6-7)."According to the ban on fetus sex tests and sex-selective abortions released by the National Health and Family Planning Commission in May 2016, any organizations or...more
Aug. 30, 2017, 12:31 p.m.
Countries: India
Variables: ISSA-PRACTICE-1, ISSA-LAW-1

"A medical board in the northern Indian state of Haryana said on Monday that the girl’s life had not been endangered by the pregnancy, a necessary condition under the law for most abortions conducted after 20 weeks. India enacted that law in part to discourage the widespread termination of female fetuses in a part of the world where boys are preferred" (para 3).
Jan. 30, 2017, 1:05 p.m.
Countries: China
Variables: ISSA-LAW-1

"Concerned about the spreading sex imbalances on society, especially for the numerous men in the reproductive-age groups who will not be able to find a suitable wife someday, many Asian countries, including China, India, Georgia, Nepal, South Korea and Vietnam, have enacted laws making it illegal for a doctor to reveal the sex of a fetus to expecting parents" (para 15).
Jan. 30, 2017, 1:03 p.m.
Countries: Georgia, India, South Korea, Vietnam
Variables: ISSA-LAW-1

"Concerned about the spreading sex imbalances on society, especially for the numerous men in the reproductive-age groups who will not be able to find a suitable wife someday, many Asian countries, including China, India, Georgia, Nepal, South Korea and Vietnam, have enacted laws making it illegal for a doctor to reveal the sex of a fetus to expecting parents" (para 15).
Jan. 18, 2017, 9:54 a.m.
Countries: Cameroon
Variables: ISSA-LAW-1

"The law criminalizes infanticide and provides penalties ranging from five years’ imprisonment to the death sentence" (35).