The Da Nang People’s Committee has given the go-ahead for the deployment of a project to control gender imbalance in the city over the 2016 - 2020 period at a cost of over 6.6 billion VND to the city’s budget. 

Photo: Internet

Over the 2011 – 2015 period, the sex ratio at birth in the city was up to 110 boys per 100 girls. 

Sex imbalance at birth is caused by the long-standing preference for boys rather than girls, and the resultant practice of sex selection, which is deeply rooted in the male-oriented kinship system in Viet Nam.  The increasing gender imbalance could have serious consequences, including an increase in gender inequality, sexual abuse and the trafficking of women, violence, divorce and remarriage rates.

The soon-to-be-deployed project aims to raise the public’s awareness of strictly obeying the national law which prohibits finding out the foetus gender.  It should also help to balance the sex ratio at birth, enhance the quality of the local population, and improve related social welfare issues.

From now until 2020, relevant local agencies will widely publicise the significance of the project amongst the general public.  Stricter penalties will be imposed on providers of illegal sex selection services.