Gendercide: China’s Missing Girls

The Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) announces a hearing to examine the social, economic, and political implications of gendercide in China.

The CECC will examine the social, economic, and political implications of gendercide in China. The cultural preference for boys, exacerbated by China’s birth-limitation policies, has led to millions of girls being aborted and killed over the past several decades. As a result, China faces some of the world’s most severe gender imbalances—according to official estimates, there are currently 34 million more males than females in China. Demographic experts have warned that China’s large number of “surplus males” could lead to societal instability, higher crime rates and sexual violence, and increased trafficking of women and girls. Serious doubts persist about the extent to which the recently announced “Two-Child Policy” will ameliorate the tragedy of gendercide given that data has shown that sex ratios are often more skewed after the birth of the first child. This hearing will seek to address human rights and demographic concerns in relation to the issue of gendercide in China. Witnesses will offer analysis and policy recommendations to combat this problem as well as lessons learned from other countries which have struggled with gender imbalances either as a result of cultural preference or government policy.  

This hearing will be webcast live here.

Witnesses:

Chai Ling, Founder, All Girls Allowed

Mara Hvistendahl, Journalist and Author of Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys over Girls

Julie Ford Brenning, Director of Research & China Outreach, Give Her Life