People go on about India becoming a super power, as if its voracious and inevitable rise to the top table of international diplomacy and economics means we turn a blind eye to what is actually a series of damning indictments on the country.

I am not going to bang on about the rampant corruption, the abuse of the poor, the vast discrepancy between the wealthy and the poor. I am purely going to focus on the country and the way it treats its women.

A recent survey based on responses from more than 200 aid professionals, academics, health workers, policymakers, and development specialists chosen for their expertise in gender issues ranked India as extremely hazardous because of the subcontinent's high level of female infanticide and sex trafficking. It was the 4^th most dangerous place for women in the world. The survey found that:

"India's central bureau of investigation estimated that in 2009 about 90% of trafficking took place within the country and that there were some 3 million prostitutes, of which about 40% were children."

1.2 million child prostitutes! Let that number sink in. 1.2 million children. There is no way for me to express my disgust at that number. All the power in the world cannot cover that shame! I am amazed that there are even 4 countries with worse records than India. That is not to say that the practices that take place in other countries, such as acid attacks, don’t take place in India too, but maybe they are more prevalent in others.

Forced marriage and forced labour trafficking are some of the other dangers for women. The UN population fund says

"Up to 50 million girls are thought to be 'missing' over the past century due to female infanticide and foeticide"

What is this obsession with boys in that country? As if sons are the greatest thing in the world. It is ridiculous. If sons do anything, it is probably letting down their parents! I have never understood it, never. Maybe it is because through boys, names survive. What a foolish idea that parents prefer to have young boys rather than girls cause of a word. When the population reaches a point where there aren’t enough girls, what then? To be fair, something needs to be done with the rampant population explosion there, maybe a lack of women is the only way to curtail it. I don’t know if this obsession with boys is dowry related either. All I know is that 50 million girls are ‘missing’, that is almost the entire population of the UK going missing in a 100 years. It boggles the mind.

India needs to start empowering women, as empowerment tackles the very roots of poverty. In the developing world when a woman works, her children are better fed and better educated because they spend their money for their family. It is strange to think that a country which has a religious system that deifies the mother, would treat its women in such an abhorrent way.

Obviously I am not naïve to think that this doesn’t occur in countless other countries and nations, but if India wants to be seen as developed, it has a long way to go. And there are far worse places to start than creating a society which is fair and safe to half a billion people that live there.

- Anand