THE gender imbalance in Vietnam has worsened, with the number of males at birth far outnumbering females.
Dr Nguyen Dinh Cu from the Institute for Population, Family and Children Studies said this to a training conference on communications activities related to the population on Oct 10.
Vietnam’s Institute for Population, Family and Children Studies said the country’s sex ratio at birth was 114.8 males per 100 females.
Dr Nguyen said this was because many rich families preferred boys.
“Identifying the gender of a baby inside the womb is becoming increasingly popular.
“A survey found that up to 86.7 per cent of women in cities know the gender of their unborn child, while the rate for women in the countryside was 78.9 per cent,” he said.
Reports in The Saigon Times quoted Vietnam’s deputy general director of the General Office for Population and Family Planning Nguyen Thi Ngoc Lan as saying that effective measures needed to be adopted promptly.
“The gender imbalance will lead to unwanted results and affect the order of society.
“By 2050, Vietnam will see a surplus of some 2.3 million to 4.3 million males, so millions of men will not be able to find partners,” said Nguyen.
A shortage of women also causes a rise in early marriage for women, female prostitution, trafficking of women and girls, and domestic violence against women.