You voted for it: Raising the Status of India's Girls

It's official... educating Indian women is the best way to release them from the dangers and discrimination that accompany their low status.  At least, that's the popular choice of our readers:

93% voted for educating women,

7% thought creating quotas in the workplace would raise their status,

And none of our clever readers thought banning the dowry would do much at all.

You're right.  The dowry - a bride price, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his parents, often extracted through blackmail just before the wedding - has been banned in India for years.  But it's still a widespread practice, entrenching the societal belief that girls are just burdens to be born (or killed before birth).  Read our blog on the topic for more information.  The problem is so bad that more than 5000 women are killed by their husbands or in-laws every year, because the bride's family can no longer afford to pay them off.
But what about creating quotas in the workplace or in schools?  While this might be a valuable step, it's not as fundamental as educating girls from the start ... because who will fill the quotas if girls aren't educated?  In fact, many Indian women are very highly educated and successful.  India has even had a female prime minister and many prominent female politicians.  As it stands, these women are often from well-to-do families who were able to afford to educate all their children, and the girls who truly need extra support are left without it.

The girls who need the most help (and get the least) are, as always, those from poor families who often have to choose which of their children to send to school, which ones to feed, and even which ones to keep alive at birth.  Sadly, sons are almost always chosen simply because they're seen as the better investment.  Read more from Viva India's topical network director, to hear about her experiences growing up through this discrimination and pushing for her own education.

Educating Indian girls not only gives them greater job opportunities, it also potentially increases the health of their future families, generates more wealth, and gives them the courage and confidence to stand up for themselves against discrimination.  Let's see more of this, in addition to tougher action against dowry-related crimes and more opportunities created for women in the workplace.

Visit www.viva.org/girlchild to find out how we're helping change India's ideas about girls.