About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

27 Transnat'l L. & Contemp. Probs. 1 (2017-2018)
Addressing Ableism: Lessons from the Problem of Female Feticide in India

handle is hein.journals/tlcp27 and id is 11 raw text is: 






Addressing Ableism: Lessons from the Problem of Female
                          Feticide in India

                          Kavana Ramaswamy *
       Abstract: Disability, as a class-facing discrimination, and
       oppression in society is largely ignored. Often, discrimination
       based on disability is considered valid because there is a
       biological distinction that justifies the discrimination. This
       Article draws parallels between the discrimination faced by
       other oppressed classes (based on sex, orientation, race, caste,
       etc.) and the disabled using the social model of disability. The
       term enabled is used to refer to those who are not disabled to
       emphasize that disability and the lack thereof are both societal
       constructs. This Article highlights and analyzes narratives of
       abortion as a means to illustrate discrimination faced by the
       disabled population. Specifically, the Article takes cues from the
       way female feticide has been addressed in India to look at
       potential solutions to the issue of erasure of disabled persons.
I.  INTRODU CTION ............................................................................................  1
II. THE SOCIAL M ODEL OF DISABILITY ...........................................................  3
    A . Form s of  Oppression  ..........................................................................  3
    B. Disability, Oppression and the Social Model ................................... 9
III. THE ABORTION QUESTION, FEMINISM, AND THE INDIAN STATE .................. 15
    A. Feminist Movement's Perpetuating Oppression .............................. 15
    B. Abortion Laws: A Comparative Analysis ......................................... 17
    C. Addressing Female Feticide in India ............................................... 19
IV. ABORTION: ABLEISM'S WAY OF ERASING THE DISABLED .......................... 22
    A. Historical Erasure of Disabled Persons ........................................... 22
    B. Abortion as Attempted Erasure ....................................................... 24
    C. States' Obligations Towards Disabled People ................................. 26
V . C ONCLUSION  ............................................................................................ 30
                            I.   INTRODUCTION
    A recent advertisement by Anouk, a popular Indian clothing brand,
champions the message that pregnant women can do more than simply raise
babies.1 The protagonist of the advertisement quits her job and starts her own
business after her employer fails to promote her due to her pregnancy.2 She



* Kavana Ramaswamy is an Assistant Professor at O.P. Jindal Global University in India and has
a masters' in International Law from the University of Cambridge.
1 Myntra, Anouk Bold is Beautiful: Pregnancy Doesn't Mean the End of Your Career, YoUTUBE
(Dec. 3, 2015), https://www.youtube.comlwatch?v-rz5rAFAvqCs.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most