Currently, Albanian officials are denying any of the evidence that is pointing towards widespread sex-selective abortions. However, the United Nations has been critical resulting in the government making a task force to "consider" this problem that is believed by researchers to be rooted in the bias of having male heirs in Albanian culture. There has been a declining fertility rate and the gender gap is favoring the male gender. Males are expected to support their parents both financially and in the aspects of security and honor. On the other hand females are supposed to give emotional support and to care for their parents as they get older.
In a December 2012 report by the U.N. Population Fund and World Vision entitled "Sex Imbalances at Birth in Albania," it was found that as many 15,000 female fetuses may have been aborted between 2000 and 2010. This number is about 7 percent of the female births throughout that period of time. Unlike countries like India, Albania doesn't see females as an economic burden and there is no religious roles in play. It is estimated that about 500,000 fetuses are aborted each year in India. Albania is about 400 times smaller than India, but the scale of sex-selective abortions is comparable to India's. According to the 2002 reproductive health law, the use of prenatal screening in sex-selective abortions is not allowed as well as abortions after the first trimester.
The sex ratio in Albania is more skewed than that of India's; however, it is less that China's. It is estimated that the ratio overall in Albania is 111 boys to 100 girls born. In Tirana, which is the largest city in Albania, the estimate of the birth sex ratio is 119 boys to 100 girls, which places it with China. This study found that parents were twice as likely to abort a fetus that was a girl if the previous child was a girl. This shows that the efforts are mainly to make sure that on of their children is a boy. In 1960 the average amount of children was seven, dropping down to three in 1990, and in 2010 it fell to about 1.6 children.
http://womensenews.org/story/abortion/130125/sex-selective-abortion-trending-in-albania#.UQ6geb9fDSg
This seems a lot like China where the firstborn should be male so they have a male to support the family in aspects and finance and honor. This is really sad, but I'm wondering if there's a way that this can ethically even be stopped by other countries. It seems like a subtle genocide on females just because they aren't seen as being able to financially help their families.
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