Join us for the launch of Isn't She Precious!, a 40-day collaborative campaign, by several like-minded organizations, to reinforce the message that Daughters Deserve LIFE, where LIFE stands for Love, Inheritance, Freedom and Equality.

The launch will include special interviews with two Girl Child Champions. Listen to them speak about how they overcame overwhelming odds.

Photography Contest Theme: Save the lives of unborn girls by advocating to #giveherLIFE

Contest is now closed!

In India, 7000 girls are killed in the womb everyday. That’s over 2.5 million girls “vanishing” every year just because they are FEMALE! ADF India’s Vanishing Girls Campaign seeks to counter the practice of sex selective abortions and is committed to cultivating a future where human dignity is affirmed for all girls, especially the unborn girls.

On this International Day of the Girl Child on 11^th October, as declared by the United Nations since 2012, the Vanishing Girls Campaign is commemorating the occasion by launching a nationwide online photography competition. The Vanishing Girls Campaign invites all photographers (amateur and  professional) to participate in this contest and bring awareness to the cause of the Girl Child.

Photographs submitted must be a depiction of the theme #giveherLIFE (Love, Inheritance, Freedom, Equality).

Love: To honour and respect girls and women and strive to ensure that sex-selective abortions are not conducted in my family and among my friends. Inheritance: To stand up for the women in my family to have an equal share in the resources of the family, including their legal inheritance. Freedom: To stand with women and girls as they exercise their fundamental freedoms and rights guaranteed under the Constitution of India. Equality: To recognize that men and women are equally deserving of respect and opportunities in our families, places of work and in the society.

Prizes 

1. Grand Winner : Girl Child Champion Certificate + ₹15,000/-

2. First Runner Up : Girl Child Champion Certificate + ₹10,000/-

3. Second Runner Up : Girl Child Champion Certificate + ₹5,000/-

4. Five Consolation prizes: Girl Child Champion Certificate + ₹1,000/- each

* All participants with verified entries will be mailed a Girl Child Champion certificate acknowledging their contribution to the cause

Judging Process

• All the photographs will be posted on the Vanishing Girls’ Instagram account as soon as it is verified. 25% of the total score weightage will come from the number of likes on the respective photo on our Instagram account 
• Members of the jury will review all entries and judge the photographs. 75% of the total score weightage will come from the judges’ scores

Terms & Conditions

1. Participants represent and warrant that: (a) The photographs are original, taken by the entrant and they own the rights to their photographs; (b) The photographs do not violate the rights of any third party; (c) The photographs do not convey a false or misleading impression; (d) Any additional information they submit about the Photographs is accurate.
2. Participants can send upto 3 entries to be considered for the contest
3. The photographs should not be altered/edited in any image processing program such as Photoshop or android/IOS apps (except for color correction)
4. The photographs can be taken using any camera medium, including a phone camera
5. The photographs submitted should be at least 300 dpi and minimum size of 1920x1080 pixels
6. The photographs have to be submitted in JPEGs(JPGs) format
7. Watermarks are unacceptable
8. Participants must follow Vanishing Girls Campaign on Instagram : @vanishinggirls
9. By submitting their photos to the Vanishing Girls Campaign for this Contest, all entrants agree to grant Vanishing Girls Campaign copyright to the photograph(s) submitted, which includes the right to use the photo in any manner and media, including without limitation, the right to publish, adapt, distribute, copy, display or translate in printed or electronic media, even if they are not the winning entries.
10. Vanishing Girls Campaign is an initiative of ADF India, a non-profit organisation. Any usage of the photographs will solely be for the purpose of bringing awareness to the cause of the Vanishing Girls Campaign. In the unlikely event that the photograph is used for profit, a certain percentage of the profit will be given to the photographer which shall be mutually decided between ADF India and the concerned photographer
11. By entering the Contest, entrants fully and unconditionally agree to be bound by these rules and the decisions of Vanishing Girls Campaign, which will be final and binding in all matters relating to the Contest

Last date for entries to reach us : 24^th Sep, 2019

Winner Notification Winners will be announced on the Vanishing Girls’ Instagram account @vanishinggirls on the 7th of October. 

Contest is now closed! View Contest Winners here.

Check out our esteemed panel of judges

A SEMINAR FOR MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS ON DECLINING CHILD SEX RATIO

ADF India through Vanishing Girls Campaign organized Doctors for Daughters, a seminar for medical professionals on declining Child Sex Ratio on June 2, 2019, in Holiday Inn, Jaipur, Rajasthan. The seminar was in collaboration with Rajasthan State Medical Association and Shikshit Rojgar Kendra Prabandhak Samiti (SRKPS). It was attended by 32 doctors from Jaipur. Anushree Bernard, Vanishing Girls Campaign Coordinator, in her opening remarks, welcomed the gathering and introduced ADF India.

Rajan Chaudhary, during his session, shared his experience to reflect on the situation of sex-selective abortions in Rajasthan. Using the 'Nine Year Sex Ratio at Birth' data, he explained that in 2011 the Sex Ratio at Birth was 887 girls per 1000 boys in Rajasthan which increased to 948 girls in 2018. Presently, every district of Rajasthan has more than 900 girls per 1000 boys. He observed that the strict implementation of the PCPNDT (Prohibition of Sex-Selection) Act culminated in the increase in the Child Sex Ratio in Rajasthan. He added that spreading awareness especially among the youths was also essential in improving the ratio.

He reported that out of 148 decoy operations in Rajasthan, 20 cases were of people who pretended to be agents working for the doctors. He urged the doctors to come together and put an end to such malpractices and work towards Census 2021 for a better Child Sex Ratio in the State.

Dr. V K Jain, in his address, pointed out that doctors are usually blamed for sex-selective abortions when the real culprit is the mindset of the society. He said that people are willing to pay hefty amounts of money to illegally determine the sex of the fetus. He warned that the real challenge in ending sex-selective abortions is in addressing the lack of understanding of the value of girl child in the society.

He suggested that legal provisions against women and families who undergo sex-selective abortions should also be incorporated in the law. He also suggested that sonography machines be made compulsory for purposes of immediate diagnosis and that doctors be allowed to use it without a radiologist. He elaborated that the sonography machine is a revolutionary invention in medical science and that PCPNDT Act has only hindered its effective usage.

Understanding that some cultural practices prefer boy child, he suggested that PCPNDT cell should focus more on spreading awareness on the cause. He ended his session with a hope of restoration of a time when revealing the sex of the fetus is no longer a crime.

Dr. Ajay Choudhary appreciated the efforts of medical professionals and civil societies like SRKPS and ADF India in improving the Child Sex Ratio in Rajasthan. He recognized the importance of sonography machines in medical practices and also reminded of its disadvantages in practice. He strongly urged all doctors to work towards a time when revealing the sex of the fetus is no longer a crime. He said that only education can change mindsets. As a strategy to end sex-selection he recommended that education be made accessible to all. He also spoke about the 'Selfie with Daughter' campaign in Rajasthan that was instrumental in raising awareness.

He urged the Indian Medical Association members to become brand ambassadors and to take an initiative in collaboration with civil societies like ADF India and SRKPS for saving girl child. He impelled everyone to speak about female foeticide in all social gatherings as a matter of social concern and work towards improving the ratio. He ended his session with a
a reminder of the limitations of PCPNDT (Prohibition of Sex-Selection) Act and the increasing importance of raising awareness through such workshops and seminars.

Like-minded civil society organizations and experts across India working on the implementations PCPNDT act in various districts came together on 2^nd May 7, 2019, for a national “Consultation on India's Vanishing Girls Revisiting Civil Society Response against Sex Selection.” The consultation was co-organized by ADF India, Vanishing Girls, SRKPS, and Girls count.

The participants discussed the implementation of PCPNDT so far. They assessed the effectiveness of “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” scheme and other private initiatives to improve the Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) and the related issue of sex-selective abortion, in India.

Are the current actions sufficient?

The speakers included Dr. Satish Agnihotri, IIT Bombay, Adv. Varsha Deshpande, Lekh Ladki Abiyan, Mrs. Dhanashree Brahme from UNFPA, Dr. Neelam Singh, CSB & NIMC member, Dr. Sabu George, petitioner under the PTPNDC act.  In the pre-lunch session they share their views on whether the current actions will lead to actual changes in the SRB numbers for the girl-child in India in 2021? They urged the participants to:

• Re-ignite the fight for the cause
• To look into the issue beyond the data and get involved in affirmative action like promoting government supported pension-schemes for families who have brought-up girl child
• To find the right cause of finding the root-cause of the discrimination against the girl-child
• To recognize the social dimensions while implementing and practicing the statutes of the PCPNDT law by the medical fraternity.

Future course of action for PCPNDT act

In the post lunch session future course – of – action was discussed. After hearing the participants from different states, the participants agreed upon;

• To increase the outreach actions of the activists and agencies
• To pursue matters related to the implementation of the PCPNDT law through litigation
• To acquaint the central government about the lack of action taken at the state and local levels in the implementation of the discussed law.
• To make the law-makers aware of the new issues like surrogacy – tourism and related pre-conception diagnostics that violate the PCPNDT’s guidelines.

Anushree Bernard, Campaign Coordinator of Vanishing Girls – an initiative of ADF India stressing for the urgent need of strict implementation of PCPNDT, shared her view on the consolation: “Our country has lost millions of women and girls due to the practice of sex selective abortions in the past decades. Every girl has the right to be born and denying her of this right is the worst form of discrimination against women and girls. It is very encouraging to see that like-minded civil society organizations have come together to join hands to stop the killing of girls inside their mothers wombs by advocating and working towards the effective implementation of the PCPNDT Act."