Indianapolis residents Brad and Jill McElya came to DePauw yesterday evening to address the high rates of trafficking, infanticide and abortion of baby girls that artificially deflate the population of women in India. Currently, there are over 50 million missing girls in India.
In small villages in India, men are traditionally responsible for bringing in money and taking care of their elderly parents, and women usually do not provide support for their family after being married. Because of this, many people see baby girls as not being worth the cost of raising them, Brad McElya said.
He said that although the infanticide rate has been decreasing in India, availability of ultrasounds has lead to an increase in number or abortions, which are illegal in India.
"And killing their baby girls only leads to more crime," said Jill McElya.
She says that problems with sexual harassment, trafficking, and women being forced to marry at a young age are all a result of a low ratio of women to men in small towns.
As a response to these issues, the couple founded the Invisible Girl Project to help address India's attitude towards women. They raise awareness and provide education, housing, food, water and vocational training to young women. Jill McElya said it was important that IGP support existing Indian organizations, "rather than coming in as Westerners saying ‘You need to do this and this.'"
IGP recently used their funds to send 32 women to nursing school. They also purchase dolls wrapped in saris to resell in the United States, helping the women who make them sustain themselves financially. The organization also helps pay for ‘baby cradles,' a metal cradle where women can leave children they can no longer care for. The women can ring a bell and someone from a sister organization of IGP will come pick the child up and take care of it.
A baby named Prima was one of these children. Her mother, a prostitue, left her in the baby cradle. Jill McElya said that if Prima had not been handed over, it is likely she would have been forced into prostitution as well.
"Each of these projects positively impacts the life of little girls. It shows them that their lives do have value," Jill McElya said.
For senior Minnu Paul, who is from India, the McElyas' message was an important one. She said she was raised in an area where infanticide happens, and she thinks it is a serious issue that needs to be addressed.
"You hear in the news that India is becoming this big superpower. This story is very less heard of," Paul said.
Senior Jennifer Behrens, an intern for the Prindle Institute for Ethics who organized the event, said it is important to bring in speakers like the McElyas to keep students aware of things happening in the world.
"We need to realize about things going on outside of Greencastle and the USA," she said.
Behrens met the McElyas through a DePauw alumnus while looking for volunteer work for a trip to India she was planning last year. She said having them visit was a good opportunity for students going into non-profit or women's work to make connections or just to be inspired.