VZCZCXRO9254
OO RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHNE #4731/01 2981357
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 251357Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8985
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEIDN/DNI WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 004731 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SWE: STAHIR-KHELI; G/IWI: ABOTTNER, PRECHKEMMER; 
SCA/INS, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL KWMN KISL PGOV IN
SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL WOMEN OF COURAGE AWARD: REKHA MISHRA 
AND SUSHREE ASHAMMA 
 
REF: SECSTATE 126072 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: Per reftel, please find Embassy,s 
nominations for the Secretary of State,s Award for 
International Women of Courage.  In a country of over a 
billion people, India is home to dozens of worthy candidates 
who are extraordinary leaders in furthering justice and 
equality.  This year Embassy New Delhi would again like to 
nominate two women (one representing the northern region and 
one representing the southern region) who have demonstrated 
remarkable courage in challenging exploitative social 
practices in India: Dr. Rekha Mishra and Sushree Ashamma. 
End Summary. 
 
Dr. Rekha Mishra Crusades Against Female Feticide 
---------- 
 
¶2. (U) Ultrasound screening and pre-natal sex determination 
with the intention of aborting female fetuses is one of the 
most socially abhorrent and prevalent forms of violence 
against girls in India.  With a strong cultural bias towards 
boys to carry on the family name and to avoid dowry expenses, 
many families have opted to abort their female fetuses.  As a 
result, north Indian states and cities are facing 
dramatically skewed gender ratios, lending to an increase in 
other societal ills, including trafficking in women and 
girls.  After Punjab, which has the worst gender ratio in 
India, Haryana is number two, with a gender ratio of 861 
females to 1000 males. 
 
¶3. (U) In 1994 and 2001, India passed two laws, the Prenatal 
Sex Determination Act and the Pre-Conception and Prenatal 
Diagnostic Tests Act to stop the practice of female feticide 
subsequent to ultrasound screenings determining the gender of 
the child.  The law unequivocally, prohibits doctors from 
sharing the gender of the fetus with the expecting parents. 
Unfortunately, due to apathetic attitudes and the magnitude 
of the problem, the government has not been able to enforce 
the act or control the practice. 
 
¶4. (U) "The attitude is 'let the neighbors have girls, I will 
have a boy'," says Dr. Rekha Mishra, a medical officer in the 
north Indian state of Haryana.  In her efforts to implement 
the existing legislation, Mishra has sought to hold 
accountable unscrupulous medical practitioners -- many of 
whom are her medical colleagues -- who carry out the highly 
profitable, but unethical business of abortions based on sex. 
 In 2001, Mishra supervised the raid of a clinic which led to 
the first conviction under these two laws.  Despite solid 
evidence, it took nearly five years of legal battles to 
secure a conviction.  During those five years, Mishra faced 
significant financial and personal safety challenges.  She 
struggled with retaining a prosecutor and significant 
pressure from fellow medical colleagues and politicians to 
drop the case.  Nevertheless, she persevered.  While Mishra 
hopes increasing accountability of medical professionals will 
have a significant impact on pre-natal sex selection, she 
knows that it will be a challenge.  With steadfast advocates, 
like Mishra willing to challenge the government, society, her 
colleagues, and the odds, little girls in India just might 
have hope. 
 
Sushree Ashamma Fights Against Sexual Slavery 
---------- 
 
¶5. (U) Sushree Ashamma was born around 40 years ago in a 
small village in Andhra Pradesh and is the daughter of poor 
agricultural laborers. Her parents had no son, so they agreed 
to her grandfather,s proposal to dedicate their only 
daughter to a temple goddess under the Jogini system as a way 
of securing her as their life-long provider. The custom 
results in young girls becoming sexual slaves. Once a Jogini, 
a girl may be given to one man or she may be considered 
common sexual property and be obliged to accept the advances 
of any man who wants her. Jogini's live in a segregated part 
of the village, cut off from the rest of the community. They 
also suffer poor health and face a high risk of catching 
sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV and AIDS, and 
there is a high risk that their daughters will be made 
Joginis as well. Typically, Joginis are the most marginalized 
and dispossessed group in their communities. 
 
¶6. (U) At the age of nine, Ashamma became a Jogini. &From 
that moment," she recounted, "I did not live with dignity.  I 
became available for all the men of Karni village.  They 
would ask me for sexual favors, and I, as a Jogini, was 
 
NEW DELHI 00004731  002 OF 002 
 
 
expected to please them.8  Since the age of 11, she was 
forced to sleep with countless men, including many much older 
than herself. When the Andhra Pradesh Mahila Samathya Society 
(APMSS) started their program of sanghas or self-help groups 
in Karni, Ashamma joined enthusiastically.  She quickly rose, 
becoming head of the group in 1997 and resolved to fight the 
practice of Jogini.  Neither the police nor other villagers 
were initially prepared to help her.  On one occasion she sat 
in protest until she succeeded in preventing the initiation 
ceremony for a nine-year-old girl. 
 
¶7. (U) In recent years, she has worked tirelessly for the 
APMSS women,s movement, traveling around the local villages 
with like-minded Jogins to help women organize and stop 
initiations.  As a Jogini I faced many difficulties so I am 
determined that no women should be made a Jogin., In 2001 
she received a national prize, the Neeraj Bhano Award, for 
her campaigning work. The prize was Rs. 150,000 (USD 3750). 
Apart from Rs. 50,000 (USD 1250) which she put in trust for 
her daughter, she gave the rest back to APMSS to continue to 
campaign to end Jogini.  Despite this award, she lives in 
poverty, earning a mere Rs. 20 (fifty U.S. cents) a day. 
According to locals, the number of girls being forced to be 
Joginis has declined substantially becauue of Ashamma,s 
efforts. She has done so despite hostility from many 
villagers, especially men.  She continues her work, in the 
field proclaiming that she "will fight relentlessly and 
peacefully to solve the problems of 
Jogini." 
 
¶8. (U) Comments: Many obstacles to the realization of women's 
human rights in India still persist. Many are social and 
cultural in nature, deeply rooted in the traditions of local 
communities. Both Dr. Rekha Mishra and Sushree Ashamma are 
working diligently in their communities to challenge these 
local norms. Neither woman is particularly well known in 
India.  Post believes that the Secretary,s award would do 
much raise the profile of these women and their work in 
India. 
 
¶9. (U) We would be happy to facilitate contact for Department 
officials with Dr. Rekha Mishra or Sushree Ashamma.  Post 
officer responsible for following women,s issues is 
Political Officer, Reva Gupta (guptar3@state.gov). 
MULFORD