in the area of Family Law) to improve the overall status of women up until the mid-2000s. It could be argued that by delaying legal reforms such as the abolishment of the family head system, the state inadvertently delayed the normalization of SRB. In fact, there are several other dimensions of gender equity that Korea continues to fare poorly on despite all the progress it has made in reducing child sex ratios (The Economist 2014; Tsuya et al. 2000; Sung 2003). In terms of enacted legislation, the Korean state did ban prenatal sex determination, however, there is no conclusive evidence that this ban was critical to curbing prenatal sex selection.

Overall, the Korean experience suggests that the broader economic development agenda needs to be combined with legislative measures that promote women’s status in their public and private lives, and advocacy campaigns that accelerate the diffusion of new gender norms. This is the approach that countries like China and India have adopted and are striving to implement. Korea witnessed a reversal in its sex ratio trend before these countries because (a) it industrialized and urbanized earlier and faster, and (b) it is a small and homogenous country where the diffusion of new norms is easier.

# **6. Conclusion**

The purpose of this review was to conduct a stocktaking of the different policies that have been used to tackle the excess mortality of girls, and son preference more broadly. Having evaluated the different direct and indirect measures used, the following are recommended steps for countries trying to resolve the problem:

# (1) Strengthen data collection and monitoring efforts

Access to data on child sex ratios at the sub-national level is relatively easy to obtain from censuses and surveys. However, reliable data on the SRB is harder to obtain given that it requires the establishment of comprehensive vital registration systems. Currently, such systems are not in place – particularly in economically disadvantaged areas – making it harder to assess the extent of prenatal sex selection, and the particular regions that are contributing to it. Without good vital statistics it is hard to monitor and evaluate regional programs aiming to curb SRB as well.

(2) Evaluate the costs of immediate measures to reduce sex selection As sex selection rises, governments feel compelled to do something about it, and a ban on prenatal sex selection technology is the most immediate step they can take. Not surprisingly, most countries grappling with rising SRB and child sex ratios have implemented such a ban. This measure raises ethical concerns surrounding women’s reproductive freedoms, but even if one were to set aside these considerations, evidence suggests that these bans are difficult and costly to implement. In China, the stringent implementation of the ban in the 2000s called for a tremendous effort on the part of various local authorities and family planning workers. Women who were pregnant with their second child were frequently monitored as part of the program, and even then, the overall SRB did not decline between 2000 and 2010. With second pregnancies being monitored, families that actively wanted a son just deferred sex selection to the first birth. Scaling up such a program 44