Table of contentsLiterature reviewSection 1 Description of sociodemographic, family and clinical variables of nursing staff and ASHA workersa. Description of sociodemographic variables of nursing staff and ASHAsb. Description of variables related to the family of nursing staff and ASHAsc. Description of clinical variables of nursing staff and ASHAs Section 2: The level of knowledge of nursing staff and ASHAs in the control and intervention group Section 3: The effectiveness of the structured training program on the knowledge of nursing staff and of ASHA Profession of contemporary Indian society a deep faith in the right of each individual to life and dignity. The rights of the weakest and most vulnerable sections of Indian society, notably women and especially young girls, are violated1. Every year, when millions of women get married, they dream of starting a family, of seeing their home filled with the little cries and joyful laughter of gurgling babies. But in India, pregnancy is too often followed by the question of whether the unborn child is a girl or a boy2. There are different tools to measure gender equity within a population. Sex ratio is one such tool widely used for cross-sectional analysis to measure gender balance. The global sex ratio shows varying trends across countries around the world. The global sex ratio is 984 women per 1,000 men3. In a sign of a continued preference for boys in Indian society, the child sex ratio has fallen to 914 girls compared to 1,000 boys. Despite a host of laws aimed at preventing feticide and programs to encourage families to have daughters, the declining sex ratio has been described as a "grave concern" by India's Census Commissioner, C. Chandramoli4. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get an original essay There is an urgent need to embark on a massive national awareness and advocacy campaign with a special focus on the importance of girl children for reinforce the view that it is an asset and not a burden5. As community health workers provide easy access to health services, especially in rural areas, they play an important role in community education6. Nursing has a direct impact on society, particularly on the health of mothers. Nurses and ASHA workers can act as disseminators of information on female feticide prevention. For this, nurses themselves should familiarize themselves with the various aspects of female feticide in order to create awareness among the population1.Literature ReviewIn the last 50 years, India has made considerable social and economic progress, but despite this optimism economically unbridled, the future The situation of unborn girls in India seems increasingly bleak7. The message of Dr Manmohan Singh, former Prime Minister, in his speech at a national conference on 'The Role of Women in Nation Building', said that 'the unacceptable crime of female feticide, encouraged by the Widespread misuse of modern technology and its reckless commercial exploitation must stop. »8Historically, female infanticide has occurred on a global scale. Various studies have reported its practice among Arab tribes, among the Yanomani in Brazil and in ancient Rome43. The global sex ratio shows varying trends across countriesof the world. The global sex ratio is 984 women per 1,000 men (2011 census). The top three states recording the highest value of overall sex ratio are Kerala -1084, Tamil Nadu 995 and Andhrapradesh 992. The lowest sex ratio among the states was recorded in Haryana -877 and Sikkim -8899. The major factors contributing to female feticide as well as infanticide include the scourge of dowry, social security, patriarchal society, development of technology and easy access to this technology, cultural factors, illiteracy, poverty.and the norm of small families10. Exorbitant dowry is one of the main reasons for female feticide. The institution of dowry payment is a social scourge that has spread throughout the country11. In Varanasi district, Uttar Pradesh, a study was conducted to assess the prevalence of sex determination tests and the impact of the law on prenatal diagnostic techniques. Ten diagnostic centers were randomly selected for the study. It was found that 80% of diagnostic centers carried out sex determination tests. The doctors responded that it was “client pressure that pushed them to perform SD tests.” Money was also a significant factor in the SD tests performed by doctors. The PNDT law of 1994 remained only on paper. All patients interviewed had a university degree. They all came from a middle-class family and most of them were members of high castes in Hindu society. The reason given by most patients for undergoing the sex determination test was that they wanted to avoid dowry problems and find a suitable and good partner for their daughter. They also found that the world was not a safe place to live in, to have a balanced family, and that giving birth to a male child was therefore essential for “moksha”12. The Indian government has taken steps to raise awareness through various awareness campaigns. workshops, seminars, launching a “campaign to save the girls” and seeking cooperation from NGOs and religious leaders. Increased community awareness about the importance of the girl child and prevention of feticide as the need of the hour should be presented. Until we change the mentality of society, we will not be able to stop this inhumane practice of feticide13. At a recent symposium on female feticide organized by JK Banthia, Registrar, General and Census Commissioner of India, he suggested that two major objectives of India's current population policies are population stabilization and parity of the sex ratio. According to an official of the family department, there are two important strategies to solve the problem of female feticide. One is education and the other is employment 14. Study conducted to assess attitudes regarding the ethics of abortion, sex selection and selective termination of pregnancy among health professionals , ethicists and members of the clergy who may find themselves confronted with such situations. Seventy-nine percent of those surveyed were in the medical profession. Acceptance of abortion for social indication varied by religion and gestational age, but not by religious beliefs, age, country, or gender of the respondent. Gender selection was considered unethical by most respondents. Selective termination has been deemed ethically appropriate in the case of quadruplets or multifetal gestations of more than five fetuses and multiple pregnancies carrying an abnormal fetus. In thislatter situation, acceptance increases with the severity of fetal anomalies and decreases from the first to the third trimester15. A study was conducted to assess the perspectives of tomorrow's doctors on this issue. The study participants included 62 interns and 39 seventh semester MBBS students who were posted to the department of community medicine, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi. They were asked to complete a pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire containing multiple choice questions regarding their knowledge and attitude towards female feticide. Out of 100 medical students, 57% were men and 43% women. The average age of students was 21.8 ± 0.6 years while that of trainees was 23.2 ± 0.8 years. It is important to note that less than a third of participants said they were in favor of harsher sanctions against doctors involved in this practice. Significantly more participants favored strategies related to women's empowerment. The results of the study highlight the need to educate tomorrow's doctors about the ethics related to the inappropriate and indiscriminate use of technology. This could be achieved by conducting regular continuing medical education (CME) workshops/sessions and awareness campaigns in the field practice areas of the department. Private practitioners should also be encouraged to participate in such programs. Although future doctors could unite in efforts to improve the status of women in India, it is more urgent that they unite to curb the menace posed by doctors involved in such practices16. A study was conducted in the slums of Chandigarh among married women to find out their level of awareness regarding sexual determination and their attitude towards gender. Among the 373 samples, 331 (88.4%) did not know the sex determination technique while 44 (11.6%) knew it. 244 (65.5%) agreed that sex determination is a crime. The majority (57.8%) intended to have a boy as their first child and 14.4% also wanted a second child as a boy, even with the first baby being male. Three-quarters of women wanted to have their third baby as a boy after two baby girls and 6% wanted a boy even after two baby boys. The present study has shown a clear picture of the recent scenario of female feticide and strong desire for male children among women in urban slums. This calls for the need to educate women from the underprivileged population on gender equality and the recommendations of the PNDT Act in order to ameliorate the declining sex ratio in our country3. Section 1 Description of sociodemographic, family and clinical variables of nursing staff and ASHA workersa. Description of sociodemographic variables of nursing staff and ASHAsIn the present study, 59.4% (95) of the participants in the intervention group and 56% (93) were over 30 years old. In both groups, 99.4% of respondents were women. Regarding education, 47.5% of participants in the intervention group and 42.2% in the control group had passed the SSLC. Similar characteristics of the participants were found in a study carried out in Ludhiana by Vandana Kanwar (2008), where 28.33% of the respondents were aged between 20 and 25 years and 30.0% were between 30 and 35 years of age17. In the present study, the majority of participants in the intervention group (82.5%) and control group (84.3%) were ASHA workers. Among the participants, 75.0% of the intervention group and 65.1% of the control group had more than 4 years of experience in their field of expertise..