abstract

Background: Female foeticide sex?selective elimination of a female fetus remains a critical public-health and human-rights challenge in India, driving skewed sex ratios and perpetuating gender inequities. Community-level knowledge gaps about legal provisions (PC-PNDT Act), ethical concerns, and socio-economic consequences contribute to its persistence.

Aim: To assess the effectiveness of a Structured Teaching Programme (STP) on improving women’s knowledge regarding prevention of female foeticide in a selected area of Jaipur (pilot study).

Methods: A quasi-experimental one-group pre-test-post-test pilot was conducted among women from Thikariya, Jaipur (N=30) selected through simple random sampling. A validated 30-item structured knowledge questionnaire (split-half reliability r=0.77) covering definition, determinants, legal framework (PC-PNDT), adverse social consequences, and community-based prevention strategies was administered before and after the STP. The STP comprised interactive lecture-discussion, FAQs, and myth-busting with IEC materials. Descriptive statistics summarized demographics and score distributions; a paired t-test assessed mean knowledge change (?=0.05).

Results: Knowledge improved significantly following the STP. Mean (±SD) scores increased from 18.3±1.70 (61.0%) at pre-test to 22.1±2.75 (73.7%) at post-test (mean difference=3.8; df=29; t=6.44; p=0.0001). The proportion with adequate knowledge (>65%) rose from 16.7% (5/30) to 86.7% (26/30); average knowledge (51-65%) declined from 76.7% to 10.0%, and inadequate knowledge (<50%) from 6.7% to 3.3%. Participants explicitly improved recognition of legal prohibitions, harms of sex-selective practices, and actionable prevention measures (reporting mechanisms, community advocacy, and “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” linkages).

Conclusion: The STP produced a statistically and educationally meaningful gain in women’s knowledge on prevention of female foeticide. Pilot findings support integrating brief, structured, rights-based education into community and primary-care platforms to strengthen legal awareness, shift social norms, and empower women as change agents. Larger controlled studies should evaluate long-term retention and behavior change outcomes.