Ms Saraswathi Menon:

In India, we see male farmers committing suicide. There are many different types of pressure in different countries. In China, it is an interesting situation. Inequality in China is now wider than in Brazil, which was the benchmark. There have been huge gains in many areas, including education, health and economic opportunity, but we still have some structural issues which did not exist earlier or had been combatted in certain ways, including women's rights, and which are resurfacing. Two were touched on. One is the role women play in decision-making, which is a universal problem. On average, women comprise only 18% or 19% of parliaments throughout the world. I believe it is even lower in Ireland.

I am not judging by the current participation rate. It is still lower in this Parliament. In China it is not just a question of representation. The actual decision making in the higher bodies of the party, etc. is also critical. We are more concerned that the one child policy has led to a skewed male preference within families. The efforts to deal with the population problem have changed perceptions of the value of children.

We discussed tradition and culture. Tradition is something that is passed down but culture is something society creates. In a way, the problem we see in China has been caused by something that had to be done. If the population of China had continued to grow as it was growing, China and the rest of the world would have had a problem because of the pressure on resources, etc. The action taken in China has unleashed another problem, however - the reduction in the value of the girl child. This issue has to be dealt with. The Chinese are very aware of the problem and the United Nations and various countries have to help to find a solution to it. We cannot just point fingers. This is a shared problem. The rest of the world is grateful that China dealt with its population growth problem as it had to do, but this has led to a further problem. However, male preference is not unique to China. It also happens in parts of southern Asia and Africa. We need to work together on this general problem.