Yes, the example of South Korea stands as a beacon of hope. In 1985, with sex-selective technology easily accessible, the sex ratio at birth (SRB) in South Korea had shifted dramatically in favor of boys, with 115 boys born for every 100 girls. Technology provided new means to ancient ends. At the same time, however, South Korea began educating girls, passing equal opportunity legislation, revising its patriarchal family laws, and punishing doctors for doing pre-natal sex determination tests. Attitudes changed, and in 2007, South Korea registered a perfectly normal SRB of 106 boys for every 100 girls.31 (In developed countries, a normal SRB ranges from 105 to 107.)32 Although South Korea is still missing women due to its past practices,33 it points the way for other economically advanced countries, such as Taiwan.

In low-income countries, a bottom-up approach may prove more effective. Although most countries have banned infanticide and sex-selective abortion, the laws are largely ignored. Enforcement is difficult, and there is little will to do it. Change cannot be mandated from the top; it must arise from below as communities slowly begin to value their women.

For this reason, programs that train, educate, and provide micro-financing for women seem to be the most effective antidote to the gendercide crisis. In their book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, the husband-wife journalist team of Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn catalog stories of Asian and African women, sometimes themselves oppressed, who overcame tremendous odds to improve the lives of other women by establishing shelters, schools, hospitals, and small businesses. Kristof and WuDunn call these women “social entrepreneurs.” Once these indigenous programs took root, western donors often provided crucial cash to expand them.

The authors also relate stories of poor, brutalized women (often women sold into prostitution), who escaped or defied their oppressors and rebuilt their lives. Well run aid programs, both indigenous and western, catalyzed these turnarounds by offering help at critical moments. These women learned new trades and earned money, garnering hard-earned respect and becoming engines of change for other women in their communities.

As a result of their experience, Kristof and WuDunn came to believe that with small amounts of assistance, women can engineer their own bottom-up emancipation. To do this, they need three things. First, they need assistance with schooling. Not only does education prepare girls for better jobs, but also it delays marriage and prevents girls from being trafficked.33a Second, women overseas need micro-finance – tiny loans of cash or materials (such as seeds, or goats) that they use to launch small businesses and then repay. When women contribute to a family’s income, they win greater autonomy and decision-making power at home, and sometimes, the grudging respect of their husbands. Finally, these women need help with reproductive and maternal healthcare. They must be able to avoid AIDS, space and limit their children, and deliver safely.

With such progress occurring at the grassroots level, top-down government measures are more likely to succeed. Scholars and journalists in both China and India have sounded the alarm regarding the destabilizing effects of sex ratios in their countries. Both governments have tried to promote new attitudes toward women, but with little effect.34

Yet certain women in the developing world have shown how plucky and determined they can be. In the face of beatings, rape, imprisonment, and death, these women have reached to help others. If we extend their reach by giving wisely for girls’ education, micro-finance, and healthcare, we can accelerate the pace of change.