India’s Sania Mirza addresses female infanticide in her country. According to the United Nations, 12 million girls were aborted during the last two years. Some Indian parents see raising girls as a financial burden.
“When I was growing up I would go to tennis and people would come up to my parents and they would ridicule them and say she’s a girl from Hyderabad, you think she is going to play Wimbledon?,” Mirza told NDTV. “But obviously my parents didn't care. My own relatives were more worried that I wouldn’t find a boy to get married to. But just because you are modern doesn't mean you cant follow a traditional Indian women’s way. Women empowerment and being a traditional Indian can go hand in hand.”
Mirza has a younger sister but no brothers. She added that she and her parents never felt like they needed one.
“The numbers you see are so disturbing,” said Mirza, who is a top-flight doubles player and once reached No. 27 in singles. “For everything we achieve, why do we need a guy? We as people who achieve so much need to be an example to women, it’s our responsibility to try and educate people in India that having a girl is plus not a minus. As a woman I want to do anything everything I can to spread that word.”