Over the past generation, dramatic and biologically unnatural imbalances between the number of baby boys and baby girls have emerged in many Asian societies. The problem of “missing girls”--literally tens of millions of them--is painfully evident in China and India today, but it also characterizes other Asian populations beyond these two demographic giants. 

What are the current dimensions of Asia’s “missing girl” problem? What factors explain the rise of this troubling new phenomenon? What are the implications of Asia’s girl shortage–and its impending scarcity of young women? And what can concerned actors--in the international community, local governments, and civil society--do about it? Monica Das Gupta of the World Bank’s Development Research Group and Ambassador Mark Lagon and Laura Lederer, both of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons at the U.S. Department of State, will discuss these important issues. AEI’s Nicholas Eberstadt will moderate.