Where is female infanticide most common

Prior to the development of ultrasound technology, female infanticide took place in India and China. In China, the One Child Policy created heavy financial penalties for couples who had more than one child and led to the murder of female infants. Female feticide has become a common occurrence since the development of sex-determination tests, and economic reasons primarily drive the preference for male babies.

Men are typically viewed as income-earners who can financially support their families and elderly parents. The long-held tradition of dowry makes women, on the other hand, an economic burden for families in India. Although this practice has also been formally outlawed, it is still very common for a woman's family to pay a large sum of money, called a dowry, to the family of her husband-to-be. In a first ever global study on female infanticide by Asian Centre for Human Rights, a Delhi-based NGO dedicated to protection of human rights, it has been revealed that preference of son over daughter is a major reason for female infanticide in many countries around the world.

In India, the Pre-conception and Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques Prohibition of Sex Selection Act, amended in prohibits sex-selection or disclosure of the sex of the foetus.

Nepal, in , amended the Country Code, Muluki Ain , to allow abortion on medical grounds and prohibit sex-selective abortions.

Similarly, the Population Ordinance and Prime Minister Decree of Vietnam prohibit all practices of antenatal foetal sex diagnosis and sex selection. However, weak law enforcement and easy access to ultrasonography fail to curb this practice. Unfavourable sex ratio, according to the report, is a result of sex-selective abortion, childhood neglect of girls and infanticide. However, it emphasises that only sex-selective abortion can affect the sex ratio at birth.

As compared to Child Sex Ratio, the Sex Ratio at Birth is a more robust indicator of the extent to which sex-selective abortion is happening. The average SRB for the entire world is males per females. However, the ratio looks highly distorted in some countries, especially in India and Liechtenstein Firstly, SRB in China is heavily skewed in favour of boy because the preference for son is deeply rooted in Confucian values.

The SRB, which increased in China in the late s, reached in Although it used to be more common in the past, today we can still come across cases of infanticide, particularly against girls female infanticide. Infanticide is the act of deliberately causing the death of a very young child under 1 year old. In the past, and in many societies, it was a widespread practice, permitted by different cultures around the world.

Nowadays, it is considered to be an unethical crime; however, it is still performed. In some cultures, children are not considered to be human beings until certain ceremonies have been performed name-giving ceremonies or haircuts for example. Infanticide occurs rarely once those ceremonies have taken place but killing a child before them is not seen as a homicide.

Infanticide is usually difficult to report, because in most cases these deaths are covered as stillbirths or children are just not registered at the civil registry after the birth. Direct or active Infanticide is killing the baby deliberately, by means of dehydration or starvation, suffocation or head injuries. Indirect or passive infanticide begins with inadequate nutrition, neglect or careless parenting, especially when the baby gets sick.

Sometimes, depending on the circumstances, there is no clear distinction between infanticide and abortion. For example, among the Yanomami people of Brazil, when an unwanted pregnancy occurs, the woman is encouraged to work during the sixth or seventh month of her pregnancy, and then the fetus is killed if it shows signs of life after birth.

In many societies, especially in the past, infanticide was routinely used as a way to control and regulate the population. Despite the egalitarian nature of Chinese society, many parents believe that having a son is a vital element of providing for their old age.

Therefore in extreme cases, a baby is killed if it is not of the preferred sex, because of the pressure not to have more than one child. Infanticide occurs in most cases as a way of restricting poverty and population.

Throughout history infanticide has been regarded as a productive and efficient way to control starvation and poor standards of living caused by over population. The male bias in China is deeply rooted in Chinese traditions which leads parents to want their first child to be a boy. Confucianism regards male children as more desirable since they provide security for the elderly, work and are important for the performance of ancestral rites.

Son-preference in Hindu cultures is largely based on the fact that men are better providers, and that sons are required for the proper performance of funeral rites. The Sikh religion is one of the most gender-neutral, and explicitly proclaims the equality of men and women. This makes it more surprising that censuses in India show there are far more male children than female children in the Sikh community.

In practice there does appear to be a strong preference for boys in the Sikh heartland. The community appears to give greater respect to the parents of boys, and boys themselves. In response the Sikh religious organisation Akal Takht has re-emphasised that women are equal to men. It has banned neo-natal sex identification, selective abortion and the killing of female babies. Female infanticide was common in pre-Islamic Arabia.

However, by the time of Muhammad, and the revelation of the Qur'an female infanticide was strictly forbidden, and regarded as seriously as adult murder. You shall not kill your children for fear of want. We will provide for them and for you. To kill them is a grievous sin. Search term:. Read more.

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