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infanticide

In law, the killing of a child under 12 months old, and more generally, any killing of a newborn child. It is often seen as a method of population control, especially among hunter-gatherers and nomadic societies where it may be impossible for a mother to carry around more than one small child and still perform the tasks necessary for survival. In some societies, especially in India and China, more girls are killed than boys because of the higher value placed on male offspring. It is estimated that more than one million children worldwide are killed each year because they are born female. Infanticide may also be practised on deformed or sick infants or for religious or ritual purposes; in some African societies twin births are thought to be supernatural and the twins are left to die.

Although relatively rare, cases of infanticide today receive wide media coverage. The number of children killed by their parents is probably much higher than statistics suggest, however, as many infant deaths are never officially recognised as infanticide. Women offenders are usually perceived as being psychologically unstable and receive non-custodial or psychiatric sentences, while men almost always receive prison sentences.

Infanticide in Victorian times

Infanticide became a volatile issue during the Victorian era and was written about by authors such as Charles Dickens, George Eliot, and Matthew Arnold. Although popularly perceived as poor, ignorant, unmarried girls concealing their pregnancies and then killing their infants at birth in order to hide their shame, infanticide was more often caused by financial desperation. The crime often went unpunished, as juries were reluctant to see women receive capital punishment. Reports by missionaries and colonial administrators of extremely high rates of infanticide, particularly in India and China, were treated with outrage, however, and were used to justify British imperialism. In addition to saving souls, the British could also claim to be saving infants, particularly females, from being murdered.

Female infanticide in China

In China it is important to have boys, as only boys can carry on the family name and honour the ancestors. This preference for male children has led to approximately 10,000 female infants being killed in China each year (1996), and along with the abortion of female fetuses has resulted in a sex ratio of 131 males to 100 females (1997); worldwide the ratio is 105 males to 100 females. In rural areas of China it is even higher; in one county, the ratio of live male births to female in 1995 was 316 to 100. The ‘one child per couple’ policy has increased the traditional preference for male babies and the possibility of determining the sex of a fetus by ultrasound scanners (illegal in China) has led to an increase in abortions of female fetuses. By the end of the century it is estimated that there will be an excess of 90 million unmarried men.

Female infanticide in India

Infanticide in India occurs mostly among poor, rural populations. Daughters are considered economic burdens because of the high cost of weddings and dowries, while sons provide income, and are seen as type of insurance by their parents. New prenatal sex-determination techniques, such as ultrasound, have led to an increase in the abortion of female fetuses rather than female infanticide. Female infanticide and abortion have increased in recent years as women opt for smaller families. In India the sex ratio is 93 women for every 100 men, but in some regions there are fewer than 85 women per 100 men. Research carried out at a Mumbai (formerly Bombay) hospital revealed in 1995 that for every aborted male, there were 1,000 aborted females.

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