Infanticide: Difference between revisions
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{{Homicide}} | {{Homicide}} | ||
'''Infanticide''' (or '''infant homicide''') is the intentional killing of [[infant]]s or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout [[human history]] that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children,<ref name="InfAnAn">{{Cite book | last = Williamson| first = Laila| contribution = Infanticide: an anthropological analysis| editor-last = Kohl| editor-first = Marvin| title = Infanticide and the Value of Life| pages = 61–75| publisher = [[Prometheus Books]]| place = New York| year = 1978 | quote="Infanticide has been practiced on every continent and by people on every level of cultural complexity, from hunter gatherers to high civilizations. Rather than being an exception, then, it has been the rule."}}</ref>{{rp|61}} its main purpose being the prevention of resources being spent on weak or disabled offspring. Unwanted infants were usually abandoned to die of exposure, but in some societies they were deliberately killed. Infanticide is generally illegal, but in some places the practice is tolerated, or the prohibition is not strictly enforced. | '''Infanticide''' (or '''infant homicide''') is the intentional killing of [[infant]]s or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout [[human history]] that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children,<ref name="InfAnAn">{{Cite book | last = Williamson| first = Laila| contribution = Infanticide: an anthropological analysis| editor-last = Kohl| editor-first = Marvin| title = Infanticide and the Value of Life| pages = 61–75| publisher = [[Prometheus Books]]| place = New York| year = 1978 | quote="Infanticide has been practiced on every continent and by people on every level of cultural complexity, from hunter gatherers to high civilizations. Rather than being an exception, then, it has been the rule."}}</ref>{{rp|61}} its main purpose being the prevention of resources being spent on weak or disabled offspring. Unwanted infants were usually abandoned to die of [[Exposure (infant)|exposure]], but in some societies they were deliberately killed. Infanticide is generally illegal, but in some places the practice is tolerated, or the prohibition is not strictly enforced. | ||
Most [[Stone Age]] human societies routinely practiced infanticide, and estimates of children killed by infanticide in the [[Mesolithic]] and [[Neolithic]] eras vary from 15 to 50 percent. Infanticide continued to be common in most societies after the historical era began, including [[ancient Greece]], [[Roman Empire|ancient Rome]], the [[Phoenicians]], ancient [[China]], ancient [[Japan]], [[Pre-Islamic Arabia]], [[early modern Europe]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=New book suggests historical infanticide in Europe was likely more widespread than estimated |url=https://phys.org/news/2023-07-historical-infanticide-europe-widespread.amp |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=phys.org |language=en}}</ref> [[Aboriginal Australians|Aboriginal Australia]], [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]], and [[Native Alaskan]]s. | Most [[Stone Age]] human societies routinely practiced infanticide, and estimates of children killed by infanticide in the [[Mesolithic]] and [[Neolithic]] eras vary from 15 to 50 percent. Infanticide continued to be common in most societies after the historical era began, including [[ancient Greece]], [[Roman Empire|ancient Rome]], the [[Phoenicians]], ancient [[China]], ancient [[Japan]], [[Pre-Islamic Arabia]], [[early modern Europe]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=New book suggests historical infanticide in Europe was likely more widespread than estimated |url=https://phys.org/news/2023-07-historical-infanticide-europe-widespread.amp |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=phys.org |language=en}}</ref> [[Aboriginal Australians|Aboriginal Australia]], [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]], and [[Native Alaskan]]s. | ||
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====In the Old World==== | ====In the Old World==== | ||
Three thousand bones of young children, with evidence of sacrificial rituals, have been found in [[Sardinia]]. [[Pelasgians]] offered a sacrifice of every tenth child during difficult times. Many remains of children have been found in [[Gezer]] excavations with signs of sacrifice. Child skeletons with the marks of sacrifice have been found also in Egypt dating 950–720 BCE.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tort |first=César |title=Day of Wrath |publisher=Daybreak |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-291-88444-9 |location=Minneapolis |page=165 |language=English}}</ref> | Three thousand bones of young children, with evidence of sacrificial rituals, have been found in [[Sardinia]]. [[Pelasgians]] offered a sacrifice of every tenth child during difficult times. Many remains of children have been found in [[Gezer]] excavations with signs of sacrifice. Child skeletons with the marks of sacrifice have been found also in Egypt dating 950–720 BCE.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tort |first=César |title=Day of Wrath |publisher=Daybreak |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-291-88444-9 |location=Minneapolis |page=165 |language=English}}</ref> Child sacrifice was particularly widespread in ancient [[Carthage]].<ref name="Hardness" />{{rp|324}} Besides the Carthaginians, other [[Phoenicians]], and the [[Canaan#Canaanites|Canaanites]], [[Moabites]] and [[Sepharvite]]s offered their first-born as a sacrifice to their gods. | ||
=====Ancient Egypt===== | =====Ancient Egypt===== | ||
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In Greece, the decision to expose a child was typically the father's, although in [[Sparta]] the decision was made by a group of elders.<ref>See Plutarch's ''Life of Lycurgus''.</ref> Exposure was the preferred method of disposal, as that act in itself was not considered to be murder; moreover, the exposed child technically had a chance of being rescued by the gods or any passersby.<ref>See (e.g.) Budin 2004, 122–23.</ref> This very situation was a recurring motif in [[Greek mythology]]. | In Greece, the decision to expose a child was typically the father's, although in [[Sparta]] the decision was made by a group of elders.<ref>See Plutarch's ''Life of Lycurgus''.</ref> Exposure was the preferred method of disposal, as that act in itself was not considered to be murder; moreover, the exposed child technically had a chance of being rescued by the gods or any passersby.<ref>See (e.g.) Budin 2004, 122–23.</ref> This very situation was a recurring motif in [[Greek mythology]]. | ||
The practice was prevalent in [[ancient Rome]], as well. [[Philo]] was the first known philosopher to speak out against it.<ref>{{Cite book| last = Philo| author-link = Philo| title =The Special Laws| publisher =[[Harvard University Press]]| year =1950| location =Cambridge| pages =III, XX.117, Volume VII, pp. 118, 551, 549| no-pp = true}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Infanticide {{!}} Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/anthropology-and-archaeology/customs-and-artifacts/infanticide |access-date=2022-03-23 |website=www.encyclopedia.com |archive-date=23 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220323013809/https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/anthropology-and-archaeology/customs-and-artifacts/infanticide |url-status=live }}</ref> A letter from a Roman citizen to his sister, or a pregnant wife from her husband,<ref name="Woolf2007">{{cite book|author=Greg Woolf|title=Ancient civilizations: the illustrated guide to belief, mythology, and art |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=94NuSg3tlsgC&q=letter+pregnant|year=2007 |publisher=Barnes & Noble |isbn=978-1-4351-0121-0|page=386}}</ref> dating from {{BCE|1}}, demonstrates the casual nature with which infanticide was often viewed: | The practice was prevalent in [[ancient Rome]], as well. [[Philo]] was the first known philosopher to speak out against it.<ref>{{Cite book| last = Philo| author-link = Philo| title =The Special Laws| publisher =[[Harvard University Press]]| year =1950| location =Cambridge| pages =III, XX.117, Volume VII, pp. 118, 551, 549| no-pp = true}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Infanticide {{!}} Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/anthropology-and-archaeology/customs-and-artifacts/infanticide |access-date=2022-03-23 |website=www.encyclopedia.com |archive-date=23 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220323013809/https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/anthropology-and-archaeology/customs-and-artifacts/infanticide |url-status=live }}</ref> A letter from a Roman citizen to his sister, or a pregnant wife from her husband,<ref name="Woolf2007">{{cite book|author=Greg Woolf|title=Ancient civilizations: the illustrated guide to belief, mythology, and art |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=94NuSg3tlsgC&q=letter+pregnant|year=2007 |publisher=Barnes & Noble |isbn=978-1-4351-0121-0|page=386}}</ref> dating from {{BCE|1}}, demonstrates the casual nature with which infanticide was often viewed: | ||
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Whereas [[Theology|theologians]] and [[Clergy|clerics]] preached sparing their lives, newborn abandonment continued as registered in both the literature record and in legal documents.<ref name="Ex&Ob"/>{{rp|16}} According to [[William Edward Hartpole Lecky|William Lecky]], exposure in the [[early Middle Ages]], as distinct from other forms of infanticide, "was practiced on a gigantic scale with absolute impunity, noticed by writers with most frigid indifference and, at least in the case of [[Extreme poverty|destitute]] parents, considered a very [[Venial sin|venial]] offence".<ref name="InfHisSu">{{cite journal | last = Langer| first = William L.| author-link = William L. Langer|title = Infanticide: a historical survey| journal = History of Childhood Quarterly| volume = 1| pages = 353–66| year = 1974| pmid = 11614564| issue = 3}}</ref>{{rp|355–56}} However the first [[Foundling hospital|foundling house]] in Europe was established in [[Milan]] in 787 on account of the high number of infanticides and [[Legitimacy (family law)|out-of-wedlock]] births. The [[Ospedale di Santo Spirito in Sassia|Hospital of the Holy Spirit]] in Rome was founded by [[Pope Innocent III]] because women were throwing their infants into the [[Tiber river]].<ref>{{cite journal | last = Trexler| first = Richard| author-link = Richard Trexler|title = Infanticide in Florence: new sources and first results| journal = History of Childhood Quarterly| volume = 1| page = 99| year = 1973| issue = 1| pmid = 11614568}}</ref> | Whereas [[Theology|theologians]] and [[Clergy|clerics]] preached sparing their lives, newborn abandonment continued as registered in both the literature record and in legal documents.<ref name="Ex&Ob"/>{{rp|16}} According to [[William Edward Hartpole Lecky|William Lecky]], exposure in the [[early Middle Ages]], as distinct from other forms of infanticide, "was practiced on a gigantic scale with absolute impunity, noticed by writers with most frigid indifference and, at least in the case of [[Extreme poverty|destitute]] parents, considered a very [[Venial sin|venial]] offence".<ref name="InfHisSu">{{cite journal | last = Langer| first = William L.| author-link = William L. Langer|title = Infanticide: a historical survey| journal = History of Childhood Quarterly| volume = 1| pages = 353–66| year = 1974| pmid = 11614564| issue = 3}}</ref>{{rp|355–56}} However the first [[Foundling hospital|foundling house]] in Europe was established in [[Milan]] in 787 on account of the high number of infanticides and [[Legitimacy (family law)|out-of-wedlock]] births. The [[Ospedale di Santo Spirito in Sassia|Hospital of the Holy Spirit]] in Rome was founded by [[Pope Innocent III]] because women were throwing their infants into the [[Tiber river]].<ref>{{cite journal | last = Trexler| first = Richard| author-link = Richard Trexler|title = Infanticide in Florence: new sources and first results| journal = History of Childhood Quarterly| volume = 1| page = 99| year = 1973| issue = 1| pmid = 11614568}}</ref> | ||
Unlike other European regions, in the Middle Ages the German mother had the right to expose the newborn.<ref>{{Cite book| last = Westrup| first = C.W.| title =Introduction to Roman Law| publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]| year = 1944| location =London| page = 249}}</ref> | Unlike other European regions, in the Middle Ages the German mother had the right to expose the newborn.<ref>{{Cite book| last = Westrup| first = C.W.| title =Introduction to Roman Law| publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]| year = 1944| location =London| page = 249}}</ref> Generally, unwanted children were often abandoned in the High Middle Ages, usually by leaving them at the door of a church or [[abbey]]. If the baby was found in time, the clergy would take care of their upbringing, which gave rise to the first [[orphanage]]s. | ||
However, very high sex ratios were common in even late medieval Europe, which may indicate sex-selective infanticide.<ref>Josiah Cox Russell, 1958, ''Late Ancient and Medieval Population,'' pp. 13–17.</ref> The [[Waldensians]], a pre-Reformation medieval Christian sect deemed heretical by the [[Catholic Church]], were accused of participating in infanticide.<ref name="Griesse Barget de Boer 2021 p. 97">{{cite book | last1=Griesse | first1=M. | last2=Barget | first2=M. | last3=de Boer | first3=D. | title=Revolts and Political Violence in Early Modern Imagery | publisher=Brill | series=Brill's Studies on Art, Art History, and Intellectual History | year=2021 | isbn=978-90-04-46194-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vIRSEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA97 | access-date=2023-02-27 | page=97 | archive-date=27 February 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230227230232/https://books.google.com/books?id=vIRSEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA97 | url-status=live }}</ref> | However, very high sex ratios were common in even late medieval Europe, which may indicate sex-selective infanticide.<ref>Josiah Cox Russell, 1958, ''Late Ancient and Medieval Population,'' pp. 13–17.</ref> The [[Waldensians]], a pre-Reformation medieval Christian sect deemed heretical by the [[Catholic Church]], were accused of participating in infanticide.<ref name="Griesse Barget de Boer 2021 p. 97">{{cite book | last1=Griesse | first1=M. | last2=Barget | first2=M. | last3=de Boer | first3=D. | title=Revolts and Political Violence in Early Modern Imagery | publisher=Brill | series=Brill's Studies on Art, Art History, and Intellectual History | year=2021 | isbn=978-90-04-46194-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vIRSEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA97 | access-date=2023-02-27 | page=97 | archive-date=27 February 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230227230232/https://books.google.com/books?id=vIRSEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA97 | url-status=live }}</ref> | ||
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In his highly influential ''Pre-historic Times'', [[John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury|John Lubbock]] described burnt bones indicating the practice of child sacrifice in pagan [[Great Britain|Britain]].<ref name="Pre-historic Times">{{Cite book| last = Lubbock| first = John| author-link = John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury| title =Pre-historic Times, as Illustrated by Ancient Remains, and the Manners and Customs of Modern Savages| publisher=Williams and Norgate | year =1865| location =London| page =176}}</ref> | In his highly influential ''Pre-historic Times'', [[John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury|John Lubbock]] described burnt bones indicating the practice of child sacrifice in pagan [[Great Britain|Britain]].<ref name="Pre-historic Times">{{Cite book| last = Lubbock| first = John| author-link = John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury| title =Pre-historic Times, as Illustrated by Ancient Remains, and the Manners and Customs of Modern Savages| publisher=Williams and Norgate | year =1865| location =London| page =176}}</ref> | ||
===Christianity=== | ===Christianity=== | ||
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Infanticide was reported as early as the {{BCE|3rd century}}, and, by the [[Song dynasty]] ({{CE|960–1279}}), it was widespread in some provinces. Belief in [[reincarnation]] allowed poor residents of the country to kill their newborn children if they felt unable to care for them, hoping that they would be reborn in better circumstances. Furthermore, 18th and 19th century Qing reports of villagers in Liaoning show that they did not consider newborn children fully human, instead regarding life as beginning at some point after the sixth month after birth.<ref>{{cite book|title=Fate and fortune in rural China: social organization and population behavior in Liaoning, 1774–1873|author=James Z. Lee |author2=Cameron D. Campbell |page=70}}</ref> | Infanticide was reported as early as the {{BCE|3rd century}}, and, by the [[Song dynasty]] ({{CE|960–1279}}), it was widespread in some provinces. Belief in [[reincarnation]] allowed poor residents of the country to kill their newborn children if they felt unable to care for them, hoping that they would be reborn in better circumstances. Furthermore, 18th and 19th century Qing reports of villagers in Liaoning show that they did not consider newborn children fully human, instead regarding life as beginning at some point after the sixth month after birth.<ref>{{cite book|title=Fate and fortune in rural China: social organization and population behavior in Liaoning, 1774–1873|author=James Z. Lee |author2=Cameron D. Campbell |page=70}}</ref> | ||
The Venetian explorer [[Marco Polo]] claimed to have seen newborns exposed in [[Manzi (geography)|Manzi]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Polo |first=Marco |title=The Travels |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |year=1965 |location=Middlesex |page=174 |author-link=Marco Polo}}</ref> Contemporary writers from the Song dynasty note that, in [[Hubei]] and [[Fujian]] provinces, residents would only keep three sons and two daughters (among poor farmers, two sons | The Venetian explorer [[Marco Polo]] claimed to have seen newborns exposed in [[Manzi (geography)|Manzi]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Polo |first=Marco |title=The Travels |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |year=1965 |location=Middlesex |page=174 |author-link=Marco Polo}}</ref> Contemporary writers from the Song dynasty note that, in [[Hubei]] and [[Fujian]] provinces, residents would only keep three sons and two daughters (among poor farmers, two sons and one daughter), and kill all babies beyond that number at birth.<ref>{{cite book |title=Drowning girls in China: female infanticide since 1650|author=David E. Mungello|pages=5–8}}</ref> Initially the sex of the child was only one factor to consider. By the time of the Ming dynasty, however (1368–1644), male infanticide was becoming increasingly uncommon. The prevalence of female infanticide remained high much longer. The magnitude of this practice is subject to some dispute; however, one commonly quoted estimate is that, by late [[Qing dynasty|Qing]], between one fifth and one-quarter of all newborn girls, across the entire social spectrum, were victims of infanticide. If one includes excess mortality among female children under 10 (ascribed to gender-differential [[neglect]]), the share of victims rises to one third.<ref>{{cite book |author=King |first=Michelle Tien |author-link=Michelle T. King |title=Drowning daughters: A cultural history of female infanticide in late nineteenth-century China}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Fate and fortune in rural China: social organization and population behavior in Liaoning, 1774–1873|author=James Z. Lee |author2=Cameron D. Campbell |pages=58–82}}</ref><ref>Bernice J. Lee, "Female Infanticide in China." ''Historical Reflections / Réflexions Historiques'' 8#3 (1981), pp. 163–77 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/41298766 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201121005656/https://www.jstor.org/stable/41298766 |date=21 November 2020 }}</ref> | ||
Scottish physician [[John Dudgeon]], who worked in [[Beijing|Peking]], China, during the early 20th century said that, "Infanticide does not prevail to the extent so generally believed among us, and in the north, it does not exist at all."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/diseaseschinain00maxwgoog|title=The Diseases of China, including Formosa and Korea|year=1910|author=William Hamilton Jefferys|publisher=P. Blakiston's son & Co.|location=Philadelphia|page=[https://archive.org/details/diseaseschinain00maxwgoog/page/n290 258] |access-date=Dec 20, 2011|quote=Chinese children make delightful patients. They respond readily to kindness and are in every way satisfactory from a professional point of view. Not infrequently simply good feeding and plenty of oxygen will work the most marvelous cures. Permission is almost invariably asked to remain with the child in the hospital, and it is far better to grant the request, since, after a few days when all is well and the child is happy, the adult will gladly enough withdraw. Meanwhile, much has been gained. Whereas the effort to argue parents into leaving a child at once and the difficulty of winning the frightened child are enormous. The Chinese infant usually has a pretty good start in life. "Infanticide does not prevail to the extent so generally believed among us, and in the north, it does not exist at all."—Dudgeon, Peking.}}</ref> | Scottish physician [[John Dudgeon]], who worked in [[Beijing|Peking]], China, during the early 20th century said that, "Infanticide does not prevail to the extent so generally believed among us, and in the north, it does not exist at all."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/diseaseschinain00maxwgoog|title=The Diseases of China, including Formosa and Korea|year=1910|author=William Hamilton Jefferys|publisher=P. Blakiston's son & Co.|location=Philadelphia|page=[https://archive.org/details/diseaseschinain00maxwgoog/page/n290 258] |access-date=Dec 20, 2011|quote=Chinese children make delightful patients. They respond readily to kindness and are in every way satisfactory from a professional point of view. Not infrequently simply good feeding and plenty of oxygen will work the most marvelous cures. Permission is almost invariably asked to remain with the child in the hospital, and it is far better to grant the request, since, after a few days when all is well and the child is happy, the adult will gladly enough withdraw. Meanwhile, much has been gained. Whereas the effort to argue parents into leaving a child at once and the difficulty of winning the frightened child are enormous. The Chinese infant usually has a pretty good start in life. "Infanticide does not prevail to the extent so generally believed among us, and in the north, it does not exist at all."—Dudgeon, Peking.}}</ref> | ||
[[File:Sex ratio at birth in mainland China.png|thumb|upright=1.35|Sex ratio at birth in mainland China, males per 100 females, 1980–2010]] | [[File:Sex ratio at birth in mainland China.png|thumb|upright=1.35|Sex ratio at birth in mainland China, males per 100 females, 1980–2010]] | ||
[[Sex-selective abortion|Sex-selected abortion or sex identification]] ( | [[Sex-selective abortion|Sex-selected abortion or sex identification]] (unless needed for medical reasons),<ref>{{cite web |last1=Yan |first1=Alice |title=China population: Hospital caught offering illegal baby gender selection for potential parents ordered to cease service |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/social-welfare/article/3171626/china-population-hospital-caught-offering |website=SCMP |access-date=29 September 2025 |date=24 March 2022}}</ref> abandonment, and infanticide are illegal in present-day mainland China. According to the [[US State Department]]<ref>See Associated Press article [http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/27-12142004-416868.html US State Department position] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070226032823/http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/27-12142004-416868.html |date=February 26, 2007 }}.</ref> and the [[human rights]] organization [[Amnesty International]],<ref>See Amnesty International's report on [http://www.amnesty.ie/content/view/full/1683/ violence against women in China] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061009055656/http://www.amnesty.ie/content/view/full/1683/ |date=09 October 2006 }}.</ref> China's former family planning program, called the [[one-child policy]] (which was later relaxed and fully abandoned in 2021),<ref name=cnn-china-scraps-fines>{{Cite web |last=Cheng |first=Evelyn |date=21 July 2021 |title=China scraps fines, will let families have as many children as they'd like |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/21/china-scraps-fines-for-families-violating-childbirth-limits.html |access-date=29 September 2025 |website=CNBC |language=en |archive-date=28 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230128131149/https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/21/china-scraps-fines-for-families-violating-childbirth-limits.html |url-status=live}}</ref> nevertheless increased the frequency of infanticide.<ref>[http://www.theinterim.com/issues/abortion/steve-mosher%E2%80%99s-china-report/ "Steve Mosher's China report"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190828224837/http://www.theinterim.com/issues/abortion/steve-mosher%E2%80%99s-china-report/ |date=28 August 2019 }} ''The Interim'', 1986</ref><ref>[http://www.gendercide.org/case_infanticide.html "Case Study: Female Infanticide"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080421141103/http://www.gendercide.org/case_infanticide.html |date=2008-04-21 }} ''Gendercide Watch'', 2000</ref><ref>[http://www.allgirlsallowed.org/infanticide-china-statistics "Infanticide Statistics: Infanticide in China"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121101014043/http://www.allgirlsallowed.org/infanticide-china-statistics |date=2012-11-01 }} ''AllGirlsAllowed.org'', 2010</ref> The sex gap between males and females aged 0–19 years old was estimated to be 25 million in 2010 by the [[United Nations Population Fund]].<ref name=czg>Christophe Z Guilmoto, [https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20120604063319/https://www.unfpa.org/webdav/site/global/shared/documents/Guilmoto_Revised_presentation_Hanoi_Oct2011.pdf Sex imbalances at birth Trends, consequences and policy implications] United Nations Population Fund, Hanoi (October 2011)</ref> In some cases, in order to avoid China's family planning programs, parents did not report a birth to the government, so the newborn (in most cases a girl) did not receive an official identity and the parents could register another, later-born child without fines or punishment. In 2017, the government announced that all children without an identity could now have a legal identity, known as [[family register]].<ref>{{cite web |title=2017重磅!超生、非婚生子女也能上户口了, 这7类人可合法落户! |url=https://news.china.com/news100/11038989/20170619/30772432.html |access-date=3 May 2019 |language=zh |archive-date=3 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503122243/https://news.china.com/news100/11038989/20170619/30772432.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Four years later, all restrictions on the number of children were abandoned.<ref name=cnn-china-scraps-fines/> | ||
====Japan==== | ====Japan==== | ||
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====Inuit==== | ====Inuit==== | ||
There is no agreement about the actual estimates of the frequency of newborn [[female infanticide]] in the [[Inuit]] population. [[Carmel Schrire]] mentions diverse studies ranging from 15% to 80%.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Schrire| first = Carmel| author-link = Carmel Schrire|author2=William Lee Steiger| title = A matter of life and death: an investigation into the practice of female infanticide in the Arctic| journal = Man| volume = 9| issue = 2| pages = 161–84| year = 1974| doi=10.2307/2800072| jstor = 2800072}}</ref> | There is no agreement about the actual estimates of the frequency of newborn [[female infanticide]] in the [[Inuit]] population. [[Carmel Schrire]] mentions diverse studies ranging from 15% to 80%.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Schrire| first = Carmel| author-link = Carmel Schrire|author2=William Lee Steiger| title = A matter of life and death: an investigation into the practice of female infanticide in the Arctic| journal = Man| volume = 9| issue = 2| pages = 161–84| year = 1974| doi=10.2307/2800072| jstor = 2800072}}</ref> Polar Inuit ([[Inughuit]]) killed unwanted children by throwing them into the sea.<ref>{{Cite book| last=Fridtjof| first=Nansen| title=Eskimo Life| publisher=Longmans, Green & Co.| year=1894| location=London| page=152}}</ref> | ||
Polar Inuit ([[Inughuit]]) killed | |||
The [[Yukon]] and the Mahlemuit tribes of [[Alaska]] exposed the female newborns by first stuffing their mouths with grass before leaving them to die.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Garber| first = Clark| title =Eskimo Infanticide| journal = [[Scientific Monthly]]| volume = 64| issue = 2| year = 1947| pages = 98–102| pmid = 20285669| bibcode = 1947SciMo..64...98G}}</ref> In [[Arctic]] Canada the Inuit exposed their babies on the ice and left them to die.<ref name="InfHisSu"/>{{rp|354}} | The [[Yukon]] and the Mahlemuit tribes of [[Alaska]] exposed the female newborns by first stuffing their mouths with grass before leaving them to die.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Garber| first = Clark| title =Eskimo Infanticide| journal = [[Scientific Monthly]]| volume = 64| issue = 2| year = 1947| pages = 98–102| pmid = 20285669| bibcode = 1947SciMo..64...98G}}</ref> In [[Arctic]] Canada the Inuit exposed their babies on the ice and left them to die.<ref name="InfHisSu"/>{{rp|354}} | ||
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{{See also|Missing women}} | {{See also|Missing women}} | ||
Infanticide has become less common in the [[Western world]]. The frequency has been estimated to be 1 in approximately 3000 to 5000 children of all ages<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Putkonen Amon |author2=Almiron Cederwall |author3=Eronen Klier |author4=Kjelsberg Weizmann-Henelius |year=2009 |title=Filicide in Austria and Finland – A register-based study on all filicide cases in Austria and Finland 1995-2005 |journal=BMC Psychiatry |volume=9 | | Infanticide has become less common in the [[Western world]]. The frequency has been estimated to be 1 in approximately 3000 to 5000 children of all ages<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Putkonen Amon |author2=Almiron Cederwall |author3=Eronen Klier |author4=Kjelsberg Weizmann-Henelius |year=2009 |title=Filicide in Austria and Finland – A register-based study on all filicide cases in Austria and Finland 1995-2005 |journal=BMC Psychiatry |volume=9 |article-number=74 |doi=10.1186/1471-244x-9-74| pmid=19930581 |pmc=2784763 |doi-access=free }}</ref> and 2.1 per 100,000 newborns per year.<ref>{{cite journal| doi=10.1001/jama.289.11.1425 |last=Herman-Giddens |first=Marcia E. |author2=Jamie B. Smith |author3=Manjoo Mittal |author4=Mandie Carlson |author5=John D. Butts |date=19 Mar 2003 |title=Newborns Killed or Left to Die by a Parent A Population-Based Study |journal=JAMA |volume=289 |issue=11 |pages=1425–29 |issn=0098-7484 |pmid=12636466 |quote=Context: Interest in the discarding or killing of newborns by parents has increased due to wide news coverage and efforts by states to provide Safe Haven legislation to combat the problem. |doi-access=free }}</ref> It is thought that infanticide today continues at a much higher rate in areas of extremely high [[poverty]] and [[Human overpopulation|overpopulation]], such as parts of [[India]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Female Infanticide |website=Gendercide Watch |url=http://www.gendercide.org/case_infanticide.html |access-date=2013-07-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080421141103/http://www.gendercide.org/case_infanticide.html |archive-date=2008-04-21}}</ref> Female infants, then and even now, are particularly vulnerable, a factor in sex-selective infanticide. Recent estimates suggest that over 100 million girls and women are 'missing' in Asia.<ref>"[https://www.economist.com/leaders/2010/03/04/gendercide The war on baby girls: Gendercide] ". The Economist. March 4, 2010.</ref> | ||
===Benin=== | ===Benin=== | ||
In spite of the fact that it is illegal, in [[Benin]], [[West Africa]], parents secretly continue with infanticidal customs.<ref>{{cite journal| last =Sargent| first =Carolyn|title =Born to die: witchcraft and infanticide in Bariba culture| jstor =3773562| journal =[[Ethnology (journal)|Ethnology]]|volume = 27|year =1988| doi =10.2307/3773562| issue =1| pages =79–95}}</ref> | In spite of the fact that it is illegal, in [[Benin]], [[West Africa]], parents secretly continue with infanticidal customs.<ref>{{cite journal| last =Sargent| first =Carolyn|title =Born to die: witchcraft and infanticide in Bariba culture| jstor =3773562| journal =[[Ethnology (journal)|Ethnology]]|volume = 27|year =1988| doi =10.2307/3773562| issue =1| pages =79–95| doi-access =free}}</ref> | ||
===Mainland China=== | ===Mainland China=== | ||
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===India=== | ===India=== | ||
The practice has continued in some [[rural area]]s of India.<ref>{{Cite news | last = Murphy| first = Paul| title = Killing baby girls routine in India| newspaper = [[San Francisco Examiner]]| page = C12| date = May 21, 1995}}</ref><ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/south/07/07/india.infanticide.pt1/index.html Grim motives behind infant killings] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304081133/http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/south/07/07/india.infanticide.pt1/index.html |date=4 March 2016 }}, CNN.com, July 7, 2003</ref> India has the highest infanticide rate in the world, despite infanticide being illegal.<ref>[ | The practice has continued in some [[rural area]]s of India.<ref>{{Cite news | last = Murphy| first = Paul| title = Killing baby girls routine in India| newspaper = [[San Francisco Examiner]]| page = C12| date = May 21, 1995}}</ref><ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/south/07/07/india.infanticide.pt1/index.html Grim motives behind infant killings] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304081133/http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/south/07/07/india.infanticide.pt1/index.html |date=4 March 2016 }}, CNN.com, July 7, 2003</ref> India has the highest infanticide rate in the world, despite infanticide being illegal.<ref>[https://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0209/p11s01-wosc.html For India's daughters, a dark birth day] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190827184513/https://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0209/p11s01-wosc.html |date=27 August 2019 }}, csmonitor.com, February 9, 2005</ref> | ||
According to a 2005 report by the [[United Nations Children's Fund]] ([[UNICEF]]) up to 50 million girls and [[Missing women of Asia|women are missing]] in [[India]]'s population as a result of systematic sex [[discrimination]] and [[Sex-selective abortion|sex selective abortions]].<ref>"[https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/24/opinion/24iht-edswami.html Missing: 50 million Indian girls] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150509104405/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/24/opinion/24iht-edswami.html |date=9 May 2015 }}". The New York Times. November 25, 2005</ref> | According to a 2005 report by the [[United Nations Children's Fund]] ([[UNICEF]]) up to 50 million girls and [[Missing women of Asia|women are missing]] in [[India]]'s population as a result of systematic sex [[discrimination]] and [[Sex-selective abortion|sex selective abortions]].<ref>"[https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/24/opinion/24iht-edswami.html Missing: 50 million Indian girls] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150509104405/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/24/opinion/24iht-edswami.html |date=9 May 2015 }}". The New York Times. November 25, 2005</ref> | ||
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===Oceania=== | ===Oceania=== | ||
On November 28, 2008, ''The National'', one of [[Papua New Guinea]]'s two largest newspapers at the time, ran a story entitled "Male Babies Killed To Stop Fights", which claimed that in Agibu and Amosa villages of the Gimi region of the [[Eastern Highlands (Papua New Guinea)|Eastern Highlands]] province – where tribal fighting had been going on since 1986 – women had agreed to stop producing males, allowing only female babies to survive, so that there would be no men in the future to fight. However, [[Salvation Army]] workers in the region denied that the supposed male infanticide had actually happened. Instead, women had merely hypothetically mentioned this possibility at a peace and reconciliation workshop in order to make a point, without planning to actually kill their sons.<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-12-01/salvos-deny-png-baby-killing-reports/225248|title = Salvos deny PNG 'baby killing' reports|newspaper = ABC News|date = 1 December 2008 |first1=Steve |last1=Marshall |access-date = 17 September 2021|archive-date = 17 September 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210917230341/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-12-01/salvos-deny-png-baby-killing-reports/225248|url-status = live}}</ref> | |||
===England and Wales=== | ===England and Wales=== | ||
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===Economic=== | ===Economic=== | ||
Many historians believe the reason to be primarily economic, with more children born than the family is prepared to support. [[Marvin Harris]] estimated that among [[Paleolithic]] hunters 23–50% of newborn children were killed. He argued that the goal was to preserve the 0.001% population growth of that time.<ref name="Cannibals&Kings"/>{{RP|15}} He also wrote that female infanticide may be a form of population control.<ref name="Cannibals&Kings">{{Cite book| last = Harris| first = Marvin| author-link = Marvin Harris| title = Cannibals and Kings: The Origins of Cultures| publisher = Random House| year = 1977| location = New York}}</ref>{{Rp|5}} Population control is achieved not only by limiting the number of potential mothers; increased fighting among men for access to relatively scarce wives would also lead to a decline in population. For example, on the [[Melanesia]]n island of [[Tikopia]] infanticide was used to keep a stable population in line with its [[carrying capacity|resource base]].<ref name="Collapse" /><!--He devotes a chapter to this aspect of Tikopia--> In 1888, Lieut. F. Elton reported that [[Ugi Island|Ugi]] beach people in the [[Solomon Islands]] killed their infants at birth by burying them, and women were also said to practice abortion. They reported that it was too much trouble to raise a child, and instead preferred to buy one from the bush people.<ref>{{cite journal| last = Elton| first = Lieut. F.| title = Notes on Natives of the Solomon Islands| journal = The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland| volume = 17| pages = 90–99| year = 1888| jstor = 2841588| doi = 10.2307/2841588| url = https://zenodo.org/record/1449550| access-date = 2 July 2019| archive-date = 26 November 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211126232521/https://zenodo.org/record/1449550| url-status = live}}</ref> Research by Marvin Harris and [[William Divale]] supports this argument, it has been cited as an example of [[environmental determinism]].<ref>{{Cite book| last = Hallpike | first = C.R.| title = The Principles of Social Evolution| publisher = Clarendon Press| year = 1988| location = Oxford| pages = 237–38}}</ref> However, it is argued that it has also occurred equally among rich and poor and during decadent periods of the [[Roman Empire]] as during earlier, less affluent, periods.<ref name="Hardness"/>{{rp|28–34, 187–92}} | Many historians believe the reason to be primarily economic, with more children born than the family is prepared to support. [[Marvin Harris]] estimated that among [[Paleolithic]] hunters 23–50% of newborn children were killed. He argued that the goal was to preserve the 0.001% population growth of that time.<ref name="Cannibals&Kings"/>{{RP|15}} He also wrote that female infanticide may be a form of population control.<ref name="Cannibals&Kings">{{Cite book| last = Harris| first = Marvin| author-link = Marvin Harris| title = Cannibals and Kings: The Origins of Cultures| publisher = Random House| year = 1977| location = New York}}</ref>{{Rp|5}} Population control is achieved not only by limiting the number of potential mothers; increased fighting among men for access to relatively scarce wives would also lead to a decline in population. For example, on the [[Melanesia]]n island of [[Tikopia]] infanticide was used to keep a stable population in line with its [[carrying capacity|resource base]].<ref name="Collapse" /><!--He devotes a chapter to this aspect of Tikopia--> In 1888, Lieut. F. Elton reported that [[Ugi Island|Ugi]] beach people in the [[Solomon Islands]] killed their infants at birth by burying them, and women were also said to practice abortion. They reported that it was too much trouble to raise a child, and instead preferred to buy one from the bush people.<ref>{{cite journal| last = Elton| first = Lieut. F.| title = Notes on Natives of the Solomon Islands| journal = The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland| volume = 17| pages = 90–99| year = 1888| jstor = 2841588| doi = 10.2307/2841588| url = https://zenodo.org/record/1449550| access-date = 2 July 2019| archive-date = 26 November 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211126232521/https://zenodo.org/record/1449550| url-status = live| doi-access = free}}</ref> Research by Marvin Harris and [[William Divale]] supports this argument, it has been cited as an example of [[environmental determinism]].<ref>{{Cite book| last = Hallpike | first = C.R.| title = The Principles of Social Evolution| publisher = Clarendon Press| year = 1988| location = Oxford| pages = 237–38}}</ref> However, it is argued that it has also occurred equally among rich and poor and during decadent periods of the [[Roman Empire]] as during earlier, less affluent, periods.<ref name="Hardness"/>{{rp|28–34, 187–92}} | ||
In societies that are [[patrilineal]] and [[patrilocal]], the family may choose to allow more sons to live and practice [[female infanticide]], as sons will support their birth family until they die, whereas daughters will leave economically and geographically to join their husband's family, possibly only after the payment of a burdensome [[dowry]] price.<ref name="Hardness">{{Cite book| last = Milner| first = Larry S.| title = Hardness of Heart / Hardness of Life: The Stain of Human Infanticide| publisher = University Press of America| location =Lanham | In societies that are [[patrilineal]] and [[patrilocal]], the family may choose to allow more sons to live and practice [[female infanticide]], as sons will support their birth family until they die, whereas daughters will leave economically and geographically to join their husband's family, possibly only after the payment of a burdensome [[dowry]] price.<ref name="Hardness">{{Cite book| last = Milner| first = Larry S.| title = Hardness of Heart / Hardness of Life: The Stain of Human Infanticide| publisher = University Press of America| location=Lanham, Maryland | year = 2000|isbn=978-0-7618-1578-5}}</ref>{{rp|362–68}} Under natural conditions, mortality rates for girls under five are slightly lower than boys for biological reasons. However, after birth, neglect and diverting resources to male children, such as biased feeding | ||
practices, inadequate clothing during winter | practices, inadequate clothing during winter | ||
and lower-quality health care,<ref name=WHO/> can lead to some countries having a skewed ratio with more boys than girls, with such practices killing an approximate 230,000 girls under five in India each year.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/may/15/discrimination-deaths-girls-under-five-india-lancet-study|title=Discrimination kills 230,000 girls under five in India each year, study shows |date=15 May 2018|access-date=20 August 2018|work=The Guardian}}</ref> While sex-selective abortion is more common among the higher income population, who can access medical technology, abuse after birth, such as infanticide and abandonment, is more common among the lower income population.<ref>{{cite web|author=Mariya Karimjee |url=http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/1/14/infanticides-on-theriseinpakistan.html |title=Infanticide is on the rise in Pakistan | Al Jazeera America |publisher=America.aljazeera.com |date=14 January 2014 |access-date=18 February 2014}}</ref> Before the appearance of effective [[contraception]], infanticide was a common occurrence in ancient brothels and prostitutes in certain areas preferred to kill their male offspring.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14401305 ''Roman dead baby 'brothel' mystery deepens''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180824155154/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14401305 |date=24 August 2018 }}, BBC</ref> | and lower-quality health care,<ref name=WHO/> can lead to some countries having a skewed ratio with more boys than girls, with such practices killing an approximate 230,000 girls under five in India each year.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/may/15/discrimination-deaths-girls-under-five-india-lancet-study|title=Discrimination kills 230,000 girls under five in India each year, study shows |date=15 May 2018|access-date=20 August 2018|work=The Guardian}}</ref> While sex-selective abortion is more common among the higher income population, who can access medical technology, abuse after birth, such as infanticide and abandonment, is more common among the lower income population.<ref>{{cite web|author=Mariya Karimjee |url=http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/1/14/infanticides-on-theriseinpakistan.html |title=Infanticide is on the rise in Pakistan | Al Jazeera America |publisher=America.aljazeera.com |date=14 January 2014 |access-date=18 February 2014}}</ref> Before the appearance of effective [[contraception]], infanticide was a common occurrence in ancient brothels and prostitutes in certain areas preferred to kill their male offspring.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14401305 ''Roman dead baby 'brothel' mystery deepens''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180824155154/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14401305 |date=24 August 2018 }}, BBC</ref> | ||
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===Social stigma=== | ===Social stigma=== | ||
Infants have | Infants have been killed for superstitious accusations, such as being witches, often by being buried alive or left to starve.<ref name=fp/> Those at higher risk of being accused and killed include the disabled, [[albino]]s, those born prematurely, twins,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.irinnews.org/report/89858/rights-child-witchcraft-allegations-on-the-rise |title=Child witchcraft allegations on the rise – Angola – Benin – DRC – Central African Republic – Cameroon – Gabon – Nigeria – Chad – Children – Education – Gender Issues – Human Rights – Urban Risk |work=IRINnews |agency=IRINnews |access-date=5 March 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205090303/http://www.irinnews.org/report/89858/rights-child-witchcraft-allegations-on-the-rise |archive-date=5 February 2015 |date=15 July 2010 }}</ref> children of single mothers and [[intersex]] infants. [[Intersex infanticide|Intersex infants commonly suffer from infanticide]] particularly in [[developing countries]], largely caused by stigma surrounding intersex conditions. Often intersex infants are [[Child abandonment|abandoned]], while others are actively killed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/sexual-orientation-and-gender-identity/intersex-people|title=Intersex people|website=OHCHR|access-date=21 August 2023|archive-date=8 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708011645/https://www.ohchr.org/en/sexual-orientation-and-gender-identity/intersex-people|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="OHCR1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/BackgroundNoteHumanRightsViolationsagainstIntersexPeople.pdf|title=Background Notes on Human Rights Violations against Intersex People|website=OHCHR|access-date=21 August 2023|archive-date=21 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230821201746/https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/BackgroundNoteHumanRightsViolationsagainstIntersexPeople.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-39780214|title=The midwife who saved intersex babies|work=BBC News|date=May 3, 2017|access-date=21 August 2023|archive-date=15 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170515044758/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-39780214|url-status=live}}</ref> | ||
[[Legitimacy (family law)|Illegitimacy]] and its shame has led mothers or their families to kill infants.<ref>{{cite web |last1=PHULL |first1=IMRAN |title=Curse of Infanticide |url=https://nation.com.pk/25-Jun-2018/curse-of-infanticide |website=The Nation |access-date=9 July 2020 |date=25 June 2018 |archive-date=2 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202074949/https://nation.com.pk/25-Jun-2018/curse-of-infanticide |url-status=dead }}</ref> This was also the impetus for a mother's decision to give her child to a [[baby farmer]]. Baby farming is the practice of accepting custody of a child in return for payment. This was most common in Victorian Britain. Baby farmers sometimes neglected or murdered the babies to keep costs down.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mosalski |first=Ruth |date=2017-11-16 |title=The horrible story of the last woman to be hanged in Wales |url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/horrible-story-last-woman-hanged-13906837 |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=Wales Online |language=en}}</ref> | [[Legitimacy (family law)|Illegitimacy]] and its shame has led mothers or their families to kill infants.<ref>{{cite web |last1=PHULL |first1=IMRAN |title=Curse of Infanticide |url=https://nation.com.pk/25-Jun-2018/curse-of-infanticide |website=The Nation |access-date=9 July 2020 |date=25 June 2018 |archive-date=2 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202074949/https://nation.com.pk/25-Jun-2018/curse-of-infanticide |url-status=dead }}</ref> This was also the impetus for a mother's decision to give her child to a [[baby farmer]]. Baby farming is the practice of accepting custody of a child in return for payment. This was most common in Victorian Britain. Baby farmers sometimes neglected or murdered the babies to keep costs down.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mosalski |first=Ruth |date=2017-11-16 |title=The horrible story of the last woman to be hanged in Wales |url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/horrible-story-last-woman-hanged-13906837 |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=Wales Online |language=en}}</ref> | ||
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===Psychiatric=== | ===Psychiatric=== | ||
{{See also|Psychiatric disorders of childbirth}} | {{See also|Psychiatric disorders of childbirth}} | ||
[[Postpartum psychosis]] is also a causative factor of infanticide. Stuart S. Asch, MD, a professor of psychiatry at [[Weill Cornell Medicine|Cornell University Medical School]] established the connections between some cases of infanticide and [[postpartum depression]].<ref>{{cite journal|title= Crib deaths: their possible relationship to post-partum depression and infanticide|date=2013-03-25 |pmid=5239550 | volume=35 |issue=3 |journal=J Mt Sinai Hosp New York |pages=214–20 | author = Asch SS}}</ref><sup>,</sup><ref>{{cite journal|title= Postpartum reactions: some unrecognized variations|date=2013-03-25 |pmid=4857893 | doi=10.1176/ajp.131.8.870 |volume=131 |issue=8 |journal=Am J Psychiatry |pages=870–74 |vauthors=Asch SS, Rubin LJ }}</ref><sup>,</sup><ref>{{cite journal|journal = Perspect Public Health| year = 2009 | volume = 129 | number = 5 | pages = 221–27 | title = Postnatal depression: a global public health perspective | vauthors = Almond P | doi=10.1177/1757913909343882| pmid = 19788165 | s2cid = 37712302 }}</ref> The books | [[Postpartum psychosis]] is also a causative factor of infanticide. Stuart S. Asch, MD, a professor of psychiatry at [[Weill Cornell Medicine|Cornell University Medical School]] established the connections between some cases of infanticide and [[postpartum depression]].<ref>{{cite journal|title= Crib deaths: their possible relationship to post-partum depression and infanticide|date=2013-03-25 |pmid=5239550 | volume=35 |issue=3 |journal=J Mt Sinai Hosp New York |pages=214–20 | author = Asch SS}}</ref><sup>,</sup><ref>{{cite journal|title= Postpartum reactions: some unrecognized variations|date=2013-03-25 |pmid=4857893 | doi=10.1176/ajp.131.8.870 |volume=131 |issue=8 |journal=Am J Psychiatry |pages=870–74 |vauthors=Asch SS, Rubin LJ }}</ref><sup>,</sup><ref>{{cite journal|journal = Perspect Public Health| year = 2009 | volume = 129 | number = 5 | pages = 221–27 | title = Postnatal depression: a global public health perspective | vauthors = Almond P | doi=10.1177/1757913909343882| pmid = 19788165 | s2cid = 37712302 }}</ref> The books ''From Cradle to Grave''<ref>Egginton, Joyce. From Cradle to Grave. The Short Lives and Strange Deaths of Marybeth Tinning's Nine Children. 1989. William Morrow, New York</ref> and ''The Death of Innocents''<ref>Richard Firstman and Jamie Talan. The Death of Innocents. Bantam, New York. 1997</ref> describe selected cases of maternal infanticide in New York City. | ||
Stanley Hopwood wrote that childbirth and lactation entail severe stress on women, and that under certain circumstances attempts at infanticide and suicide are common.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Hopwood| first = Stanley J.| title = Child murder and insanity| journal = Journal of Clinical and Experimental Psychopathology| volume = 73| page = 96| year = 1927}}</ref> The [[Infanticide Act]]s are several now repealed [[English Law|laws]] that, in 1922, made the killing of an infant child by its mother during the early months of life a lesser crime than murder, introducing the idea that [[postpartum depression]] was legally to be regarded as a form of [[diminished responsibility]]. A study published in the ''[[American Journal of Psychiatry]]'' revealed that 44% of filicidal [[father]]s had a diagnosis of [[psychosis]].<ref>{{cite journal | last = Campion| first = John|author2=James M. Cravens |author3=Fred Covan| title =A study of filicidal men| journal = [[American Journal of Psychiatry]] | volume = 145| issue = 9| year = 1988| pages = 1141–44| doi = 10.1176/ajp.145.9.1141| pmid = 3414858}}</ref> In addition to postpartum psychosis, dissociative psychopathology, and sociopathy have also been found to be associated with neonaticide in some cases.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Spinelli MG | year = 2001 | title = A systematic investigation of 16 cases of neonaticide | journal = American Journal of Psychiatry | volume = 158 | issue = 5| pages = 811–13 | doi=10.1176/appi.ajp.158.5.811 | pmid=11329409}}</ref> | Stanley Hopwood wrote that childbirth and lactation entail severe stress on women, and that under certain circumstances attempts at infanticide and suicide are common.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Hopwood| first = Stanley J.| title = Child murder and insanity| journal = Journal of Clinical and Experimental Psychopathology| volume = 73| page = 96| year = 1927}}</ref> The [[Infanticide Act]]s are several now repealed [[English Law|laws]] that, in 1922, made the killing of an infant child by its mother during the early months of life a lesser crime than murder, introducing the idea that [[postpartum depression]] was legally to be regarded as a form of [[diminished responsibility]]. A study published in the ''[[American Journal of Psychiatry]]'' revealed that 44% of filicidal [[father]]s had a diagnosis of [[psychosis]].<ref>{{cite journal | last = Campion| first = John|author2=James M. Cravens |author3=Fred Covan| title =A study of filicidal men| journal = [[American Journal of Psychiatry]] | volume = 145| issue = 9| year = 1988| pages = 1141–44| doi = 10.1176/ajp.145.9.1141| pmid = 3414858}}</ref> In addition to postpartum psychosis, dissociative psychopathology, and sociopathy have also been found to be associated with neonaticide in some cases.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Spinelli MG | year = 2001 | title = A systematic investigation of 16 cases of neonaticide | journal = American Journal of Psychiatry | volume = 158 | issue = 5| pages = 811–13 | doi=10.1176/appi.ajp.158.5.811 | pmid=11329409}}</ref> | ||
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==Ethics== | ==Ethics== | ||
Philosopher [[Peter Singer]], known for a philosophy called [[personism]], argues that newborns lack the essential characteristics of personhood—"rationality, autonomy, and self-consciousness"<ref>[http://www.utilitarian.net/singer/by/1993----.htm Taking Life: Humans] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205000916/http://www.utilitarian.net/singer/by/1993----.htm |date=5 February 2017}}, Excerpted from Practical Ethics, 2nd edition, 1993</ref>—and therefore "killing a newborn baby is never equivalent to killing a person, that is, a being who wants to go on living".<ref>{{cite web |last=Singer |first=Peter |url=https://petersinger.info/faq/ |title=Peter Singer FAQ |access-date=28 October 2018 |archive-date=22 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230622185445/https://petersinger.info/faq/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> Some medical ethicists have argued for parents to be allowed to kill their newborn babies because they are not "actual persons"; they have proposed to call this [[after-birth abortion]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Infanticide: a reply to Giubilini and Minerva|journal=Journal of Medical Ethics|pmid=23637448 | doi=10.1136/medethics-2012-100664|pmc=3632995|volume=39|issue=5|pages=336–40 | last1 = Laing | first1 = JA|year=2013 }}</ref> | |||
Most people today hold that infants have the same moral status as older humans, making infanticide essentially always wrong in the same way that killing older persons typically is.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McMahan |first1=Jeff |title=Infanticide and moral consistency |journal=Journal of Medical Ethics |date=May 2013 |volume=39 |issue=5 |page=280 |doi=10.1136/medethics-2012-100988 |url=https://www.philosophy.ox.ac.uk/files/infanticidemoralconsistencypdf}}</ref> | |||
Some have challenged this view. Philosopher [[Peter Singer]], known for a philosophy called [[personism]], argues that newborns lack the essential characteristics of personhood—"rationality, autonomy, and self-consciousness"<ref>[http://www.utilitarian.net/singer/by/1993----.htm Taking Life: Humans] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205000916/http://www.utilitarian.net/singer/by/1993----.htm |date=5 February 2017}}, Excerpted from Practical Ethics, 2nd edition, 1993</ref>—and therefore "killing a newborn baby is never equivalent to killing a person, that is, a being who wants to go on living".<ref>{{cite web |last=Singer |first=Peter |url=https://petersinger.info/faq/ |title=Peter Singer FAQ |access-date=28 October 2018 |archive-date=22 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230622185445/https://petersinger.info/faq/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> Some medical ethicists have argued for parents to be allowed to kill their newborn babies because they are not "actual persons"; they have proposed to call this [[after-birth abortion]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Infanticide: a reply to Giubilini and Minerva|journal=Journal of Medical Ethics|pmid=23637448 | doi=10.1136/medethics-2012-100664|pmc=3632995|volume=39|issue=5|pages=336–40 | last1 = Laing | first1 = JA|year=2013 }}</ref> Some authors warn that it is hard to defend consistently and credibly a position that rejects infanticide yet accepts the abortion of viable fetuses and the killing of higher animals, such as [[chimpanzee]]s.{{sfn|McMahan|2013|pp=273–280}} | |||
Ethicists who consider abortion permissible but reject infanticide often argue from differences in the moral status of fetuses and newborns. One such argument is that birth imposes parental responsibilities on the parents that do not exist before birth.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Singh |first1=Prabhpal |title=Fetuses, newborns, & parental responsibility |journal=Journal of Medical Ethics |date=1 March 2020 |volume=46 |issue=3|pages=188-193|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27197805 |access-date=2026-05-18}}</ref> Another argument is that killing someone violates their bodily rights and that persons have such rights from the moment of birth, but not before.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Robinson |first1=James G |title=Infanticide and infant bodily rights |journal=Journal of Medical Ethics |date=March 2026 |volume=52 |issue=3 |pages=162–165 |doi=10.1136/jme-2025-110749}}</ref> | |||
==Current law== | ==Current law== | ||
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=== Psychiatric intervention === | === Psychiatric intervention === | ||
Screening for psychiatric disorders or risk factors, and providing treatment or assistance to those at risk may help prevent infanticide.<ref name="FriedmanDepress">{{cite journal |vauthors=Friedman SH, Resnick PJ |title=Postpartum depression: an update |journal=Women's Health |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=287–95 |date=May 2009 |pmid=19392614 |doi=10.2217/whe.09.3 |doi-access=free }}</ref> | Cases of infanticide have also garnered increasing attention and interest from advocates for the mentally ill as well as organizations dedicated to postpartum disorders. Following the trial of [[Andrea Yates]], a mother from the United States who garnered national attention for drowning her 5 children, representatives from organizations such as the Postpartum Support International and the Marcé Society for Treatment and Prevention of Postpartum Disorders began requesting clarification of diagnostic criteria for postpartum disorders and improved guidelines for treatments. While accounts of postpartum psychosis have dated back over 2,000 years ago, perinatal mental illness is still largely under-diagnosed despite postpartum psychosis affecting 1 to 2 per 1000 women.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Sharma|first1=Indira|last2=Rai|first2=Shashi|last3=Pathak|first3=Abhishek|date=2015|title=Postpartum psychiatric disorders: Early diagnosis and management|journal=Indian Journal of Psychiatry|volume=57|issue=6|pages=S216–21|doi=10.4103/0019-5545.161481|issn=0019-5545|pmc=4539865|pmid=26330638 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Osborne|first=Lauren M.|date=September 2018|title=Recognizing and Managing Postpartum Psychosis|journal=Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics of North America|volume=45|issue=3|pages=455–68|doi=10.1016/j.ogc.2018.04.005|pmc=6174883|pmid=30092921}}</ref> Screening for psychiatric disorders or risk factors, and providing treatment or assistance to those at risk may help prevent infanticide.<ref name="FriedmanDepress">{{cite journal |vauthors=Friedman SH, Resnick PJ |title=Postpartum depression: an update |journal=Women's Health |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=287–95 |date=May 2009 |pmid=19392614 |doi=10.2217/whe.09.3 |doi-access=free }}</ref> | ||
While studies on the treatment of postpartum psychosis are scarce, a number of case and cohort studies have found evidence describing the effectiveness of [[lithium (medication)|lithium]] monotherapy for both acute and maintenance treatment of postpartum psychosis, with the majority of patients achieving complete remission. Adjunctive treatments include [[electroconvulsive therapy]], antipsychotic medication, or [[benzodiazepine]]s. Electroconvulsive therapy, in particular, is the primary treatment for patients with [[catatonia]], severe agitation, and difficulties eating or drinking. Antidepressants should be avoided throughout the acute treatment of postpartum psychosis due to risk of worsening mood instability.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Bergink|first1=Veerle|last2=Rasgon|first2=Natalie|last3=Wisner|first3=Katherine L.|date=2016-09-09|title=Postpartum Psychosis: Madness, Mania, and Melancholia in Motherhood|journal=American Journal of Psychiatry|volume=173|issue=12|pages=1179–88|doi=10.1176/appi.ajp.2016.16040454|pmid=27609245|issn=0002-953X|doi-access=free}}</ref> | While studies on the treatment of postpartum psychosis are scarce, a number of case and cohort studies have found evidence describing the effectiveness of [[lithium (medication)|lithium]] monotherapy for both acute and maintenance treatment of postpartum psychosis, with the majority of patients achieving complete remission. Adjunctive treatments include [[electroconvulsive therapy]], [[Antipsychotic|antipsychotic medication]], or [[benzodiazepine]]s. Electroconvulsive therapy, in particular, is the primary treatment for patients with [[catatonia]], severe agitation, and difficulties eating or drinking. [[Antidepressant|Antidepressants]] should be avoided throughout the acute treatment of postpartum psychosis due to risk of worsening mood instability.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Bergink|first1=Veerle|last2=Rasgon|first2=Natalie|last3=Wisner|first3=Katherine L.|date=2016-09-09|title=Postpartum Psychosis: Madness, Mania, and Melancholia in Motherhood|journal=American Journal of Psychiatry|volume=173|issue=12|pages=1179–88|doi=10.1176/appi.ajp.2016.16040454|pmid=27609245|issn=0002-953X|doi-access=free}}</ref> | ||
Though screening and treatment may help prevent infanticide, in the developed world, significant proportions of neonaticides that are detected occur in young women who deny their pregnancy and avoid outside contacts, many of whom may have limited contact with these health care services.<ref name="Marks2009" /> | Though screening and treatment may help prevent infanticide, in the developed world, significant proportions of neonaticides that are detected occur in young women who deny their pregnancy and avoid outside contacts, many of whom may have limited contact with these health care services.<ref name="Marks2009" /> | ||