Female Infanticide 1

Can Female Infanticide be stopped?

Dalia Wattar

Psychology 151

Dunstan, Amie

March 13, 2015

Female Infanticide 2

Female infanticide is the deliberate killing of girl babies. It is also described as gender-

selective killing or "gendercide". Female infanticide is more common than male infanticide, and

in some countries, particularly India and China, is likely to have serious consequences on the

balance of the sexes in the population. The reasons behind it are almost always cultural, rather

than directly religious. Societies that practice female infanticide always show many other signs

of bias against females. Women are perceived as subservient because of their role as careers and

homemakers, whilst men predominantly ensure the family's social and economic stability. The

major propose of why both cultures practice Female infanticide is because both cultures count on

their sons to care for their aged. Daughters marry out and are no longer members of their

families of origin. For this reason, daughters are considered more a liability than a blessing.

But the question is can female infanticide be stopped one day? We should all stop this

brutal act as soon as possible. Even though both China and India governments’ tried to stop

female infanticide by setting laws, the laws would fail and people would continue to practice

female infanticide. If we don’t stop this shameful and disturbing act, this act will pass through

cultures from generation to generation and more innocent female infants will die every day.

In India, the Chief Minister developed the 'Cradle Babies' scheme, which asked that

families abandon their unwanted female infants in cradles set up in government health centers,

rather than kill them. However, the program failed to eradicate female infanticide in Tamil Nadu.

Unfortunately, the Indian police have not proven to be a successful deterrent to female

infanticide. As mentioned earlier, parents fearing punishment have simply adopted new methods

of killing their daughters. Of those cases that are reported to the police, not many are

Female Infanticide 3

successfully prosecuted .Village police officers have often been found to extract bribes from

parents, as well (George, Sabu M.). Also, the British officials who recorded the practice of

female infanticide in their diaries during their travel to India, promoted the infanticide Act

making the practice of murdering illegal, which also did work and the inhuman practice

continued (Ahmed, N.).

The Chinese government has taken a number of steps to combat the practice of female

infanticide, as well as promote and protect women's rights. In China, The Marriage Law and

Women's Protection Law prohibit female infanticide, and the latter prohibits discrimination

against women who give birth to daughters (Porras, M). The Sex Selective Abortion Law and

Maternal Health Care Law of 1994 were created to put an end to sex selective abortions, and the

latter prohibits the use of medical technology to determine the gender of a fetus (Porras, M).

Unfortunately, however, the practice continues in China despite these efforts.

Female Infanticide 4

References

Ahmad, N. (2010). Female Feticide in India. Issues In Law & Medicine, 26(1), 13-29.

Porras, M. (2004). "Female Infanticide and Feticide."

George, S. M “Female Infanticide in Tamil Nadu, India: From Recognition Back to Denial?”