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{{Violence against women}}
'''Female infanticide''' is the deliberate killing of newborn female children. Female infanticide is prevalent in several nations
In 1978, [[anthropologist]] Laila Williamson, in a summary of data she had collated on how widespread [[infanticide]] was, found that infanticide had occurred on every continent and was carried out by groups ranging from [[hunter gatherers]] to highly developed societies, and that, rather than this practice being an exception, it has been commonplace.<ref>{{cite web|last=Milner|first=Larry S.|title=A Brief History of Infanticide |url=http://www.infanticide.org/history.htm|publisher=Infanticide.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060815193200/http://infanticide.org/history.htm|archive-date=2006-08-15 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The practice has been documented among the Indigenous peoples of Australia, Northern Alaska and South Asia,{{cn|date=January 2023}} and Barbara Miller argues the practice to be "almost universal", even in the [[Western world]]. Miller contends that female infanticide is commonplace in regions where women are not employed in agriculture and regions in which [[Dowry|dowries]] are the norm.{{sfn|Einarsdóttir|2004|p=142}} In 1871, in ''[[The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex]]'', [[Charles Darwin]] wrote that the practice was commonplace among the aboriginal tribes of Australia.{{sfn|Darwin|1871|p=365}} Female infanticide is also closely linked to a lack of education and high poverty rates, which explains why it is widely prevalent in locations such as [[Female infanticide in India|India]], [[Female infanticide in Pakistan|Pakistan]], and West Africa.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Preventing gender-biased sex selection |url=https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/Women/GenderAndEquality/PreventingGenderBiasedSexSelection.pdf}}</ref>
In 1990, [[Amartya Sen]] writing in the ''[[New York Review of Books]]'' estimated that there were 100 million fewer women in Asia than would be expected, and that this number of "missing" women "tell[s] us, quietly, a terrible story of inequality and neglect leading to the excess mortality of women".<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Sen|first=Amartya|title=More Than 100 Million Women Are Missing |date=1990-12-20 |magazine=The New York Review |issn=0028-7504 |url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1990/12/20/more-than-100-million-women-are-missing/|access-date=2021-01-19|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
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The dowry system in India is one given reason for female infanticide; over a time period spanning centuries it has become embedded within Indian culture. Although the state has taken steps{{efn|Although the [[Dowry Prohibition Act]] was passed in 1961 it had the consequence of young brides then being [[Bride burning|killed]].{{sfn|Parrot|Cummings|2006|p=160}} }} to abolish the dowry system, the practice persists, and for poorer families in rural regions female infanticide and gender selective abortion is attributed to the fear of being unable to raise a suitable dowry and then being socially ostracized.{{sfn|Oberman|2005|pp=5-6}}
In 1789, during British [[British India|colonial]] rule in India the British discovered that female infanticide in [[Uttar Pradesh]] was openly acknowledged. A letter from a magistrate who was stationed in the North West of India during this period spoke of the fact that for several hundred years no daughter had ever been raised in the strongholds of the Rajahs of Mynpoorie. In 1845, however the ruler at that time did keep a daughter alive after a district collector named Unwin intervened.{{sfn|Miller|1987|pp=97-98}} A review of scholarship has shown that the majority of female infanticides in India during the colonial period occurred for the most part in the North West, and that although not all groups carried out this practice, it was indeed widespread. In 1870, after an investigation by the colonial authorities the practice was made illegal,{{sfn|Miller|1987|p=99}} with the [[Female Infanticide Prevention Act, 1870]].
According to [[women's rights]] activist Donna Fernandes, some practices are so deeply embedded within Indian culture it is "almost impossible to do away with them", and she has said that India is undergoing a type of "[[Gendercide|female genocide]]".{{sfn|Krishnan|2012}} The United Nations has declared that India is the most deadly country for female children, and that in 2012, female children aged between 1 and 5 were 75 percent more likely to die as opposed to boys. The [[children's rights]] group [[Child Rights and You|CRY]] has estimated that of the 12 million females born yearly in India, 1 million will have died within their first year of life.{{sfn|Krishnan|2012}} During British rule, the practice of female infanticide in the Indian state of [[Tamil Nadu]] among the [[Kallar (caste)|Kallars]] and the [[Toda people|Todas]] was reported. More recently in June 1986, it was reported by ''[[India Today]]'' in a cover story ''Born to Die'' that female infanticide was still in practice in [[Usilampatti]] in southern Tamil Nadu. The practice was mostly prevalent among the dominant [[Caste system in India|caste]] of the region, Kallars.{{sfn|George|1997|pp=124-132}}<ref>{{cite book |author=Elisabeth Bumiller |title=May You Be the Mother of a Hundred Sons |publisher=Ballantine Books |isbn=978-0-449-90614-9 |year=2011 |quote=That assumption was shattered in June 1986, when India Today published an explosive cover story, "Born to Die," which estimated that six thousand female babies had been poisoned to death during the preceding decade in the district ...}}</ref>
=== Pakistan ===
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== Socio-economics ==
Eliminating females poses an issue, as this reduces the number of females that will be able to bear children. It also poses an issue with feelings of female worth, as families wanting to eradicate female babies teach the young girls in their society that they are inferior to the opposite sex, making it more likely that they face oppression and have reduced access to jobs.{{Citation needed|date=December 2017}} The dowry system has an effect on the families and poverty line, as some families struggle to pay a dowry while earning below the minimum wage.<ref>{{
As of 2017, Pakistani women earn less than their male counterparts, earning under a hundred rupees a month, and are often unable to receive an education that would allow them to have better working hours and pay.<ref name=":0" /> Some are also restricted to only working within the home, while men are allowed to do the majority of crop work and herding.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Fafchamps|first1=Marcel|last2=Quisumbing|first2=Agnes R.|date=1999|title=Human Capital, Productivity, and Labor Allocation in Rural Pakistan|jstor=146350|journal=The Journal of Human Resources|volume=34|issue=2|pages=369–406|doi=10.2307/146350|url=http://cdm15738.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15738coll2/id/125690}}</ref>
In many countries, female infanticide is associated with socio-economic struggles. A study done in India found three socio-economic reasons associated with female infanticide. The study found that economic utility indicates that boys are valued more than girls due to the fact that boys can work and bring in money to the household. Due to the sociocultural utility factor of female infanticide, for many cultures having a boy in the family is mandatory in order to carry out the legacy of the family line. There is also a religious factor in female infanticide. Many believe that men are the only ones that can provide, and sons are viewed as mandatory in order to kindle the funeral pyre of their late parents and to assist in the soul's salvation.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/health/amp/india-witnesses-one-of-the-highest-female-infanticide-incidents-in-the-world-54803|title=India witnesses one of the highest female infanticide incidents in the world: study|last=DTE Staff|date=September 19, 2018|work=Down to Earth|access-date=November 20, 2019|archive-date=December 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214182613/https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/health/amp/india-witnesses-one-of-the-highest-female-infanticide-incidents-in-the-world-54803|url-status=dead}}</ref>
== Solutions and programs ==
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== Consequences and reactions ==
As a result of large high female infanticide rates in countries, the [[Sex ratio|population is often skewed]] with a larger proportion of males.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hesketh |first=Therese |date=2011 |title=The consequences of son preference and sex-selective abortion in China and other Asian countries |journal=Canadian Medical Association Journal |volume=183 |issue=12 |pages=1374–1377 |doi=10.1503/cmaj.101368 |pmid=21402684 |pmc=3168620 }}</ref> According to the United Nations, this surplus of men in society coincides with increasing rates of child abuse, domestic violence, and [[Bride kidnapping|bride trafficking/kidnapping]],<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=UN |date=2011 |title=Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 19 December 2011 |url=https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/generalassembly/docs/globalcompact/A_RES_66_140.pdf}}</ref> presenting a grave threat to the security of women in the affected areas. This also increases the likelihood of women becoming victims of harmful [[Sexually transmitted infection|sexually transmitted diseases]],<ref name=":2" /> which further adversely affects their lives as well as population rates.<ref>{{Cite web |last=ThePixelProject |title=What is female infanticide? |url=https://www.thepixelproject.net/vaw-facts/about-female-infanticide/}}</ref> Owing to these concerning issues, there is also a concerning boost in [[Maternal death|maternal mortality]] rates and an increase in mental health conditions among women in these locations.<ref>{{Cite web |last=UNHCHR |title=Harmful Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children |url=https://www.corteidh.or.cr/tablas/11949.pdf}}</ref>
The [[Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces]] (DCAF) wrote in their 2005 report, ''Women in an Insecure World'', that at a time when the number of casualties in war had fallen, a "secret genocide" was being carried out against women.{{sfn|Mashru|2012}} According to DCAF the demographic shortfall of women who have died for gender related issues is in the same range as the 191 million estimated dead from all conflicts in the twentieth century.{{sfn|Winkler|2005|p=7}} In 2012, the documentary ''[[It's a Girl: The Three Deadliest Words in the World]]'' was released, and in one interview, an Indian woman claimed she had killed eight of her daughters.{{sfn|Mashru|2012}}
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