Female infanticide
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Female infanticide, the prevalent form of sex-selective infanticide, is the systematic killing of girls at or soon after birth. It normally occurs when a society values male children to the point that producing a female is considered dishonorable, shameful, or an unacceptable investment to the individuals.
Female infanticide was commonly practiced in China in urban areas during the Qing Dynasty, due to overpopulation, and in the second half of the twentieth century, due to the One Child Policy that created stiff financial penalties for parents who had multiple children.
Female infanticide is still existent in developing countries, especially developing countries where males are valued over females. The counterpart with male infants is male infanticide.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] Infanticide
- Female Infanticide
- India 'loses 10m female births'
- "The Gift of a Girl" (1997), documenting efforts in rural South India to change the social tradition of female infanticide
