Infanticide is the intentional killing of an infant, and in some
cultures, includes the death of a child beyond one year of age
either through direct action or through neglect and malnutrition.
Children born with serious developmental or mental disabilities or
serious illness and newborn baby girls are at risk of infanticide
worldwide.
In a number of Asian cultures with a male child preference, infant
girls are targeted for death or abandonment in female infanticide,
an act of femicide or gendercide— extermination based
on sex (gender). A male child preference, compounded by the
one-child per couple population control policy in China and the
dowry system in India, has led to the deaths of millions of newborn
baby girls who are killed shortly after birth.
Sex-selective infanticide, combined with sex-selective abortion, has
resulted in a global phenomenon of “missing girls”. A 2010 report
released by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) entitled
Power, Voice and Rights: A Turning Point for Gender Equality in Asia
and the Pacific reports, “…Asia has the highest male-female sex
ratio at birth in the world, with sex-selective abortion and
infanticide leaving a trail of 96 million ‘missing’ women in some
countries.” Some estimates place the number of “missing girls” even
higher.
Infanticide is also practiced in some indigenous cultures to babies
who manifest disability or abnormality, based on beliefs that these
infants do not have a soul, are cursed and pose a threat to the
tribe. Some tribal customs demand the death of a child by his or her
mother or other family members; families face expulsion from the
tribe if they refuse to kill the child. Children who are born twins,
are born in the breech position, have a birth mark, and are born to
unmarried mothers are at risk of death by abandonment in the Amazon
rain forest, poisoning or suffocation. Even older children who
exhibit physical or mental disability may be targeted for death.
The disregard for a child’s innate right to life through the
practice of infanticide is compared by proponents to abortion. An
article in the Journal of Medical Ethics, "After-birth abortion:
why should the baby live?" suggests that newborns—just like
children in the womb—are not yet persons and consequently, without
rights or interests. The authors assert that "after-birth abortion"
should be permissible for any reason that abortion is permitted. The
paper states, "We claim that killing a newborn could be ethically
permissible in all the circumstances where abortion would be. Such
circumstances include cases where the newborn has the potential to
have an (at least) acceptable life, but the well-being of the family
is at risk."
PNCI believes that the right to life is absolute and cannot be
violated due to age, sex, race, ethnicity, disability, creed, stage
of development, or condition of dependency. PNCI opposes all forms
of infanticide, works to raise awareness of this human rights
violation, and supports legislation to stop this horrific practice
of child destruction.
Links:
All Girls Allowed
http://www.allgirlsallowed.org/
Gendercide Watch: Female Infanticide
http://www.gendercide.org/case_infanticide.html
HAKANI
http://www.hakani.org/en/what_is_infanticide.asp
Paper: “After-birth abortion”; Outrage grows
http://www.pncius.org/update.aspx?id=51
Report: Power, Voice and Rights A Turning Point for Gender
Equality in Asia and the Pacific
http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/regional/asiathepacific/RHDR-2010-AsiaPacific.pdf
The Rhema Project
http://www.therhemaproject.org/
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