Infanticide is the intentional killing of an infant and in some cultures includes the killing of a child beyond one year of age either through direct killing or through neglect and malnutrition. Children born with serious developmental or mental disabilities or serious illness are at risk of infanticide worldwide.
 
In some Asian cultures with a male child preference, infant girls are targeted for death or abandonment in female infanticide or gendercide— the extermination of a child based on sex (gender). Such 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 and are cursed. Some tribal customs demand the death of a child so afflicted be implemented by his or her mother or other family members; families face expulsion from the tribe if they refuse. Other babies are at risk of death by abandonment in the Amazon rain forest, poisoning or suffocation may include those who are born twins, those born to unmarried mothers or those who happen to be female. Even older children who exhibit physical or mental disability may be targeted for death.
 
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, and supports legislation to end this horrific practice.
 

Links:

Gendercide: Where have all the girls gone?
Article explores the trend of gendercide in relation to infanticide and sex-selective abortion
http://www.hli.org/files/gendercide_where_have_girls_gone.pdf
 
HAKANI
Raises awareness of the practice of infanticide among the indigenous tribes of Brazil
http://www.hakani.org/en/what_is_infanticide.asp
 
Stop Gendercide Now Campaign
Contains information and a petition on the loss of baby girls who have disappeared through abortion, infanticide, or neglect
http://www.prolifecampaign.ie/gendercide-petition.htm
 
UN Report Highlights Asia's Missing Girls from Sex-Selective Abortion
Report highlights the nearly 100 million missing women across Asia and growing gender gap resulting from sex-selective abortion
http://www2.undprcc.lk/ext/pvr/pdf/Overview.pdf