Infanticide (orinfant homicide) is the intentional killing ofinfants or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughouthuman history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children,[1]: 61 its main purpose being the prevention of resources being spent on weak or disabled offspring. Unwanted infants were usually abandoned to die of exposure, but in some societies they were deliberately killed. Infanticide is generally illegal, but in some places the practice is tolerated, or the prohibition is not strictly enforced.
MostStone Age human societies routinely practiced infanticide, and estimates of children killed by infanticide in theMesolithic andNeolithic eras vary from 15 to 50 percent. Infanticide continued to be common in most societies after the historical era began, includingancient Greece,ancient Rome, thePhoenicians, ancientChina, ancientJapan,Pre-Islamic Arabia,early modern Europe,[2]Aboriginal Australia,Native Americans, andNative Alaskans.
Infanticide became forbidden in theNear East during the 1st millennium.Christianity forbade infanticide from its earliest times, which ledConstantine the Great andValentinian I to ban infanticide across the Roman Empire in the 4th century.The practice ceased inArabia in the 7th century after the founding ofIslam, since theQuran prohibits infanticide.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] Infanticide of male babies had become uncommon in China by theMing dynasty (1368–1644), whereas infanticide of female babies became more common during theOne-Child Policy era (1979–2015). During the period ofCompany rule in India, theEast India Company attempted to eliminate infanticide but were only partially successful, and female infanticide in some parts of India still continues. Infanticide is very rare in industrialised countries but may persist elsewhere.
Parental infanticide researchers have found that mothers are more likely to commit infanticide.[11] In the special case ofneonaticide (murder in the first 24 hours of life), mothers account for almost all the perpetrators. Fatherly cases of neonaticide are so rare that they are individually recorded.[12]
The practice of infanticide has taken many forms over time.Child sacrifice to supernatural figures or forces, such as that believed to have been practiced in ancientCarthage, may be only the most notorious example in theancient world.
A frequent method of infanticide in ancientEurope andAsia was simply toabandon the infant, leaving it to die by exposure (i.e.,hypothermia, hunger, thirst, or animal attack).[13][14]
On at least one island inOceania, infanticide was carried out until the 20th century by suffocating the infant,[15] while in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica and in theInca Empire it was carried out by sacrifice (see below).
A minority of academics subscribe to an alternate school of thought, considering the practice as "early infanticidal childrearing".[16]: 246–47 They attribute parental infanticidal wishes to massiveprojection ordisplacement of the parents'unconscious onto the child, because of intergenerational, ancestral abuse by their own parents.[17] Clearly, an infanticidal parent may have multiple motivations, conflicts, emotions, and thoughts about their baby and their relationship with their baby, which are often colored both by their individual psychology, current relational context and attachment history, and, perhaps most saliently, their psychopathology[18] Almeida, Merminod, and Schechter suggest that parents with fantasies, projections, and delusions involving infanticide need to be taken seriously and assessed carefully, whenever possible, by an interdisciplinary team that includes infant mental health specialists or mental health practitioners who have experience in working with parents, children, and families.
Many Neolithic groups routinely resorted to infanticide in order to control their numbers so that their lands could support them.Joseph Birdsell believed that infanticide rates inprehistoric times were between 15% and 50% of the total number of births,[19] while Laila Williamson estimated a lower rate ranging from 15% to 20%.[1]: 66 Bothanthropologists believed that these high rates of infanticide persisted until the development of agriculture during theNeolithic Revolution.[20]: 19 A book published in 1981 stated that comparative anthropologists estimated that 50% of female newborn babies may have been killed by their parents during thePaleolithic era.[21] The anthropologistRaymond Dart has interpreted fractures on the skulls ofhominid infants (e.g. theTaung Child) as due to deliberate killing followed bycannibalism, but such explanations are by now considered uncertain and possibly wrong.[22] Children were not necessarily actively killed, but neglect and intentional malnourishment may also have occurred, as proposed by Vicente Lull as an explanation for an apparent surplus of men and the below average height of women in prehistoricMenorca.[23]
Archaeologists have uncovered physical evidence ofchild sacrifice at several locations.[20]: 16–22 Some of the best attested examples are the diverse rites which were part of the religious practices inMesoamerica and theInca Empire.[24][25][26]
Three thousand bones of young children, with evidence of sacrificial rituals, have been found inSardinia.Pelasgians offered a sacrifice of every tenth child during difficult times. Many remains of children have been found inGezer excavations with signs of sacrifice. Child skeletons with the marks of sacrifice have been found also in Egypt dating 950–720 BCE.[27] Child sacrifice was particularly widespread in ancientCarthage.[20]: 324 Besides the Carthaginians, otherPhoenicians, and theCanaanites,Moabites andSepharvites offered their first-born as a sacrifice to their gods.
In Egyptian households, at all social levels, children of both sexes were valued and there is no evidence of infanticide.[28] Thereligion of the ancient Egyptians forbade infanticide and during theGreco-Roman period they rescued abandoned babies from manure heaps, a common method of infanticide by Greeks or Romans, and were allowed to either adopt them as foundling or raise them as slaves, often giving them names such as "copro -" to memorialize their rescue.[29]Strabo considered it a peculiarity of the Egyptians that every child must be reared.[30]Diodorus indicates infanticide was a punishable offence.[31] Egypt was heavily dependent on the annual flooding of the Nile to irrigate the land and in years of low inundation, severe famine could occur with breakdowns in social order resulting, notably between 930–1070 CE and 1180–1350 CE. Instances of cannibalism are recorded during these periods, but it is unknown if this happened during the pharaonic era of ancient Egypt.[32] Beatrix Midant-Reynes describes human sacrifice as having occurred at Abydos in the early dynastic period (c. 3150–2850 BC),[33] whileJan Assmann asserts there is no clear evidence of human sacrifice ever happening in ancient Egypt.[34]
According to Shelby Brown,Carthaginians, descendants of thePhoenicians, sacrificed infants to their gods.[35] Charred bones of hundreds of infants have been found in Carthaginian archaeological sites. One such area harbored as many as 20,000 burialurns.[35] Skeptics suggest that the bodies of children found in Carthaginian and Phoenician cemeteries were merely the cremated remains of children who died naturally.[36]
Plutarch (c. 46–120 CE) mentions the practice, as doTertullian,Orosius, Diodorus Siculus andPhilo. TheHebrew Bible also mentions what appears to be child sacrifice practiced at a place called theTophet (from the Hebrewtaph ortoph, to burn) by theCanaanites. Writing in the 3rd century BC,Kleitarchos, one of the historians ofAlexander the Great, described that the infants rolled into the flaming pit.Diodorus Siculus wrote that babies were roasted to death inside the burning pit of the godBaal Hamon, a bronze statue.[37][38]
The historical Greeks considered the practice of adult and child sacrificebarbarous,[39] however,infant exposure was widely practiced inancient Greece.[40][41][42] It was advocated byAristotle in the case ofcongenital deformity: "As to the exposure of children, let there be a law that no deformed child shall live."[43][44]
In Greece, the decision to expose a child was typically the father's, although inSparta the decision was made by a group of elders.[45] Exposure was the preferred method of disposal, as that act in itself was not considered to be murder; moreover, the exposed child technically had a chance of being rescued by the gods or any passersby.[46] This very situation was a recurring motif inGreek mythology.
The practice was prevalent inancient Rome, as well.Philo was the first known philosopher to speak out against it.[47][48] A letter from a Roman citizen to his sister, or a pregnant wife from her husband,[49] dating from 1 BC, demonstrates the casual nature with which infanticide was often viewed:
I am still in Alexandria ... I beg and plead with you to take care of our little child, and as soon as we receive wages, I will send them to you. In the meantime, if (good fortune to you!) you give birth, if it is a boy, let it live; if it is a girl, expose it.[50][51][52]
In some periods ofRoman history it was traditional for a newborn to be brought to thepater familias, the familypatriarch, who would then decide whether the child was to be kept and raised, or left to die by exposure.[53] TheTwelve Tables ofRoman law obliged him to put to death a child that was visiblydeformed. The concurrent practices ofslavery and infanticide contributed to the "background noise" of thecrises during the Republic.[53]
Infanticide became acapital offense in Roman law in 374, but offenders were rarely, if ever, prosecuted.[54]
According to mythology,Romulus and Remus, twin infant sons of the war godMars, survived near-infanticide after being tossed into theTiber River. According to the myth, they were raised by wolves, and later founded the city ofRome.
Whereastheologians andclerics preached sparing their lives, newborn abandonment continued as registered in both the literature record and in legal documents.[14]: 16 According toWilliam Lecky, exposure in theearly Middle Ages, as distinct from other forms of infanticide, "was practiced on a gigantic scale with absolute impunity, noticed by writers with most frigid indifference and, at least in the case ofdestitute parents, considered a veryvenial offence".[55]: 355–56 However the firstfoundling house in Europe was established inMilan in 787 on account of the high number of infanticides andout-of-wedlock births. TheHospital of the Holy Spirit in Rome was founded byPope Innocent III because women were throwing their infants into theTiber river.[56]
Unlike other European regions, in the Middle Ages the German mother had the right to expose the newborn.[57] Generally, unwanted children were often abandoned in the High Middle Ages, usually by leaving them the door of a church orabbey. If the baby was found in time, the clergy would take care of their upbringing, which gave rise to the firstorphanages.
However, very high sex ratios were common in even late medieval Europe, which may indicate sex-selective infanticide.[58] TheWaldensians, a pre-Reformation medieval Christian sect deemed heretical by theCatholic Church, were accused of participating in infanticide.[59]
Judaism prohibits infanticide, and has for some time, dating back to at least the earlyCommon Era. Roman historians wrote about the ideas and customs of other peoples, which often diverged from their own.Tacitus recorded that the Jews "take thought to increase their numbers, for they regard it as a crime to kill any late-born children".[60]Josephus, whose works give an important insight into 1st-century Judaism, wrote that God "forbids women to causeabortion of what is begotten, or to destroy it afterward".[61]
In his bookGermania,Tacitus wrote in 98 CE that the ancientGermanic tribes enforced a similar prohibition. He found such mores remarkable and commented: "To restrain generation and the increase of children, is esteemed [by the Germans] an abominable sin, as also to kill infants newly born."[62] It has become clear over the millennia, though, that Tacitus' description was inaccurate; the consensus of modern scholarship significantly differs.John Boswell believed that in ancient Germanic tribes unwanted children were exposed, usually in the forest.[63]: 218 "It was the custom of the [Teutonic] pagans, that if they wanted to kill a son or daughter, they would be killed before they had been given any food."[63]: 211 Usually children born out of wedlock were disposed of that way.
In his highly influentialPre-historic Times,John Lubbock described burnt bones indicating the practice of child sacrifice in paganBritain.[64]
Christianity explicitly rejects infanticide. TheTeachings of theApostles orDidache states "thou shalt not kill a child byabortion, neither shalt thou slay it when born".[65] TheEpistle of Barnabas makes a similar statement.[66] Early Christian writers such asTertullian,Athenagoras,Minucius Felix,Justin Martyr andLactantius also maintained that exposing a baby to death was a wicked act.[13] In 318,Constantine I considered infanticide a crime, and in 374,Valentinian I mandated the rearing of all children (exposing babies, especially girls, was still common). TheCouncil of Constantinople declared that infanticide washomicide, and in 589, theThird Council of Toledo took measures against the custom of killing their own children.[54] Christianity thus played a leading role in the abolition of infanticide in the Roman Empire.[67]
Some Muslim sources allege thatpre-Islamic Arabian society practiced infanticide as a form of "post-partumbirth control".[68] The wordwaʾd was used to describe the practice.[69] These sources state that infanticide was practiced either out ofdestitution (thus practiced on males and females alike), or as "disappointment and fear of social disgrace felt by afather upon the birth of a daughter".[68]
Some authors believe that there is little evidence that infanticide was prevalent in pre-IslamicArabia or earlyMuslim history, except for the case of theTamim tribe, who practiced it during severefamine according to Islamic sources.[70][8] Others state that "female infanticide was common all over Arabia during this period of time" (pre-Islamic Arabia), especially by burying alive a female newborn.[20]: 59 [71] A tablet discovered inYemen, forbidding the people of a certain town from engaging in the practice, is the only written reference to infanticide within the peninsula in pre-Islamic times.[72]
Infanticide is explicitlyprohibited by the Qur'an.[73] "And do not kill your children for fear of poverty; We give them sustenance and yourselves too; surely to kill them is a great wrong."[74] Together withpolytheism andhomicide, infanticide is regarded as a grave sin (see6:151 and60:12).[68] Infanticide is also implicitly denounced in the story ofPharaoh's slaughter of the male children ofIsraelites (see2:49;7:127;7:141;14:6;28:4;40:25).[68]
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Infanticide may have been practiced as human sacrifice, as part of thepagan cult ofPerun.Ibn Fadlan describes sacrificial practices at the time of his trip toKiev Rus (present-day Ukraine) in 921–922, and describes an incident of a woman voluntarily sacrificing her life as part of afuneral rite for a prominent leader, but makes no mention of infanticide. ThePrimary Chronicle, one of the most important literary sources before the 12th century, indicates that human sacrifice to idols may have been introduced byVladimir the Great in 980. The same Vladimir the Great formally converted Kiev Rus intoChristianity just 8 years later, but pagan cults continued to be practiced clandestinely in remote areas as late as the 13th century.
American explorerGeorge Kennan noted that among theKoryaks, a people of north-easternSiberia, infanticide was still common in the nineteenth century. One of a pair oftwins was always sacrificed.[75]
Infanticide (as a crime) gained both popular and bureaucratic significance inVictorian Britain. By the mid-19th century, in the context of criminal lunacy and theinsanity defence, killing one's own child(ren) attracted ferocious debate, as the role of women in society was defined bymotherhood, and it was thought that any woman who murdered her own child was by definitioninsane and could not be held responsible for her actions. Several cases were subsequently highlighted during theRoyal Commission on Capital Punishment 1864–66, as a particular felony where an effective avoidance of thedeath penalty had informally begun.
ThePoor Law Amendment Act 1834 endedparish relief for unmarried mothers and allowed fathers ofillegitimate children to avoid paying for "child support".[77] Unmarried mothers then received little assistance, and the poor were left with the option of either entering theworkhouse, turning toprostitution, resorting to infanticide, or choosingabortion. By the middle of the century infanticide was common for social reasons, such as illegitimacy, and the introduction ofchild life insurance additionally encouraged some women to kill their children for gain. Examples includeMary Ann Cotton, who murdered many of her 15 children as well as three husbands;Margaret Waters, the 'Brixton Baby Farmer', a professionalbaby-farmer who was found guilty of infanticide in 1870; Jessie King, who was hanged in 1889;Amelia Dyer, the 'Angel Maker', who murdered over 400 babies in her care; andAda Chard-Williams, a baby farmer who was later hanged at Newgate prison.
The Times reported that 67 infants were murdered in London in 1861 and 150 more recorded as "found dead", many of which were found on the streets. Another 250 were suffocated, half of them not recorded as accidental deaths. The report noted that "infancy in London has to creep into life in the midst of foes."[78]
Recording a birth as astill-birth was also another way of concealing infanticide because still-births did not need to be registered until 1926 and they did not need to be buried in public cemeteries.[79] In 1895The Sun (London) published the article, "Massacre of the Innocents", highlighting the dangers of baby-farming, the recording of stillbirths, and quotingAthelstan Braxton Hicks, the London coroner, on lying-in houses:
I have not the slightest doubt that a large amount of crime is covered by the expression 'still-birth'. There are a large number of cases of what are called newly-born children, which are found all over England, more especially in London and large towns, abandoned in streets, rivers, on commons, and so on... [A] great deal of that crime is due to what are called lying-in houses, which are not registered, or under the supervision of that sort, where the people who act as midwives constantly, as soon as the child is born, either drop it into a pail of water or smother it with a damp cloth. It is a very common thing, also, to find that they bash their heads on the floor and break their skulls.[80]
The last British woman to be executed for infanticide of her own child wasRebecca Smith, who was hanged in Wiltshire in 1849.
TheInfant Life Protection Act 1897 required local authorities to be notified within 48 hours of changes in custody or the death of children under seven years. Under theChildren Act 1908 "no infant could be kept in a home that was so unfit and so overcrowded as to endanger its health, and no infant could be kept by an unfit nurse who threatened, byneglect orabuse, its proper care, and maintenance."
Instances of infanticide in Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries are often attributed to the economic position of the women, with juries committing"pious perjury" in many subsequent murder cases. The knowledge of the difficulties faced in the 18th century by those women who attempted to keep their children can be seen as a reason for juries to showcompassion. If the woman chose to keep the child, society was not set up to ease the pressure placed upon the woman, legally, socially or economically.[81] In mid-18th century Britain there was assistance available for women who were not able to raise their children. TheFoundling Hospital opened in 1756 and was able to take in some of the illegitimate children. However, the conditions within the hospital causedParliament to withdraw funding and the governors to live off of their own incomes.[82] This resulted in a stringent entrance policy, with the committee requiring that the hospital:
Once a mother had admitted her child to the hospital, the hospital did all it could to ensure that the parent and child were not re-united.[82] MacFarlane argues inIllegitimacy and Illegitimates in Britain (1980) that English society greatly concerned itself with the burden that a bastard child places upon its communities and had gone to some lengths to ensure that the father of the child is identified in order to maintain its well-being.[83] Assistance could be gained through maintenance payments from the father, however, this was capped "at a miserable 2 s and 6 d a week".[84] If the father fell behind with the payments he could only be asked "to pay a maximum of 13 weeks arrears".[84]
Despite the accusations of some that women were getting a freehand-out, there is evidence that many women were far from receiving adequate assistance from their parish. "Within Leeds in 1822 ... relief was limited to 1 s per week".[85] Sheffield required women to enter theworkhouse, whereas Halifax gave no relief to the women who required it. The prospect of entering the workhouse was certainly something to be avoided. Lionel Rose quotesJoseph Rogers inMassacre of the Innocents. Rogers, who was employed by a London workhouse in 1856, stated that conditions in the nursery were 'wretchedly damp and miserable ... [and] ... overcrowded with young mothers and their infants'.[86]
The loss ofsocial standing for a servant girl was a particular problem in respect of producing a bastard child as they relied upon a good character reference in order to maintain their job and more importantly, to get a new or better job. In a large number of trials for the crime of infanticide, it is the servant girl that stood accused.[87] The disadvantage of being a servant girl is that they had to live to the social standards of their superiors or risk dismissal and no references. Whereas within other professions, such as in thefactory, the relationship betweenemployer and employee was much more anonymous and the mother would be better able to make other provisions, such as employing aminder.[88] The result of the lack of basic social care in Britain in the 18th and 19th century is the numerous accounts in court records of women, particularly servant girls, standing trial for the murder of their child.[89]
There may have been no specific offense of infanticide in England before about 1623 because infanticide was a matter for the byecclesiastical courts, possibly becauseinfant mortality from natural causes was high (about 15% or one in six).[90] Thereafter the accusation of the suppression of bastard children bylewd mothers was a crime incurring the presumption of guilt.[91]
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As of the3rd century BC, short of execution, the harshest penalties were imposed on practitioners of infanticide by the legal codes of theQin dynasty andHan dynasty of ancient China.[93]
China's society practicedsex selective infanticide. PhilosopherHan Fei Tzu, a member of the ruling aristocracy of the 3rd century BC, who developed a school of law, wrote: "As to children, a father and mother when they produce a boy congratulate one another, but when they produce a girl they put it to death."[94] Among theHakka people, and inYunnan,Anhui,Sichuan,Jiangxi andFujian a method of killing the baby was to put her into a bucket of cold water, which was called "baby water".[95]
Infanticide was reported as early as the 3rd century BC, and, by theSong dynasty (960–1279 CE), it was widespread in some provinces. Belief inreincarnation allowed poor residents of the country to kill their newborn children if they felt unable to care for them, hoping that they would be reborn in better circumstances. Furthermore, 18th and 19th century Qing reports of villagers in Liaoning show that they did not consider newborn children fully human, instead regarding life as beginning at some point after the sixth month after birth.[96]
The Venetian explorerMarco Polo claimed to have seen newborns exposed inManzi.[97] Contemporary writers from the Song dynasty note that, inHubei andFujian provinces, residents would only keep three sons and two daughters (among poor farmers, two sons and one daughter), and kill all babies beyond that number at birth.[98] Initially the sex of the child was only one factor to consider. By the time of the Ming dynasty, however (1368–1644), male infanticide was becoming increasingly uncommon. The prevalence of female infanticide remained high much longer. The magnitude of this practice is subject to some dispute; however, one commonly quoted estimate is that, by lateQing, between one fifth and one-quarter of all newborn girls, across the entire social spectrum, were victims of infanticide. If one includes excess mortality among female children under 10 (ascribed to gender-differentialneglect), the share of victims rises to one third.[99][100][101]
Scottish physicianJohn Dudgeon, who worked inPeking, China, during the early 20th century said that, "Infanticide does not prevail to the extent so generally believed among us, and in the north, it does not exist at all."[102]
Sex-selected abortion or sex identification (unless needed for medical reasons),[103] abandonment, and infanticide are illegal in present-day mainland China. Accorrding to theUS State Department[104] and thehuman rights organizationAmnesty International,[105] China's former family planning program, called theone-child policy (which was later relaxed and fully abandoned in 2021),[106] nevertheless increased the frequency of infanticide.[107][108][109] The sex gap between males and females aged 0–19 years old was estimated to be 25 million in 2010 by theUnited Nations Population Fund.[110] In some cases, in order to avoid China's family planning programs, parents did not report a birth to the government, so the newborn (in most cases a girl) did not receive an official identity and the parents could register another, later-born child without fines or punishment. In 2017, the government announced that all children without an identity could now have a legal identity, known asfamily register.[111] Four years later, all restrictions on the number of children were abandoned.[106]
Since feudalEdo eraJapan the common slang for infanticide wasmabiki (間引き), which means to pull plants from an overcrowded garden. A typical method in Japan was smothering the baby's mouth and nose with wet paper.[112] It became common as a method of population control. Farmers would often kill their second or third sons. Daughters were usually spared, as they could be married off, sold off asservants orprostitutes, or sent off to becomegeishas.[113]Mabiki persisted in the 19th century and early 20th century.[114] According to one estimate, at least 97% of homicide victims in Japan in 1900 were newborns.[115] To beartwins was perceived as barbarous and unlucky and efforts were made to hide or kill one or both twins.[116]
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Female infanticide of newborn girls was systematic in feudatoryRajputs inSouth Asia forillegitimate female children during the Middle Ages. According toFirishta, as soon as the illegitimate female child was born she was held "in one hand, and a knife in the other, that any person who wanted a wife might take her now, otherwise she was immediately put to death".[119] The practice of female infanticide was also common among the Kutch, Kehtri, Nagar, Bengal, Miazed, Kalowries andSindh communities.[120]
It was not uncommon that parents threw a child to thesharks in theGanges River as a sacrificial offering. TheEast India Company administration were unable to outlaw the custom until the beginning of the 19th century.[121]: 78
According to social activists,female infanticide has remained a problem in India into the 21st century, with bothNGOs and the government conducting awareness campaigns to combat it.[122]
In someAfrican societies someneonates were killed because of beliefs in evil omens or because they were considered unlucky.Twins were usually put to death in Arebo; as well as by theNama people ofSouth West Africa; in theLake Victoria Nyanza region; by theTswana inPortuguese East Africa; in some parts ofIgboland,Nigeria, twins were sometimes abandoned in a forest at birth (as depicted inThings Fall Apart), oftentimes one twin was killed or hidden bymidwives of wealthier mothers; and by theǃKung people of theKalahari Desert.[20]: 160–61
TheKikuyu,Kenya's most populous ethnic group, practicedritual killing of twins.[123] Infanticide is rooted in the old traditions and beliefs prevailing all over Kenya. A survey conducted byDisability Rights International found that 45% of women interviewed by them in Kenya were pressured to kill their childrenborn with disabilities. The pressure is much higher in the rural areas, with every two mothers out of three being forced to kill their disabled child.[124]
Estimations of the prevalence of infanticide amongAboriginal Australians vary widely.[125] Many early European settlers considered it to be extremely common. For example, an 1866 issue ofThe Australian News for Home Readers informed readers that "the crime of infanticide is so prevalent amongst the natives that it is rare to see an infant".[126] In later times, attitudes shifted and the issue became contested. AuthorSusanna de Vries said in 2007 that her accounts of Aboriginal violence, including infanticide, werecensored by publishers in the 1980s and 1990s. She told reporters that the censorship "stemmed from guilt over thestolen children question".Keith Windschuttle weighed in on the conversation, saying this type of censorship started in the 1970s. In the same articleLouis Nowra suggested that infanticide in customary Aboriginal law may have been because it was difficult to keep an abundant number of Aboriginal children alive; there were life-and-death decisions modern-day Australians no longer have to face.[127]
Liz Conor's 2016 work,Skin Deep: Settler Impressions of Aboriginal Women, a culmination of 10 years of research, found that stories about Aboriginal women were told through acolonial lens of racism andmisogyny. Vague stories of infanticide and cannibalism were repeated as reliable facts, and sometimes originated in accounts told by members of rival tribes about the other. She also refers toDaisy Bates' now contested accounts of such practices, reproaching some historians for accepting them too uncritically.[128][129]
The anthropologistsRonald Berndt andCatherine Berndt note that "infanticide does seem to have been practised occasionally almost all over Aboriginal Australia, but it cannot have been so frequent asTaplin ... and Bates ... suggest", while also cautioning that others "underestimated" its prevalence. The flesh of killed infants was sometimeseaten, but this was not always the case. Usually only parts of the body were eaten, in "the hope that the child will beborn again, or that strength will accrue to another child".[125]
According toWilliam D. Rubinstein, "Nineteenth-century European observers ofAboriginal life in South Australia andVictoria reported that about 30% of Aboriginal infants were killed at birth."[130]
In 1881James Dawson wrote a passage about infanticide among Indigenous people in the western district of Victoria, which stated that "Twins are as common among them as among Europeans; but as food is occasionally very scarce, and a large family troublesome to move about, it is lawful and customary to destroy the weakest twin child, irrespective of sex.It is usual also to destroy those which are malformed."[131]
He also wrote "When a woman has children too rapidly for the convenience and necessities of the parents, she makes up her mind to let one be killed, and consults with her husband which it is to be. As the strength of a tribe depends more on males than females, the girls are generally sacrificed. The child is put to death and buried, or burned without ceremony; not, however, by its father or mother, but by relatives. No one wears mourning for it. Sickly children are never killed on account of their bad health, and are allowed to die naturally."[131]
In 1937, a Christian reverend in theKimberley offered a "baby bonus" to Aboriginal families as a deterrent against infanticide and to increase thebirthrate of the local Indigenous population.[132]
ACanberran journalist in 1927 wrote of the "cheapness of life" to the Aboriginal people local to the Canberra area 100 years before. "Ifdrought orbush fires had devastated the country and curtailed food supplies, babies got a short shift. Ailing babies, too would not be kept", he wrote.[133]
A bishop wrote in 1928 that it was common for Aboriginal Australians to restrict the size of their tribal groups, including by infanticide, so that the food resources of the tribal area may be sufficient for them.[134]
Annette Hamilton, a professor of anthropology atMacquarie University, who carried out research in the Aboriginal community ofManingrida inArnhem Land during the 1960s, wrote that prior to that time part-European babies born to Aboriginal mothers had not been allowed to live, and that "mixed-unions are frowned on by men and women alike as a matter of principle".[135]
When Russian explorerOtto von Kotzebue visited theMarshall Islands in Micronesia in 1817, he noted that Marshallese families practiced infanticide after the birth of a third child as a form ofpopulation planning due to frequentfamines.[136]
There is no agreement about the actual estimates of the frequency of newbornfemale infanticide in theInuit population.Carmel Schrire mentions diverse studies ranging from 15% to 80%.[137] Polar Inuit (Inughuit) killed unwanted children by throwing them into the sea.[138]
TheYukon and the Mahlemuit tribes ofAlaska exposed the female newborns by first stuffing their mouths with grass before leaving them to die.[139] InArctic Canada the Inuit exposed their babies on the ice and left them to die.[55]: 354
Female Inuit infanticide disappeared in the 1930s and 1940s after contact with the Western cultures from the South.[140]
However, it must be acknowledged these infanticide claims came from non-Inuit observers, whose writings were later used to justify the forcedwesternization of indigenous peoples. In 2009, Travis Hedwig argued that infanticide runs counter to cultural norms at the time and that researchers were misinterpreting the actions of an unfamiliar culture and people.[141]
TheHandbook of North American Indians reports infanticide among theDene Natives and those of theMackenzie Mountains.[142][143]
In the EasternShoshone there was a scarcity of Native American women as a result offemale infanticide.[144] For theMaiduNative Americans twins were so dangerous that they not only killed them, but the mother as well.[145] In the region known today as southernTexas, the Mariame Native Americans practiced infanticide of females on a large scale. Wives had to be obtained from neighboring groups.[146]
Bernal Díaz recounted that, after landing on theVeracruz coast, they came across a temple dedicated toTezcatlipoca. "That day they had sacrificed two boys, cutting open their chests and offering their blood and hearts to that accursed idol".[147] InThe Conquest of New Spain Díaz describes more child sacrifices in the towns before the Spaniards reached the largeAztec cityTenochtitlan.
Although academic data of infanticides among the indigenous people inSouth America is not as abundant as that of North America, the estimates seem to be similar.
TheTapirapé indigenous people ofBrazil allowed no more than three children per woman, and no more than two of the same sex. If the rule was broken infanticide was practiced.[148] TheBororo killed all the newborns that did not appear healthy enough. Infanticide is also documented in the case of theKorubo people in theAmazon.[149]
TheYanomami men killed children while raiding enemy villages.[150]Helena Valero, a Brazilian woman kidnapped by Yanomami warriors in the 1930s, witnessed a Karawetari raid on her tribe:
They killed so many. I was weeping for fear and for pity but there was nothing I could do. They snatched the children from their mothers to kill them, while the others held the mothers tightly by the arms and wrists as they stood up in a line. All the women wept. ... The men began to kill the children; little ones, bigger ones, they killed many of them.[150]
Whileqhapaq hucha was practiced in thePeruvian large cities, child sacrifice in the pre-Columbian tribes of the region is less documented. However, even today studies on theAymara Indians reveal high incidences of mortality among the newborn, especially female deaths, suggesting infanticide.[151] TheAbipones, a small tribe ofGuaycuruan stock, of about 5,000 by the end of the 18th century inParaguay, practiced systematic infanticide; with never more than two children being reared in one family. The Machigenga killed their disabled children. Infanticide among theChaco in Paraguay was estimated as high as 50% of all newborns in that tribe, who were usually buried.[152] The infanticidal custom had such roots among theAyoreo inBolivia and Paraguay that it persisted until the late 20th century.[153]
Infanticide has become less common in theWestern world. The frequency has been estimated to be 1 in approximately 3000 to 5000 children of all ages[154] and 2.1 per 100,000 newborns per year.[155] It is thought that infanticide today continues at a much higher rate in areas of extremely highpoverty andoverpopulation, such as parts ofIndia.[156] Female infants, then and even now, are particularly vulnerable, a factor in sex-selective infanticide. Recent estimates suggest that over 100 million girls and women are 'missing' in Asia.[157]
In spite of the fact that it is illegal, inBenin,West Africa, parents secretly continue with infanticidal customs.[158]
There have been some accusations that infanticide occurs inmainland China due to theone-child policy.[159] In the 1990s, a certain stretch of theYangtze River was known to be a common site of infanticide by drowning, until government projects made access to it more difficult. A study from 2012 suggests that over 40 million girls and women are missing in mainland China.[160]
The practice has continued in somerural areas of India.[161][162] India has the highest infanticide rate in the world, despite infanticide being illegal.[163]
According to a 2005 report by theUnited Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) up to 50 million girls andwomen are missing inIndia's population as a result of systematic sexdiscrimination andsex selective abortions.[164]
Killings of newborn babies have been on the rise inPakistan, corresponding to an increase inpoverty across the country.[165] More than 1,000 infants, mostly girls, were killed or abandoned to die in Pakistan in 2009 according to a Pakistani charity organization.[166]
TheEdhi Foundation found 1,210 dead babies in 2010. Many more are abandoned and left at the doorsteps ofmosques. As a result, Edhi centers feature signs "Do not murder, lay them here." Thoughfemale infanticide is punishable by life in prison, such crimes are rarely prosecuted.[165]
On November 28, 2008,The National, one ofPapua New Guinea's two largest newspapers at the time, ran a story entitled "Male Babies Killed To Stop Fights", which claimed that in Agibu and Amosa villages of the Gimi region of theEastern Highlands province – where tribal fighting had been going on since 1986 – women had agreed to stop producing males, allowing only female babies to survive, so that there would be no men in the future to fight. However,Salvation Army workers in the region denied that the supposed male infanticide had actually happened. Instead, women had merely hypothetically mentioned this possibility at a peace and reconciliation workshop in order to make a point, without planning to actually kill their sons.[167]
In England and Wales there were typically 30 to 50 homicides per million children less than 1 year old between 1982 and 1996.[168] The younger the infant, the higher the risk.[168] The rate for children 1 to 5 years was around 10 per million children.[168] The homicide rate of infants less than 1 year is significantly higher than for the general population.[168]
InEnglish law infanticide is established as a distinct offence by theInfanticide Acts. Defined as the killing of a child under 12 months of age by their mother, the effect of the Acts are to establish apartial defence to charges of murder.[169]
In the United States, the infanticide rate during the first hour of life outside the womb dropped from 1.41 per 100,000 between the years 1963 and 1972, to 0.44 per 100,000 between 1974 and 1983. The rates during the first month after birth also declined, whereas those for older infants rose during this time.[170]The legalization of abortion, which was completed in 1973, was the most important factor in the decline in neonatal mortality during the period from 1964 to 1977, according to a study by economists associated with the National Bureau of Economic Research.[170][171]
In Canada, 114 cases of infanticide by a parent were reported during 1964–1968.[172]
In Spain, far-right political party Vox has claimed that female perpetrators of infanticide outnumber male perpetrators of femicide.[173] However, neither the Spanish National Statistics Institute nor the Ministry of the Interior keep data on the gender of perpetrators, but victims of femicide consistently number higher than victims of infanticide.[173] From 2013 to March 2018, 28 infanticide cases perpetrated by 22 mothers and three stepmothers were reported in Spain.[174]
There are various reasons for infanticide.Neonaticide typically has different patterns and causes than for the killing of older infants. Traditional neonaticide is often related to economic necessity – the inability to provide for the infant. In the United Kingdom and the United States, older infants are typically killed for reasons related tochild abuse,domestic violence ormental illness.[168] For infants older than one day, younger infants are more at risk, and boys are more at risk than girls.[168] Risk factors for the parent include: Family history of violence, violence in a current relationship, history of abuse or neglect of children, and personality disorder and/or depression.[168]
Many historians believe the reason to be primarily economic, with more children born than the family is prepared to support.Marvin Harris estimated that amongPaleolithic hunters 23–50% of newborn children were killed. He argued that the goal was to preserve the 0.001% population growth of that time.[175]: 15 He also wrote that female infanticide may be a form of population control.[175]: 5 Population control is achieved not only by limiting the number of potential mothers; increased fighting among men for access to relatively scarce wives would also lead to a decline in population. For example, on theMelanesian island ofTikopia infanticide was used to keep a stable population in line with itsresource base.[15] In 1888, Lieut. F. Elton reported thatUgi beach people in theSolomon Islands killed their infants at birth by burying them, and women were also said to practice abortion. They reported that it was too much trouble to raise a child, and instead preferred to buy one from the bush people.[176] Research by Marvin Harris andWilliam Divale supports this argument, it has been cited as an example ofenvironmental determinism.[177] However, it is argued that it has also occurred equally among rich and poor and during decadent periods of theRoman Empire as during earlier, less affluent, periods.[20]: 28–34, 187–92
In societies that arepatrilineal andpatrilocal, the family may choose to allow more sons to live and practicefemale infanticide, as sons will support their birth family until they die, whereas daughters will leave economically and geographically to join their husband's family, possibly only after the payment of a burdensomedowry price.[20]: 362–68 Under natural conditions, mortality rates for girls under five are slightly lower than boys for biological reasons. However, after birth, neglect and diverting resources to male children, such as biased feedingpractices, inadequate clothing during winterand lower-quality health care,[178] can lead to some countries having a skewed ratio with more boys than girls, with such practices killing an approximate 230,000 girls under five in India each year.[179] While sex-selective abortion is more common among the higher income population, who can access medical technology, abuse after birth, such as infanticide and abandonment, is more common among the lower income population.[180] Before the appearance of effectivecontraception, infanticide was a common occurrence in ancient brothels and prostitutes in certain areas preferred to kill their male offspring.[181]
Cross-cultural research has found that infanticide is more likely to occur when the child has deformities or illnesses[182] and anthropologists have argued that they are often viewed as bad omens as raising such a child in poverty stricken communities are an insurmountable hurdle.[183] For example, in southern Ethiopia, children with physical abnormalities are considered to be ritually impure ormingi, with the ability to exert an evil influence upon others, so disabled infants have traditionally been disposed of.[184]
Infants have been killed for superstitious accusations, such as being witches, often by being buried alive or left to starve.[183] Those at higher risk of being accused and killed include the disabled,albinos, those born prematurely, twins,[185] children of single mothers andintersex infants. Intersex infants commonly suffer from infanticide particularly indeveloping countries, largely caused by stigma surrounding intersex conditions. Often intersex infants areabandoned, while others are actively killed.[186][187][188]
Illegitimacy and its shame has led mothers or their families to kill infants.[189] This was also the impetus for a mother's decision to give her child to ababy farmer. Baby farming is the practice of accepting custody of a child in return for payment. This was most common in Victorian Britain. Baby farmers sometimes neglected or murdered the babies to keep costs down.[190]
Postpartum psychosis is also a causative factor of infanticide. Stuart S. Asch, MD, a professor of psychiatry atCornell University Medical School established the connections between some cases of infanticide andpostpartum depression.[191],[192],[193] The books,From Cradle to Grave,[194] andThe Death of Innocents,[195] describe selected cases of maternal infanticide and the investigative research of Professor Asch working in concert with the New York City Medical Examiner's Office.Stanley Hopwood wrote that childbirth and lactation entail severe stress on women, and that under certain circumstances attempts at infanticide and suicide are common.[196] TheInfanticide Acts are several now repealedlaws that, in 1922, made the killing of an infant child by its mother during the early months of life a lesser crime than murder, introducing the idea thatpostpartum depression was legally to be regarded as a form ofdiminished responsibility. A study published in theAmerican Journal of Psychiatry revealed that 44% of filicidalfathers had a diagnosis ofpsychosis.[197] In addition to postpartum psychosis, dissociative psychopathology, and sociopathy have also been found to be associated with neonaticide in some cases.[198]
In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, "loopholes" were invented by some suicidal members ofLutheran churches[199] who wanted to avoid the damnation that was promised by most Christian doctrine as a penalty of suicide. One famous example of someone who wished to end their life but avoid the eternity in hell wasChristina Johansdotter (died 1740). She was a Swedish murderer who killed a child in Stockholm with the sole purpose of being executed. She is an example of those who seek suicide through execution by committing a murder. It was a common act, frequently targeting young children or infants as they were believed to be free from sin, meaning they would go "straight to heaven".[200] Although mainstream Christian denominations, including Lutherans, view the murder of an innocent as being condemned in the Fifth Commandment, the suicidal members of Lutheran churches who deliberately killed children with the intent of getting executed were usually well aware of Christian doctrine against murder, and planned to repent and seek forgiveness of their sins afterwards. For example, in 18th centuryDenmark up until the year 1767, murderers were given the opportunity to repent of their sins before they were executed either way. In 1767, religiously motivated suicidal murders ceased in Denmark with the abolishment of thedeath penalty.[201]
Evolutionary psychology has proposed several theories for different forms of infanticide. Infanticide by stepfathers, as well as child abuse in general by stepfathers, has been explained by spending resources on not genetically related children reducingreproductive success (See theCinderella effect andInfanticide (zoology)). Infanticide is one of the few forms of violence more often done by women than men and this has been explained as since women generally have a greaterparental investment than men, spending resources on an unfit child would decrease the mother'sinclusive fitness.[182]
PhilosopherPeter Singer, known for a philosophy calledpersonism, argues that newborns lack the essential characteristics of personhood—"rationality, autonomy, and self-consciousness"[202]—and therefore "killing a newborn baby is never equivalent to killing a person, that is, a being who wants to go on living".[203] Some medical ethicists have argued for parents to be allowed to kill their newborn babies because they are not "actual persons"; they have proposed to call thisafter-birth abortion.[204]
InNew South Wales, infanticide is defined in Section 22A(1) of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) as follows:[205]
Where a woman by any willful act or omission causes the death of her child, being a child under the age of twelve months, but at the time of the act or omission the balance of her mind was disturbed by reason of her not having fully recovered from the effect of giving birth to the child or by reason of the effect of lactation consequent upon the birth of the child, then, notwithstanding that the circumstances were such that but for this section the offense would have amounted to murder, she shall be guilty of infanticide, and may for such offense be dealt with and punished as if she had been guilty of the offense of manslaughter of such child.
Because Infanticide is punishable as manslaughter, as per s24,[206] the maximum penalty for this offence is therefore 25 years imprisonment.
InVictoria, infanticide is defined by Section 6 of the Crimes Act of 1958 with a maximum penalty of five years.[207]
In New Zealand, infanticide is provided for by Section 178 of the Crimes Act 1961 which states:
Where a woman causes the death of any child of hers under the age of 10 years in a manner that amounts to culpable homicide, and where at the time of the offence the balance of her mind was disturbed, by reason of her not having fully recovered from the effect of giving birth to that or any other child, or by reason of the effect of lactation, or by reason of any disorder consequent upon childbirth or lactation, to such an extent that she should not be held fully responsible, she is guilty of infanticide, and not of murder or manslaughter, and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years.[208]
In Canada, infanticide is a specific offence under section 237 of theCriminal Code. It is defined as a form of culpable homicide which is neither murder nor manslaughter, and occurs when "a female person... by a wilful act or omission... causes the death of her newly-born child [defined as a child under one year of age], if at the time of the act or omission she is not fully recovered from the effects of giving birth to the child and by reason thereof or of the effect of lactation consequent on the birth of the child her mind is then disturbed."[209] Infanticide is also a defence to murder, in that a person accused of murder who successfully presents the defence is entitled to be convicted of infanticide rather than murder.[210][211] The maximum sentence for infanticide is five years' imprisonment; by contrast, the maximum sentence for manslaughter is life, and the mandatory sentence for murder is life.[209]
The offence derives from an offence created in English law in 1922, which aimed to address the issue of judges and juries who were reluctant to return verdicts of murder against women and girls who killed their newborns out of poverty, depression, the shame of illegitimacy, or otherwise desperate circumstances, since the mandatory sentence was death (even though in those circumstances the death penalty was likely not to be carried out). With infanticide as a separate offence with a lesser penalty, convictions were more likely. The offence of infanticide was created in Canada in 1948.[210]
There is ongoing debate in the Canadian legal and political fields about whether section 237 of theCriminal Code should be amended or abolished altogether.[212]
InEngland and Wales, theInfanticide Act 1938 describes the offence of infanticide as one which would otherwise amount to murder (by their mother) if the victim was older than 12 months and the mother did not have an "imbalance of mind" due to the effects of childbirth or lactation. Where a mother who has killed such an infant has been charged with murder rather than infanticide s.1(3) of the Act confirms that a jury has the power to find alternative verdicts ofManslaughter in English law or guilty but insane.
Infanticide is illegal in the Netherlands, although the maximum sentence is lower than for homicide. The Groningen Protocol regulateseuthanasia for infants who are believed to "suffer hopelessly and unbearably" under strict conditions.[213]
Article 149 of thePenal Code of Poland stipulates that a mother who kills her child in labour, while under the influence of the course of the delivery, is liable to imprisonment for between three months and five years.[214]
Article 200 of thePenal Code of Romania stipulates that the killing of a newborn during the first 24 hours, by the mother who is in a state of mental distress, shall be punished with imprisonment of one to five years.[215] The previous Romanian Penal Code also defined infanticide (pruncucidere) as a distinct criminal offense, providing for punishment of two to seven years imprisonment,[216] recognizing the fact that a mother's judgment may be impaired immediately after birth.
While legislation regarding infanticide in some countries focuses on rehabilitation, believing that treatment and education will prevent repetitive action, the United States remains focused on delivering punishment. One justification for punishment is the difficulty of implementing rehabilitation services. With an overcrowded prison system, the United States can not provide the necessary treatment and services.[217]
In 2009,Texas state representativeJessica Farrar proposed legislation that would define infanticide as a distinct and lesser crime thanhomicide.[218] Under the terms of the proposed legislation, if jurors concluded that a mother's "judgment was impaired as a result of the effects of giving birth or the effects of lactation following the birth," they would be allowed to convict her of the crime of infanticide, rather than murder.[219] The maximum penalty for infanticide would be two years in prison.[219] Farrar's introduction of this bill prompted liberal bioethics scholarJacob M. Appel to call her "the bravest politician in America".[219]
TheMOTHERS Act (MomsOpportunityTo accessHealth,Education,Research andSupport), precipitated by the death of a Chicago woman with postpartum psychosis was introduced in 2009. The act was ultimately incorporated into thePatient Protection and Affordable Care Act which passed in 2010. The act requires screening for postpartum mood disorders at any time of the adult lifespan as well as expands research on postpartum depression. Provisions of the act also authorize grants to support clinical services for women who have, or are at risk for, postpartum psychosis.[220]
In addition to debates over the morality of infanticide itself, there is some debate over the effects of infanticide on surviving children, and the effects of childrearing in societies that also sanction infanticide. Some argue that the practice of infanticide in any widespread form causes enormous psychological damage in children.[16]: 261–62 Conversely, studying societies that practice infanticideGéza Róheim reported that even infanticidal mothers inNew Guinea, who ate a child, did not affect the personality development of the surviving children; that "these are good mothers who eat their own children".[221] Harris and Divale's work on the relationship between female infanticide and warfare suggests that there are, however, extensive negative effects.
For female infanticide, mothers who keep giving birth to daughters could face divorce or violence. Skewed sex ratio with lack of available women to marry leads to violence such asbride kidnapping.[178]
Since infanticide, especially neonaticide, is often a response to an unwanted birth,[168] preventingunwanted pregnancies through improvedsex education and increasedcontraceptive access are advocated as ways of preventing infanticide.[222] Increased use of contraceptives and access to safe legalabortions[20][170]: 122–23 have greatly reduced neonaticide in many developed nations. In Pakistan, advocates of legalizing abortion say it would reduce infanticide and save mothers from potentially fatal back-street terminations.[165]
Cases of infanticide have also garnered increasing attention and interest from advocates for the mentally ill as well as organizations dedicated to postpartum disorders. Following the trial ofAndrea Yates, a mother from the United States who garnered national attention for drowning her 5 children, representatives from organizations such as the Postpartum Support International and the Marcé Society for Treatment and Prevention of Postpartum Disorders began requesting clarification of diagnostic criteria for postpartum disorders and improved guidelines for treatments. While accounts of postpartum psychosis have dated back over 2,000 years ago, perinatal mental illness is still largely under-diagnosed despite postpartum psychosis affecting 1 to 2 per 1000 women.[223][224] Screening for psychiatric disorders or risk factors, and providing treatment or assistance to those at risk may help prevent infanticide.[225]
While studies on the treatment of postpartum psychosis are scarce, a number of case and cohort studies have found evidence describing the effectiveness oflithium monotherapy for both acute and maintenance treatment of postpartum psychosis, with the majority of patients achieving complete remission. Adjunctive treatments includeelectroconvulsive therapy, antipsychotic medication, orbenzodiazepines. Electroconvulsive therapy, in particular, is the primary treatment for patients withcatatonia, severe agitation, and difficulties eating or drinking. Antidepressants should be avoided throughout the acute treatment of postpartum psychosis due to risk of worsening mood instability.[226]
Though screening and treatment may help prevent infanticide, in the developed world, significant proportions of neonaticides that are detected occur in young women who deny their pregnancy and avoid outside contacts, many of whom may have limited contact with these health care services.[168]
In some areasbaby hatches orsafe surrender sites, safe places for a mother to anonymously leave an infant, are offered, in part to reduce the rate of infanticide. In other places, like the United States,safe-haven laws allow mothers to anonymously give infants to designated officials; they are frequently located at hospitals and police and fire stations. Additionally, some countries in Europe have the laws ofanonymous birth andconfidential birth that allow mothers to give up an infant after birth. In anonymous birth, the mother does not attach her name to the birth certificate. In confidential birth, the mother registers her name and information, but the document containing her name is sealed until the child comes to age. Typically such babies are put up for adoption, or cared for in orphanages.[227]
Granting women employment raises their status and autonomy. Having againful employment can raise the perceived worth of women. This can lead to an increase in the number of women getting an education and a decrease in the number of female infanticide. As a result, theinfant mortality rate will decrease and economic development will increase.[228]
The practice has been observed in many other species of theanimal kingdom since it was first seriously studied byYukimaru Sugiyama.[229] These include from microscopicrotifers andinsects, tofish,amphibians,birds andmammals, including primates such aschacma baboons.[230]
According to studies carried out byKyoto University in primates, including certain types of gorillas and chimpanzees, several conditions favor the tendency to kill their offspring in some species (to be performed only by males), among them are: Nocturnal life, the absence of nest construction, the marked sexual dimorphism in which the male is much larger than the female, the mating in a specific season and the high period of lactation without resumption of the estrus state in the female.
An instance in which a child born on an inauspicious day is to live or die according to the chance of being trampled by cattle (death being likely) is provided by
Infanticide in Madagascar, painted by Henry Melville and engraved by J Redaway for Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1838 with a poetical illustration and notes byLetitia Elizabeth Landon.[231]
Infanticide has been practiced on every continent and by people on every level of cultural complexity, from hunter gatherers to high civilizations. Rather than being an exception, then, it has been the rule.
Chinese children make delightful patients. They respond readily to kindness and are in every way satisfactory from a professional point of view. Not infrequently simply good feeding and plenty of oxygen will work the most marvelous cures. Permission is almost invariably asked to remain with the child in the hospital, and it is far better to grant the request, since, after a few days when all is well and the child is happy, the adult will gladly enough withdraw. Meanwhile, much has been gained. Whereas the effort to argue parents into leaving a child at once and the difficulty of winning the frightened child are enormous. The Chinese infant usually has a pretty good start in life. "Infanticide does not prevail to the extent so generally believed among us, and in the north, it does not exist at all."—Dudgeon, Peking.
Context: Interest in the discarding or killing of newborns by parents has increased due to wide news coverage and efforts by states to provide Safe Haven legislation to combat the problem.
