Female Infanticide 1

Can Female Infanticide be stopped?

Dalia Wattar
Psychology 151
Dunstan, Amie
March 13, 2015

Female Infanticide 2
Female infanticide is the deliberate killing of girl babies. It is also
described as gender-selective killing or "gendercide". Female infanticide is
more common than male infanticide, and in some countries, particularly
India and China, is likely to have serious consequences on the balance of the
sexes in the population. The reasons behind it are almost always cultural,
rather than directly religious. Societies that practice female infanticide
always show many other signs of bias against females. Women are perceived
as subservient because of their role as careers and homemakers, whilst men
predominantly ensure the family's social and economic stability. The major
propose of why both cultures practice Female infanticide is because both
cultures count on their sons to care for their aged. Daughters marry out and
are no longer members of their families of origin. For this reason, daughters
are considered more a liability than a blessing.
But the question is can female infanticide be stopped one day? We
should all stop this brutal act as soon as possible. Even though both China
and India governments tried to stop female infanticide by setting laws, the
laws would fail and people would continue to practice female infanticide. If
we dont stop this shameful and disturbing act, this act will pass through
cultures from generation to generation and more innocent female infants will
die every day.

Female Infanticide 3
In India, the Chief Minister developed the 'Cradle Babies' scheme,
which asked that families abandon their unwanted female infants in cradles
set up in government health centers, rather than kill them. However, the
program failed to eradicate female infanticide in Tamil Nadu. Unfortunately,
the Indian police have not proven to be a successful deterrent to female
infanticide. As mentioned earlier, parents fearing punishment have simply
adopted new methods of killing their daughters. Of those cases that are
reported to the police, not many are successfully prosecuted .Village police
officers have often been found to extract bribes from parents, as well
(George, Sabu M.). Also, the British officials who recorded the practice of
female infanticide in their diaries during their travel to India, promoted the
infanticide Act making the practice of murdering illegal, which also did work
and the inhuman practice continued (Ahmed, N.).
The Chinese government has taken a number of steps to combat the
practice of female infanticide, as well as promote and protect women's
rights. In China, The Marriage Law and Women's Protection Law prohibit
female infanticide, and the latter prohibits discrimination against women who
give birth to daughters (Porras, M). The Sex Selective Abortion Law and
Maternal Health Care Law of 1994 were created to put an end to sex
selective abortions, and the latter prohibits the use of medical technology to
determine the gender of a fetus (Porras, M). Unfortunately, however, the
practice continues in China despite these efforts.

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References
Ahmad, N. (2010). Female Feticide in India. Issues In Law & Medicine, 26(1), 13-29.
Porras, M. (2004). "Female Infanticide and Feticide."

George, S. M Female Infanticide in Tamil Nadu, India: From Recognition Back to Denial?