Female Infantcide

Waste-Basket Babies Some parents may find giving a child up for adoption difficult, but how about leaving a baby on the side of the road? Or throwing a child into a river? No, this isn’t some sort of old ritual, it happens all over the world today, and is beginning to become a major issue. Mainly in Africa and China, sex selective customs have become a major issue in today’s world. The child sex ratio has dramatically shifted in the past 12 years. “During 2001-2011, the share of children to total population has declined and the decline was sharper for female children than a male children in the age groups 0-6 years,” reported the “Children in India 2012- A Statistical Appraisal” conducted by the Central Statistical Organization. This developed a noticeably skewed child sex ratio.

China’s One Child Policy, established by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in 1979, has led to the disdain of female infants, abortion, neglect, abandonment, and infanticide- known for the female infanticide rather than male. Though this policy was originally just a “temporary measure,” it is still used even today. But now that there are millions of people without siblings, some young couples are legally allowed a special provision that enables them to have two children in order to prevent a too dramatic of a decrease in population. As for the future of the temporary policy, confirmed by the Chineese government, the law will continue to be consistent with the nation’s plan of population growth. Though there is a male preference in both India and China, the roots of India’s infanticide differs from the reasons of preference in China. In India, there are no laws setting the number of children a family is allowed to have. The most common issue a family in India would face in raising a girl would be financial troubles; a sizeable income is required in order for a woman to wed. Though money isn’t the exact issue, a family would rather not have a female child at all than spend money to