Infanticide

Infanticide was widely practiced in many ancient cultures as a means of birth control. The earliest examples of systematic infanticide refer to the Stone Age . According to the estimates of the American anthropologist Joseph Birdsell, the percentage of infanticide in the total number of births during the Neolithic period ranged from 15% to 50% ^[3] . At the same time, for the first time, the tendency to selective destruction of female infants appears: according to the researchers' estimates, about 50% of newborn girls were killed during the Paleolithic period ^[4] . Often, children were simply left in deserted places, where they died of exhaustion and hypothermia .

Selective infanticide of girls was widespread in Asian countries, particularly in India , China, and Japan (in some places this custom still exists today). During the Song Dynasty, in some regions of China, the standard number of children in a family was three sons and two daughters (in poor families — two sons and one daughter), the rest were killed ^[5] . In Japan, a similar custom was known as “Mabiki” (間 引 き), literally meaning “weeding out excess plants from an overgrown garden” ^[6] . In medieval India, illegitimate girls were systematically killed ^[7] . In addition, poor families in India often got rid of "extra" babies, throwing them into the Ganges under the guise of sacrifice. The British authorities waged an active struggle against this tradition, but it was legally prohibited only in the 19th century ^[8] .

Child sacrifices were common in many ancient cultures. The tradition of sacrificing children existed among the Maya , Aztec , Inca , and also probably the Toltec ^[9] and the ancient Teotihuacan ^[10] . In the Old World, child sacrifices were especially prevalent in the Middle East , particularly in Babylonia , Phenicia , and Carthage . The ancient Greeks considered child sacrifices barbaric ^[11] , but the practice of killing newborns (especially illegitimate) was not rare in Hellas. Most often, children were simply left in deserted places unattended, where they died of hunger and cold. The decision, as a rule, was taken by the father of the family, although in Sparta it was passed by the council of elders. A similar tradition existed in Rome . Strabo wrote with surprise that in Egypt it is customary to feed and raise all children, including the illegitimate ^[12] . One of the first Roman custom to kill children was condemned by the Greek-Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria ^[13] . The Jewish religion strictly forbade infanticide and angrily condemned the children's sacrifices, linking them with extreme manifestations of pagan barbarism and falling away from the true God. The biblical expression “ fiery hell ”, which has become synonymous with the concept of “ hell, ” comes from the name of the valley Enn (Gechin), where, according to the book of the prophet Jeremiah , ritual sacrifices of children were made by burning (hence the name of hell in Islam - jahann ). Islam and Christianity also explicitly prohibit infanticide.

Killings of unwanted or illegitimate children were common among the ancient peoples of Europe . Although Tacitus claims that the Germans considered it “shameful” to kill unwanted children, it appears that this practice did exist. According to John Boswell , the Germans usually left the children doomed to death in the forest. He reports a custom according to which a newborn child could be killed only before he first tasted the food ^[14] . John Lubbock described the remains of sacrificed children found in Britain ^[15] . The Tale of Bygone Years announces the sacrifice of the Varyag Theodore and his son, the youth of John , and the sacrifice of only John, the teenager, was originally planned (“Let us cast lots for the youth and the maiden upon whom he will be slain to the gods”). Traces of the custom of killing illegitimate children are found in Kalevala : in the last rune, Väinämöinen advises to kill the child of the wonderfully pregnant girl Marjatta, however, the crescent baby gets into an argument with him, and after that Väänämüinen retreats.

In some tribes, children could be killed for superstitious reasons — for example, when a child was accompanied by “bad signs” or when he was suspected of being possessed by an evil spirit. In Africa , twins were very often killed, particularly in Tswana , Igbo , Hottentots, and other peoples ^[16] . The Kikuyu practiced the ritual murder of twins ^[17] . A similar custom was recorded by George Kennan among the Koryaks : one of the twins was necessarily killed ^[18] .

Infanticide is usually justified by the fact that the newborn is not yet a full-fledged person. Thus, the Australian leader , who killed 15 of his children in a row, declared: “the newborn is not a human being, his soul has not yet come to him”. A newborn with anatomical deformity was often killed not because he was a worthless member of the community, but because he was very often regarded as a product of conception from a demonic being. In the same way, one of the twins could be considered as a product of a similar intervention at conception, which served as an excuse for killing one of the twins ^[19] .

The practice of selectively killing girls is still widespread in some countries, particularly in rural areas of India ^[20] . In some areas of China , there is a strong gender imbalance in the composition of the population: there are significantly more boys growing there than girls. Most often, female babies are aborted ( selective abortion ), but there are also cases of murder of newborn girls . Sometimes they associate the policy of one child and other cultural characteristics with this: parents prefer to have a boy as their only child rather than a girl. This phenomenon is called Missing Women of Asia . There has been an increase in the number of infanticide in Pakistan , which is associated with poverty, in which a large part of the population lives ^[21] .

As measures to prevent infanticide by mothers, facilitation of access to contraceptives is called, which will help avoid unwanted pregnancies and the killing of children born as a result (in addition, it will contribute to reducing the number of abortions ) ^[22] , as well as timely tracking of mental diseases and, in particular, postpartum depression in (future) mothers ^[23] . In some countries, there are so-called baby boxes, which are called differently in different projects ( windows of life , etc.), where a mother who does not want or has no opportunity to raise a child can leave him anonymously.

Separately, there are measures to prevent infanticide, aimed at eliminating the causes of the desire to kill children by mothers, namely the strengthening of measures of social assistance to pregnant women and young mothers, as well as their propaganda.

• Tinning, Marybeth
• Noah, Mary
• Hoyt, Vanetha
• Gibbs, Jeni Lou
• Khua Hyo

• The famous play by Euripides "Medea"
• Massacre of the innocents
• Beating up babies (motive)