Female Infanticide

The disturbing reality of female infanticide in India

Female Infanticide A report on female infanticide in India, and what is being done to eliminate this horrific practice.
Despite it being illegal, the culture of dowries still exists in certain parts of India. As a result, raising a daughter can be costly - raising two, a financial impossibility. For the poorest families in society this leads them to killing their baby daughters, a process known as female infanticide. The problem, while one that persists, is getting better; programmes have been set up to teach young women skills which will allow them to provide for themselves financially, economic incentives are being put in place to encourage families to keep their daughters, and organisations and women's groups are educating young women in order to bring about a slow but necessary change in societal attitudes. Yet progress isn't always so black and white. A woman was recently sentenced to life imprisonment for killing her baby daughter. Does this put legal pressure on families to raise their second daughters, or is it simply punishing the victims for a wider societal problem? ABC Australia speaks to experts on the issue, and to families whose lives have been affected by the brutal practice.

Produced by ABC Australia
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