Mothers preferred their children to be fast, clever, active, and precocious in their development, and children showing opposite features, would not receive medical care when they were sick or were given less food than their siblings, since they were considered as showing less aptitude for life. Another cause of infanticide associated with unwanted pregnancies may be illegitimate births, which means that the pregnancy is not the result of a marriage recognized by the society.
In some cultures such births are highly undesirable, since they can dishonor a family. Some societies still perform infanticide due to beliefs derived from biological causes. For example, in some communities in Benin Africa children born with a disability are killed, as negative magical effects or evil spells are attributed to their birth.
The same beliefs apply in cases of twin and albino children birth. Regarding twins, sometimes only the second child is killed or it is given to another family e. Quijo people in Ecuador. Female infanticide is the most common form of infanticide, both nowadays and in the past. This practice is mainly due to the fact that, in some cultures, males are considered to be socially more valuable than women.
Moreover, female infanticide is sometimes related to the control of the population. In China, infanticide is also practiced, mainly due to the one-child policy even though it existed before , which states that each couple can have only one child.
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More about sentencing Courts infanticide Mental Health. Already subscribed? Log in. Forgotten your password? Want an ad-free experience? R v Gore EWCA Crim established that there is no need for all the ingredients of murder to be proved before a defendant could be convicted of infanticide.
The case confirmed that the aim of Parliament was to create a new offence of infanticide which covered circumstances much wider than offences that would otherwise be murder. The mens rea for infanticide, therefore, does not require any intention to kill or cause serious bodily harm. In a case where infanticide is claimed for an offence that otherwise would have been framed as murder or manslaughter the burden of proof is on the prosecution to disprove a claim of infanticide beyond a reasonable doubt.
The maximum penalty for infanticide is life imprisonment. However, in practice a non-custodial sentence is usually the outcome. While no accurate figures exist as to the number of cases each year, from my research I estimate that in England and Wales around seven cases are investigated by the authorities each year — although very few result in homicide convictions.
Neonaticide is mostly committed by women following a pregnancy that has been concealed or denied from the wider world. Much of the research identifies the stereotypical neonaticidal woman as young, single and poor.
They often lack the economic, social and emotional resources to deal with the pregnancy. Yet other research has shown that some come from across demographics. What is evident from studies considering the motivation of women who have killed their newborn child is that they are vulnerable.
Fear and shame of the pregnancy is common, as is the belief that the pregnancy cannot exist — which leads women to hide their condition from the world.
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