China: Female Infanticide

As soon as the baby girl was born, my mother-in-law kicked it with her toe and said, 'Who wants this?' She wrapped it in a wet towel and left it on the floor. My husband's sister, weak after the delivery, just wept. It died within a few hours." (Arvamudan, 1999)

Female infanticide has been present within some societies for centuries. It continues to represent a social justice concern because the occurrence of female infanticide has historically led to and accounts for millions of gender-selective deaths throughout the world. A feminist perspective of social justice can be utilized to best explain the occurrence of this problem. On the basis of a feminist perspective, female infanticide is a form of violence directed at and used against females, representing one of many different forms of such violence, deeply rooted in sex inequality. As such, female infanticide represents an act of...
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