Female infanticide

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Female infanticide, the prevalent form of sex-selective infanticide is the systematic killing of girls at or soon after birth. It normally occurs when a society values male children to the point that producing a female is considered dishonourable or shameful. Female infanticide was most common in urban China during the Qing Dynasty, due to overpopulation, and the second half of the twentieth century, due to the One Child Policy that created stiff financial penalties for parents who had multiple children.

Female infanticide is still a problem in developing countries, especially developing countries where males are valued over females. According to a recent report by UNICEF, over 30 million females are missing from the Indian population.

The counterpart with male infants is male infanticide.