Infanticide

Infanticide is the killing of an infant or baby who is less than 1 year old. Related terms are neonaticide and filicide. Neonaticide is a specific form of infanticide that is the murder of a newborn baby who is less than 24 hours old. Filicide is the murder of a child that may also include infants. While the killing of a child who is over the age of 1 is not infanticide per se, scholars, medical professionals, and legal experts use the term infanticide to describe the killing of infants and children.

Many societies have practiced infanticide for a variety of reasons that include population control, eugenics movements that seek to eradicate a group of people such as those with physical disabilities, cultural ...