Female infanticide in Pakistan had been a common practice. But it is no longer a common practice due to steps taken by local polices and Governments and Ordinances.

History

During the 19th century, the Northwest

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

one-fourth of the population preserved only half the daughters, while other 3/4th of the population had balanced sex ratio. There were 118 males per 100 females. This is comparable to the late C20th sex ratio in the area, now divided between

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. Among Kharal people, female infanticide was common. A report from 1884 states:

''The Kharrals are the most northerly of the great Ravi tribes, occupying a great portion of the land between
Gugera Gogera ( ur, ), is a town and union council of Okara District in the Punjab province of Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth- ...
and the
Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...
district on both sides of the river, and extending some distance into the
Gujranwala district Gujranwala District (Punjabi language, Punjabi and ur, ), is a Districts of Pakistan, district that is a part of the Majha region in Punjab (Pakistan), Punjab, Pakistan. Gujranwala District is bordered by the districts of Gujrat District, Gujr ...
. The Kharrals were
Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...
s... and never got on with each other. The feuds of the
Lakhera Lakhera, Lakhara, Lakshakar, Laxkar, Lakhpati, Lakshkar, Lakhera, Lakeri and Lakheri etc... People of India - Volume 38, Page 569 - Kumar Suresh Singh, Anthropological Survey of India Lakhera caste comes under the Hindu rajputs who are Kshat ...
s and upper Ravi Kharrals have been noticed. The tragic adventure of Mirza and Sahiban is said to have been the cause of desperate quarrels. Mirza was a Kharral of the Sahi muhin... went as a boy to Khewa in
Jhang Jhang (Punjabi language, Punjabi, ur, ), ) is the capital city of Jhang District, in the central portion of the province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. Situated on the east bank of the Chenab river, it is the List of most populous c ...
, where he fell in love with his cousin Sahiban, the daughter of the chief man of the place. Her parents betrothed her to a youth of the Chadar tribe, but before the marriage could place, Mirza ran away with her. He was pursued and slain. Her relations strangled Sahiban... These murders were cause of such bloody feuds between the clans that it at the length was thought inauspicious to have daughters, and as soon as they were born, they were strangled as Sahiban had been. This custom of female infanticide was common among the Kharrals till Colonel Hamilton, Commissioner of
Multan Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab. Multan is one of the List ...
, persuaded them to discontinue it.''

This report is cited in a 2010 book on son preference, giving the context of the

Mirza Sahiban ''Mirza Sahiban'' ( pa, ਮਿਰਜ਼ਾ ਸਾਹਿਬਾਂ, , ') is one of the four popular tragic romances of the Punjab. The other three are ''Heer Ranjha'', ''Sohni Mahiwal'' and ''Sassi Punnun''. There are five other popular folklor ...

tragic romance, and putting the practice in a wider socio-economic analysis.

Son preference

Similarly to other countries in

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

, Pakistani households have a strong preference for sons. Parent fertility remains incomplete until and unless the desired number of boys are born. Son preference prevails in rural areas, due to male inheritance of agricultural land, and males being seen as better suited to work the land. Boys are often given better access to resources, healthcare, and education. Prenatal sex-selection is more common among the upper classes who have access to medical care and technology, while abuse after birth (infanticide and abandonment) is more common among the lower classes. Girls who are unwanted are often forced into

early marriage Child marriage is a marriage or similar union, formal or informal, between a child under a certain age – typically 18 years – and an adult or another child. * * * * The vast majority of child marriages are between a female child and a m ...

. Son preference has effect on the status of

Pakistani women Women in Pakistan make up 48.76% of the population according to the 2017 Census of Pakistan, 2017 census of Pakistan. Women in Pakistan have played an important role throughout Pakistan's history and they are allowed to vote in elections since ...

. Women bearing at least one son have higher say in household decision-making. According to Pakistani surveys and statistics, Pakistan has witnessed 40 million abortion of female children in the past 50 years.

Dowry

Families often do not want daughters because they are expected to pay

dowry A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment b ...

upon their marriage. The giving and expectation of a dowry is part of the culture, with most marriages in every region of Pakistan involving transfer of a dowry from the bride's family to a groom's family. Conflicts related to dowry often lead to violence. At over 2000 dowry-related deaths per year, and annual rates exceeding 2.45 deaths per 100,000 women from dowry-related violence, Pakistan has the highest reported number of dowry death rates per 100,000 women in the world.

Culture of family honor

Pakistan has a strong 'culture of honor', where a female can easily tarnish the 'honor' and 'reputation' of her family through certain behaviors (often related to

chastity Chastity, also known as purity, is a virtue related to temperance. Someone who is ''chaste'' refrains either from sexual activity considered immoral or any sexual activity, according to their state of life. In some contexts, for example when mak ...

), whether these behaviors are real or suspected by the community. The ''family honor'' is an abstract concept involving the perceived quality of worthiness and respectability that affects the social standing and the self-evaluation of a group of related people, both corporately and individually. The

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

is viewed as the main source of

honor Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...

and the community highly values the relationship between honor and the family. The conduct of family members reflects upon family honor and the way the family perceives itself, and is perceived by others.

Honor killings An honor killing (American English), honour killing (Commonwealth English), or shame killing is the murder of an individual, either an outsider or a member of a family, by someone seeking to protect what they see as the dignity and honor of ...

in Pakistan are known locally as ''karo-kari''. An honor killing is the

homicide Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...

of a member of a family or social group by other members, due to the belief the victim has brought dishonour upon the family or community. The death of the victim is viewed as a way to restore the reputation and honour of the family. In order to avoid such problems related to the honor culture, families reject altogether the idea of having daughters.

Sex selective abortion

Sex selective abortion Sex-selective abortion is the practice of terminating a pregnancy based upon the predicted sex of the infant. The selective abortion of female fetuses is most common where male children are valued over female children, especially in parts of Eas ...

- the practice of terminating a pregnancy based upon the female sex of the fetus - is happening in Pakistan, although it is illegal.

Abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

is illegal in Pakistan, except if needed to preserve the pregnant woman' life or health. In 2017, two Pakistani organisations discovered large cases of infanticide in Pakistani cities. This was led by the Edhi Foundation and Chhipa Welfare Foundation. The infanticide was mainly almost all were female infants. The reason given by the local authorities were poverty and local customs, where boys are preferred to girls. However, the large discovery in Karachi shows that many of the female infants were killed because of the local Islamic clerics, who ordered out of wedlock babies should be disregarded. Babies born out of wedlock in Islam are considered a sin.

Prevalence

According to one estimate from the end of the 20th century, about 3.1 million girls are missing in Pakistan. The extent to which this is attributable to infanticide is contested; see

Missing women of Asia The term "missing women" indicates a shortfall in the number of women relative to the expected number of women in a region or country. It is most often measured through male-to-female sex ratios, and is theorized to be caused by sex-selective abort ...

. In 1998, 391 infant girls were found dead, about 68 in 1999, 59 in 2000, 51 in 2001, and 39 in 2002. The number of infanticides, particularly of girls, is on the increase, according to the

Edhi Foundation The Edhi Foundation ( ur, ) is a non-profit social welfare organization based in Pakistan. It was founded by Abdul Sattar Edhi in 1951, who served as the head of the organization until his death on 8 July 2016. Bilquis Edhi, a nurse by professi ...

. They know of 890 newborns killed in 2008, 999 in 2009 and about 1,210 in 2010, and this counts only the large cities.

References

{{Reflist Female infanticide Violence against women in Pakistan Birth control in Pakistan Sexism in Pakistan Childhood in Pakistan