Feminist groups convince Mexican officials to reduce punishment for infanticide

Mexico City, Mexico, Sep 9, 2010 / 19:53 pm

Feminist groups and leaders have pressured officials in the Mexican state of Guanajuato to drastically reduce the punishment for infanticide.

For weeks, feminist organizations such as Las Libres confused the public by claiming that six women in Guanajuato, who were in prison for killing their babies, were in fact in prison for abortion.

After being dismissed by local officials and U.N. delegates, the feminists changed their strategy to seeking a reduction in punishment for women who kill their children during the first hours following birth. Such a crime, punishable in the past by 35 years in prison, will now be punishable be only three to 10 years due to a controversial reform of the state's civil code.

Ivette Laviada, president of the Pro-Yucatan Network, and Patricia Lopez Mancera, director of the Center for Women’s Studies, said the efforts by feminists to pressure officials into making infanticide a right “will not resonate with other entities in the country.”

They expressed their deep concern that a mother attempting to kill her newborn within the first 24 hours after birth would no longer be considered a serious crime.  Infanticide should never be considered “normal,” they said.