100 Years of the Infanticide Act: Legacy, Impact and Future Directions

This book provides the first comprehensive and detailed analysis of the Infanticide Act and its impact in England and Wales and around the world.

It is 100 years since the Infanticide Act was passed in England and Wales. The statute, re-enacted in 1938, provides mitigation to women who kill their infants within the first year of life. This legislation is unique and controversial: it creates a specific offence and defence that is available only to women who kill their biological infants. Men and other carers are not able to avail of the special mitigation provided by the Act, nor are women who kill older children.

The collection brings together leading experts in the field to offer important insights into the history of the law, its working today, the impact and legacy of the statute, and potential futures of the infanticide laws. It considers the impact of the Act in practice in England and Wales, including the way it has been portrayed in the British media and how it has become a means to provide justice for women against the hardships and harms of pregnancy and motherhood.

It looks at the adoption of the Act in other jurisdictions including Canada, Australia and New Zealand and considers the way infant death has been dealt with in Ireland, Sweden, the US and Brazil.