I'm not talking about abortion. I'm referring to neonaticide and infanticide, where mothers intentionally murder their own babies. Infanticide laws provide softer punishments for these crimes, even though the women committed cold blooded murder against THEIR OWN CHILDREN. The logic is as follows: "Some women are just sooo stressed out after they give birth and their minds can't handle it! So they go whoopsies, I just bashed my baby against the floor until it died! It's not murder! Sure they brutally killed their own child, but give them a break!"
How big of a difference is it? In Canada, the maximum sentence for infanticide is 5 YEARS. That's it (most women get out sooner than that). The same is true in the United Kingdom, maximum sentence of 5 YEARS. In both countries, "normal" homicide can result in a life sentence, but if a woman kills her own child, at most they will get 5 YEARS.
How is this not society agreeing to hold women to a lower moral standard than it holds men? We give them a slap on the wrist for MURDER as if they are mentally ill and/or a child who cannot be held responsible for their own actions.
The difference is that if a guy kills someone and pleas insanity, their insanity needs to be proven in court, while infanticide laws just automatically apply to all women who kill their children. It's viewed as an entirely different crime than homicide and only applies to mothers, not fathers. So, to reiterate, numerous Western societies literally just hold women to a lower moral standard than they hold men.
You can claim to be an "independent woman" and a man's equal, but this is not the case in the eyes of the law. The scales are tipped in your favor. You are inherently viewed as less responsible and culpable than men are, and are given softer punishments, even for the most heinous of all crimes (murder).
This also entirely glosses over the whole concept of SIDs (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) and "accidental" deaths, because I don't need to bring those up to make my point. Regardless, even if a society lacks infanticide laws, it will silently agree to let women get away with murder by attributing the deaths of their children to a syndrome or "accident".
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