Abstract
This article analyzes the practice of infanticide in indigenous communities in Brazil. Taking as a reference point a specific case involving two children of the Zuruahá people, it takes a broader look at the issue and discusses how infanticide is understood among other indigenous peoples. A debate focusing specifically on this topic that took place during a public hearing held in the Brazilian National Congress in December 2005 has also been taken into consideration in this discussion. In view of the positions adopted as a result of the hearing, this paper seeks to identify the ethical problems and moral dilemmas relating to the subject, by putting them into context and analyzing them in the light of respect for cultural pluralism. Seeking to contribute to the debate, the authors analyze the possibilities for intervention in the traditional practices of infanticide, while rejecting those positions that are not anchored in an attitude of profound respect for other people's cultures or that do not create conditions for dialogue between individuals or groups with different moralities.
Highlights
This article analyzes the practice of infanticide in indigenous communities in Brazil
In view of the positions adopted as a result of the hearing, this paper seeks to identify the ethical problems and moral dilemmas relating to the subject, by putting them into context and analyzing them in the light of respect for cultural pluralism
During a seminar on Legal Pluralism held at the Graduate School of the Federal Union Prosecution Office (ESMPU) in 2005, a federal attorney acting in the State of Roraima, Brazil, asked the foreign representative of the International Labor Organization (ILO) about how to proceed in relation to cases of infanticide among the indigenous Yanomami people
Summary
This article analyzes the practice of infanticide in indigenous communities in Brazil. Seeking to contribute to the debate, the authors analyze the possibilities for intervention in the traditional practices of infanticide, while rejecting those positions that are not anchored in an attitude of profound respect for other people’s cultures or that do not create conditions for dialogue between individuals or groups with different moralities. Five centuries have passed since the arrival of the first colonizers to what constitutes Brazil, there are many tribal groups that live with minimal contact outside the group, or even in complete isolation. These groups maintain very little or no relationship with Brazilian national society. At the end of 2005, the Evangelical Parliamentary Front, a cross-party political lobby group, raised the topic at the Brazilian National Congress, through a public hearing session that resulted in the launching of the National Campaign in Favor of Life and Against Infanticide
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