The British first discovered female infanticide in India in 1789. Jonathan Duncan, then the resident in Benares province was asked by the Bengal council to settle the revenues in the province acquired by the raja of Benares.

In recent decades, the most common means by which couples regulate fertility have changed from methods requiring control or cooperation by men, e.g., condoms, withdrawal and periodic abstinence, to those for which women bear primary responsibility e.g., virtually all-reversible modern methods.

A fear of female sexuality and therefore, the need to control it have been felt in many societies and civilizations. This control has assumed different forms in different societies.