Russian cities introduce baby ‘drop boxes’ to stop unwanted children being left in bins
News of Note: Russian cities introduce baby ‘drop boxes’ to stop unwanted children being left in bins
Anonymous baby drop boxes have been introduced for the first time in Russia.
The Krasnodar Territory in south Russia bought five of the so-called baby drop boxes in the beginning of November so mothers could drop off unwanted children anonymously.
The first three were installed in Sochi, Novorossiysk, and Armavir, and by the end of the month one child had already been left.
The move was aimed at providing sanitary conditions for unwanted children, instead of ‘having them left in garbage containers, health officials told Ria Novosti.
Elena Redko, the head of the Krasnodar Health Department, told the news service the first child to be left, a baby girl, was healthy and would be passed to childcare officials.
It is unfortunate that any society would need these baby “drop boxes,” but it seems like a necessary evil. In a perfect world full of accessible birth control and sexual education, hopefully we wouldn’t need these at all. These drop boxes are not some new Russian concept, similar programs exist all over the world. (In the U.S., all the states have Safe Haven Laws allowing newborns to be left anonymously in hospitals and fire stations.)
I didn’t realize how easy (in the legal sense) it was for a mother to anonymously get rid of a child. How do you feel about the existence of these baby drop boxes? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.