E/CN.4/2002/73/Add.2 page 38 147. Broadly speaking, any holy text has to be analysed in terms of its time. In the case in point, religion has reduced abuses and has to a not insignificant extent protected women, who were wholly denied the right to inherit. Moreover, visible signs of discrimination masked a coherent and not inevitably discriminatory system in relation to women’s role at the time and their restricted place within the family and in society (fragility of the extended polygamous family, ephemeral bond of marriage, etc.). 148. This shows that the same affirmative approach as adopted by religion should make it possible to bring about changes in laws and traditions without breaking with belief in order to be able to achieve the progressive eradication of discrimination against women in inheritance matters and take into consideration the momentum spurred by religion. D. Violation of the right to life 149. Several cultural practices, whether religious or non-religious in origin, condone or at least tolerate a degree of violence against women. The violence is trivialized in many societies, including those where women enjoy adequate legal protection. Such violence can sometimes assume forms that are all the more cruel and morally unacceptable because they have their basis in religious practices. Its extreme manifestation is violation of the right to life, which can take several forms.209 1. Infanticide 150. The practice of infanticide appears to exist in very diverse forms in some countries where male-child preference and patriarchal patterns take on criminal overtones. In India, for example, cultural traditions, extreme poverty and ignorance may drive parents to suffocate or poison their female babies (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1998/11, para. 101). It has also been seen that, in many countries, son preference gives rise to the inhumane and morally unacceptable practice of sex-selective abortion. 151. Some religions have put an end to the practice of female infanticide and banned it under mandatory prescriptions. That applies in general to the Koran and Islam, which forbade this barbaric practice prevalent among the tribes of Arabia, and one can understand Islam’s thinking as it attempted to play a forward-looking role in women’s emancipation, often in conflict with the cultural traditions of the time.210 It can especially be appreciated that Islam could not go further if it was to avoid challenging habits and prevent discord in the face of the then priority of safeguarding the unity of the Muslims and complete the building of the State and religious apparatus. The Koran and Sunna simply showed the way forward and the method to be used, leaving to it to those in power, i.e. individuals and States, to improve what the prophet and his companions could not accomplish in their lifetime. That difficult and ongoing effort should guide all action in the area of female emancipation in the light of religion and traditions. 2. Cruelty to widows 152. Generally speaking, denigration of widows is a cultural belief common to several countries with varying cultural traditions. In some States, widows and “witches” are subjected to inhuman rituals, which sometimes assume especially cruel forms. In India, for example, sati (widow burning), which was thought to have been discontinued or greatly restricted, is firmly rooted in