Androcide refers to the systematic killing of men, boys, or males in general.
Lexicology
Androcide is a coordinate term of femicide and a hyponym of gendercide. The etymological root of the hybrid word is derived from a combination of the Greek prefix andro meaning "man" or boy, with the Latin suffix cide, meaning killing.
People
In the proactive scenario of human societies, androcide may be a deliberate goal, perhaps to degrade the offensive capabilities of an adversary. In a more passive scenario, androcide has been likened to misandry when society in general participate in or permit the effective passing of a death sentence on a significant proportion of men and boys, as a result of conscription for military service. An androcidal animosity towards males may be due to rivalry, a perception of a challenge to their dominance or a combination of the two. Some organizations that are critical of feminism as well as some publishers have argued that the targeting of men is a contemporary issue in war. Androcide has also been a feature of literature in ancient Greek mythology and in hypothetical situations wherein there is discord between the sexes.
War
In general, military services will forcibly conscript boys and men to fight in wars, which when faced with men and boys on the opposing side will inevitably lead to androcide. During mass killings in and out of war, non-combatant men and boys make up a majority of the casualties in contrast to women. Gendercide Watch, an independent human rights group, documents multiple gendercides which were committed against males : The Anfal Campaign, , 1988 – Armenian Genocide – Rwanda, 1994. This practice frequently occurs because in war, soldiers believe that the men who are on the opposing side, fighting or otherwise, are their rivals and as a result, believe that their existence is a threat to their superiority. Alternatively, they are afraid that these men will attempt to fight back and kill them in self defense. Women and girls are treated differently due to gender roles and as a result, they are more likely to be sexually enslaved than killed. For the soldiers, women's roles in their society may influence how willing they are to treat enemy women the same way they treat men, but the widespread view of men as fighters still leads to Androcide in war.
Plants
With regards to plants, androcide may refer to efforts to direct pollination through emasculating certain crops.
The Anfal Genocide was a genocide that killed between 50,000 to 182,000 Kurds and a couple thousand Assyrians at the final stages of the Iran-Iraq War. This act committed during the Anfal Campaign was led by Ali Hassan Al-Majid, under the orders of President Saddam Hussein. Anfal, which officially began in 1988, had eight stages in six geographical areas. Every stage followed the same patterns, steer civilians to points near the main road, where they were met by the jash forces and transported to temporary meeting points where they were then separated into three groups: teenage boys and men, women and children, and the elderly. The men and boys were never to be seen again. While women, children and the elderly were sent to camps, men were immediately stripped out of their clothes, only wearing a sharwal, and were executed. These men have fallen victim of Iraq government barbarity. Many Kurd men and boys were killed in order to reduce the chance of ever fighting back. Men kill other men in order to stabilize their domains and ward of attacks.
