The conviction of Kathleen Folbigg in 2003 for the manslaughter of her first infant child and the murder of three others over a ten-year period exposed her to a torrent of hatred. Tarred ‘the most hated woman in Australia’ and a ‘monstrous mother’, she became a cipher for deeply rooted feelings and theories of the lethal maternal.

This multi-disciplinary symposium sheds light on the historical tropes of maternal lethality, from Ancient Rome to the recent past, drawing on visual iconography, ballads, legal discourses, and forensic analysis. It also features a panel of scientific and legal experts who will illuminate how novel genetic evidence overturned the Folbigg conviction, setting a possible future course for the prevention of miscarriages of justice.