Five children died from abuse or neglect every day on average in the United States between 2001 and 2007, according to a new report. Over the period, 10,440 child deaths due to maltreatment were registered by state child service agencies.
The findings, collected before the onset of the economic crisis last year, come as social services are on the chopping block throughout the country and child welfare providers have registered sharp increases in abuse cases.
The report, issued by the advocacy group Every Child Matters (ECM), found that 1,760 children died of maltreatment in 2007, a 35 percent increase over 2001. It cautioned that the actual number of abuse and neglect-related deaths is estimated to be as much as 50 percent higher because of inconsistent recordkeeping across states and widely varying definitions of what constitutes a child abuse and neglect death.
The US child maltreatment death rate is three times higher than that of Canada, and 11 times that of Italy. It is also more than double that of France, Japan, Germany and Britain. Noting far lower teen pregnancy, violent crime, imprisonment, and poverty rates in these countries, the ECM report points to more extensive social programs—child care, state health insurance, paid parental leave, visiting nurses—that help to serve as a safety net against child abuse and neglect.
The federal Department of Health and Human Services has registered an increasing number and rate of child abuse deaths. In thousands of these cases, the ECM report notes, the maltreatment had been reported to authorities at least once.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/oct2009/chld-o28.shtml
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