A very timely article, given that National Child Protection Week is set to start on Sunday, Father's Day.

While the subject is confronting, it's one that needs to be properly understood and to do that it is important to have all the data presented, not just that presented by some advocacy researchers to support their own preferred result.

More often than most will admit the use of drugs degrades both men and women acting like animals.

If being a victim of abuse and neglect is a strong indicator of a future as an abuser, is this being addressed when victims are provided treatment? It would seem that victims need greater assistance to deal with the effects of abuse now and for their entire lives.

Such an important topic but I think the blame about whether it is one or the other is misdirected. Child abuse is happening right under our noses all the time. If female or male parents display abuse of parental power by behaving in an intimidatory and aggressive way towards their child, why is it a surprise about the misuse of adult power sexually towards the child? Abuse of children comes in many forms. The ugliness, the abusive language directed at children, the physical intimidation - it happens all the time. I see this happening in public spaces, frequently. Mothers who are frustrated at their own misfortunes, fathers pissed off because things are not going their way and both these kinds of parents taking it out on their children by openly and publicly bullying and humiliating them. I never know quite what to do in this situation. It'a a moral diemma. Once when I did say something, the father (because it happened to be a father on this particular occasion) chased me in anger down the street. I had dared to interfere with his parenting (if that is what he called squeezing his child's arm repeatedly so she was crying out in pain). I think it's short-sighted to think it's just one or the other (mothers or fathers) who are the main perpetrators of child abuse, sexual or any other form of misuse of power or aggression directed towards children. In our society we are not allowed to hit one another, it's a crime, but parents hit children. We have one set of rules for adults and another set for children. Common, child abuse by mothers and fathers is no secret. Take a look around. Reasonable parents may get the balance a bit wrong from time to time, but reasonable parents, both mothers and fathers, are not child abusers. We condone child abuse in our society by keeping silent about it when it happens around us on a daily basis.

Well written, thought provoking article by Ms Harrop with statistical evidence employed. I'm not surprised by the claims especially concerning neglect or suggesting young single mums are at higher risk of such behaviours. Saw too much first hand during time in Qld Public Health.

It's not a magic bullet but I believe making motherhood at under legal adult age of 18 very unattractive would help. Legislation should require child-mother and child be under compulsory scrutiny of Childrens Services (for what they are worth)or if child-mother is under (responsible) parental care, grandparent/s be made legal guardians and recieve payments plus get ongoing custody if child-mother can't/won't act in her childs interest. Also instead of baby bonuses for young single pregnant, offer at least $15K to put baby up for adoption. There'd need be an undertaking to accept long-term contraception and not deliberately become pregnant say within 2 years or age 18 - whichever is longer.

Could be a win-win situation on several fronts. Offering girls an attractive alternative to single parenthood, cutting social welfare costs, solving chronic shortages here that drive couples to seek costly overseas adoption and improving the plight of many poor mites who'd get dragged up in dysfunctional households and then perpetuate the "lifestyle".

BTW Dotto - agree there are thugly parents out there - no skills or just plain abusive. Suggest if you see a child being hit around the head, punched, kicked, shaken, jerked off the ground or having obscenities screamed at them - looking for Security, Police or calling 000 is appropriate. Could try a calm approach (if game) offering help if parent seems overwhelmed but choose carefully.
If you see a parent 'threatening' a child or applying couple of slaps around legs for unruly behaviour or disobedience I suggest Minding Your Own Business! They have probably exhausted the 'nice' approach and now doing everyone a favour by controlling their offspring. There are also too many undisciplined kids and parents who refuse to restrain them. Neither extreme benefits child or society.

A thought provoking article that shows just how vulnerable children are with any adult, male or female.

If only child abuse in all its forms was taken more seriously by government departments, and given more funding to try and stop the cycle of violence and neglect that runs through families.

"These points emphasise the importance of seeing male and female perpetrators and male and female victims, as a holistic problem. Furthermore, female abusers often abuse with a male partner, again making the two genders inseperable."

I agree that a holistic approach does need to be used in any family where abuse is known to have happened, and also where there are warning signs about abuse- such as with very young parents or with the children of previously abused parents themselves.

Violence , sexual abuse and neglect is not ok in our society- no matter the gender, culture or race of the victim or perpetrator.
We should all work together against this tragedy

It's been observed that you can judge the nature of a society by how it treats its children.

In spite of being a country with an economic stability and prosperity that is the envy of the rest of the world, our record on the protection of our children is abysmal.

I'm so glad to read an article such as this one that contests the stereotypes that allow our ignorance about child abuse to flourish.

Child abuse is one of the major issues both political parties neglected to address in their ludicrous election propaganda. It's the government's responsibility to take the lead on addressing these crimes, by providing the money and resources to prevent abuse, and to rehabilitate victims.

The scars of child abuse can last a lifetime They can ruin prospects for a productive life. It's a dreadful indictment of our society that so much abuse occurs, and so little is done to address it by politicians.

See this issue from the victims view point, but from your adult perspective. You as an adult, look and see a giant person (who you know to be unpredictable, and emotionally unstable) is charging in your direction, and they are mad at you! They are 15 foot 6 inches tall and weigh 463 pounds... they are angry at you! They are coming for you! What might happen...who knows. Why? What happened? What did I do? Imagine this issue from your adult perspective so you can relate to it. However,imagine the relationship to actual difference in size,strength, and weight. Comparing to a child vs. adult, it would be your 15 foot high, angry, mother...mad as hell at you! Imagine this issue from that outlook, you should experience a level of terror.

The SA Ombudsman has made a strong finding in relation to the way domestic violence is portrayed by the Office of for the Status of Women.

"The Ombudsman in South Australia found some statistics initially published on the site were false and misleading.

Advocacy group Men’s Health Australia made a complaint against the Office of the Status of Women over 10 matters on the website.

The Ombudsman’s final report substantiates seven of them and another two in part.

The Government had said one in 17 women was a victim of domestic violence annually, but the figure related to violence generally.

Michael Woods is one of the men’s group’s supporters and is from the Men’s Health Information and Research Centre at the University of Western Sydney.

“It is a shame that a government department is unable, despite being notified a year ago, to address its own shortcomings and it required this sort of action,” he said.

The ideological commitment of people in that department must be so strong that they would reject scientific data in favour of their own biases.”"

From http://www.articlesaboutmen.com/2010/09/ombudsman-finds-domestic-violence-campaign-%E2%80%98misleading%E2%80%99-men%E2%80%99s-groups-call-for-changes-911/

Antiseptic, I think this site you link to should be banned.

Look at the evidence.

http://www.articlesaboutmen.com/2010/08/dads-not-the-demons-in-child-abuse-911/

The Ads by google at the top...

Sexual Abuse
Molestation
Child Molestation in
*Can I Molestation*,

and, drum roll.....

How to Molestation

I think the evidence that women are equally (or even more) prone to violence and abuse is everywhere.

Below is just one other piece of research that highlights the well-known propensity for female initiated abuse amongst lesbian couples, above and beyond that seen in male gay couples or heterosexual couples.

Lesbians More Prone to Partner Violence Than Gay Men

http://blog.fathers4equality-australia.org/equalparenting/FiDBlog.nsf/dx/lesbians-more-prone-to-partner-violence-than-gay-men

Crikey

Continuing my call for banning biological parents for the crime of producing gay kids, we really must give due thought to banning mothers - clearly they cannot be trusted around children.

Dunno about Antiseptic and Houellebecq, but whenever, I am alone on a quiet street at night and I see a woman approaching me I always run into the nearest home - you just can't be too sure, can you?

This is a timely article which should have attracted far more comment, although I don't doubt that many read it and did not respond, there being no reason to challenge any of it. However in challenging very persistent stereotypes it does demonstrate a new maturity in the fight against the maltreatment of minors. The author Elizabeth Harrop is to be congratulated for taking the risk in being so forthright.

My only concern, which is not directed at the author, is that it would be infinitely more preferable to refer to 'child maltreatment' in lieu of simply 'abuse', which unnecessarily rules out the very large number of children who suffer harm through neglect and other causes. Arguably, neglect and lack of care often provide the environment for other maltreatment including abuse to occur.

"Child maltreatment, sometimes referred to as child abuse and neglect, includes all forms of physical and emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect, and exploitation that results in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, development or dignity. Within this broad definition, five subtypes can be distinguished – physical abuse; sexual abuse; neglect and negligent treatment; emotional abuse; and exploitation."

http://www.who.int/topics/child_abuse/en/

There are two new recent books on the issue of female child abusers that I would thoroughly recommend reading:-

Female Sexual Predators: Understanding Them to Protect Our Children and Youths (Forensic Psychology)

http://www.amazon.com/Female-Sexual-Predators-Understanding-Psychology/dp/0313366292

Female Sexual Offenders: Theory, Assessment, and Treatment

http://www.amazon.com/Female-Sexual-Offenders-Assessment-Treatment/dp/0470683430

Johnny Rotten:"whenever, I am alone on a quiet street at night and I see a woman approaching me I always run into the nearest home"

Ah, fatuous as always. Well done, Johnny, you never fail to live down to our expectations.

Meanwhile, in the real world, the evidence is clear that in every category of child maltreatment except sexual abuse the mother is most likely the perpetrator.

Has anyone seen any kind of advertising fromthe people at NAPCAN or their partners pointing this basic fact out?

I am a male victim of intimate partner abuse and having a hard time with the NSW government to recognise it as such...

You can read more of my story here http://mencanbeabusedtoo.wordpress.com/

This article is a very superficial examination of the statistics and data on child abuse and in consequence some very inaccurate and unhealthy assumptions have been drawn. To quote any statistical information on child abuse requires clarification as to whether such statistics relate to `Reported' cases, `Substantiated' cases, or `Legally proven cases'.
I suspect that the statistics used were `Reported' cases in which instance the vast majority of such cases are disregarded by Child Protection authorities as not requiring further inquiry as they were made for mistaken, mischievous, or malicious reasons, although a parent's name will be entered into their records. It is usually the mothers name which is recorded, as parent with whom the child resides, and the primary caregiver - it is false to make any assumption that the mother or the father is necessarily the alleged abuser.
If Child Protection authorities decide to make further inquiries, they may `substantiate' that a child has been abused and again in most cases they cannot identify the abuser but the mother's name will be recorded in their files as the parent with whom the child resides and primary caregiver. Substantiation by a Child Protection worker is not proven abuse as it is unchallenged and untested by legal process and at best, can only therefore be taken as a opinion based on a very limited collection, analysis, and examination of the evidence, with contra-indicative evidence only rarely being considered.
It is only cases which are actually proven in a Children's Court that can be taken as valid evidence that a child has been abused and in many cases the alleged abuser is not identifieds. Such deteminations by the Children's Court are to a low level of proof of `Balance of Probabilities'.
The only statistics regarding the gender of the abuser which have any validity whatsoever, therefore, are the cases proven in a Criminal Court. Any assumptions drawn on any other statistics regarding the gender of child abusers is entirely persumptuous. This debate is pointless and based on a complete misunderstanding and misrepresentation of statistics and data.