Monday, August 24, 2009

Worst in the world?

Naturally the YES voters are ramping it up in the face of an overwhelming NO from the public. Here is Deborah Morris-Travers from the YES vote coalition:

"We have the world's worst child death by maltreatment rate, and the consequences of child maltreatment and are costing all New Zealanders $2 billion a year in social welfare, legal, prison system and other costs, let alone the community and social costs.....The Prime Minister is to be applauded for sticking by the law as it stands, and for seeking non-legislative responses which can give people comfort on the issues that clearly concern many."

The world's worst?

The only data I am aware of is from UNICEF and covers only 27 countries, is from the 1990s and had NZ third worst equal with Hungary but a long way behind the US and Mexico.

In a review of the NZ situation by Mike Doolan he wrote;

"International comparisons must be interpreted with caution, however, as child deaths from maltreatment are a rare event. In a small country like NZ, the very small numbers involved produce highly volatile rates. The UNICEF report acknowledges that inconsistencies of classification and lack of common definitions and research methodologies mean that little internationally comparable data exists and that the extent of child maltreatment is almost certainly under represented by the statistics."

Not only is Morris-Travers exaggerating, she is ignoring the rest of the developing world. That's a bit unusual and a tad convenient for a Leftist.

NZ doesn't have a good record when it comes to child abuse. But the message from the public is quit hitting us all over the head with the woeful inadequacies of the pathetic-excuse-for-a-parent minority.

7 comments:

Gooner said...

What's child abuse got to do with the referendum?

ZenTiger said...

Looking forward for Deborah to explain how good parents who happen to smack, and technically engaged in illegal activity for doing so are the leading cause of child abuse in NZ.

Libertyscott said...

Oh please, a woman who was once Winston's secretary, who joined his party and became a Minister under his vile little government of xenophobia and brainless populism should get any attention?

I'm astonished that she is seen as having credibility.

"I was a NZ First MP" is surely a major sign of appalling judgment and taste.

Buggerlugs said...

I'm with libertyscott. If it wasn't for Scoop, she'd get zero coverage. Don't give them oxygen Lindsay...

Falafulu Fisi said...

Deb M, should do well to train herself to become a psychic because it is a guarantee that she would be in the media limelight for a sustained long period of time, just as another celebrity psychic who shared the same first name as Deb M. She would be a very good psychic stand-up comedian.

Chuck Bird said...

This is the same Mike Doolan who is quoted below.

"CHILD HOMICIDE IS rare, especially in developed countries, and homicide by mothers rarer still, with an average of around two cases per year in New Zealand. Between 1991 and 2000, 91 children in New Zealand died at the hands of 101 perpetrators. According to analysis by the government’s chief social worker, Marie Connolly, 30% of killers were fathers, 24% were mothers, 18% were de facto parents, 18% were relatives or others known to the victims, and 10% were strangers or unknown killers.

I do not believe 30% of the homicides were by biological fathers.

I tried to get the source from CYF because Doolan was the past head social worker for CYF.

They just claim it is police data. If it is I would bet they have combined fathers and step-fathers.

I tried to get info from the police without any luck.

If there are more step-fathers doing the homicides this would be show which households are at risk.

Does anyone know where I can get this info verified as CYF and the police will not help?

Lindsay Mitchell said...

Chuck, The police are hopeless when it comes to the OIA.

Victoria University Criminologist Liz Moore looked at coroners files of 69 child homicides between 1980 and 2003. Of the 56 offenders (some were multi-sibling homicides) 28 were females and 28 males. 27 of the females were the biological mother and 14 of the males were the biological father.

Different ratio to Conolly's with mothers responsible for almost 48% and fathers 25%.

Send me an e-mail if you want a copy of the newspaper report with more detail.