The tragic NSW Domestic Violence toll: 83 children dead in 10 years - Women's Agenda

The tragic NSW Domestic Violence toll: 83 children dead in 10 years

In just one state alone, 83 children have died as a result of domestic violence in a ten year period, according to figures released by the NSW Ombudsman on Monday.

The figures were recorded between 2004 and 2013, with three quarters of those killed aged under five. According to police, 94 people have been found to be responsible, or named as persons of interest, with more than half of them birth parents. One third of persons of interest were found to be the intimate partners of birth mothers. 

On releasing the figures, Ombudsman Bruce Barbour called for the Baird Government and police to better protect children caught in domestic violence environments. With half of the persons of interest in such incidents already known by police as domestic violence perpetrators, he said a “swifter exchange” of information should be provided to protect children.

“Our child death review work has shown there is a clear link between familial data abuse of children and perpetrators who were already known serious violent offenders,” he said, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

The figures reveal 51 children died as a result of injuries inflicted by family members — 12 of whom had been identified as being at threat of physical abuse before being murdered. Another 15 children had been killed in murder-suicide cases, and 13 after the individual responsible for them had suffered a a psychotic episode. Four children were killed as a result of being given drugs to sedate or pacify them. 

At least forty eight women have been killed as a result of violence so far this year, according to updated figures from the Counting Dead Women Australia researchers of Destroy The Joint. This figure references deaths which are mentioned in media reports and in the media. Destroy The Joint says that at least 75% of these victims knew her alleged killer.

 

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