To think what the hell is going on with all the child murders at the moment

[Belle82]

I’ve had to turn my Facebook news tab off recently, as it became a bit of a running theme that I would go on there and look at news after LO went down. I know it works on an algorithm so because I opened one of these stories it’s going to pull up more in my feed.

But I am not exaggerating when I say there was at least one case of a child being murdered or left to die accidentally or by neglect once a week for the last 6/7 weeks.
Most of these cases were at the hands of their parents / step parents.

I know people suffer from mental health, I suffered from it very badly when my little girl was born.

But what is going on, there have been around 10 cases very recently and it is so disturbing.
Sorry, it’s kind of shaken me and angers me so much for these little children when they only deserved to be loved.

I think you are just noticing them more. I read a particular american crime site from time to time, and it really is daily.

I don’t think it’s new, but equally shocking and heartbreaking nonetheless
The latest one with the mum
And 3 children has shaken me to the core, probably because hey are similar ages to my own children and they often go on sleepovers
Just tragic

@MichelleScarn

www.google.com/amp/s/news.sky.com/story/amp/killamarsh-man-31-arrested-after-deaths-of-four-people-was-taken-to-hospital-with-self-inflicted-injuries-12413654

Apologies for posting this one, Its horrific, I don't understand why they would not just leave, get themselves out of the house instead, but cite pressure or stress. As @RedGateWoman said its funny how the perpetrator survives despite their reasoning they just couldn't cope anymore.
Obviously neither of us mean 'funny' (am just rambling now sorry)

This is just awful. The parents I feel for the most are those of the daughters friend who sent her off happily for a sleepover. Makes me feel like I never want to let my kids out of my sight again.

@TheSquashyHatOfMrGnosspelius

I think part of the problem is we are conditioned to see the UK as a civilised and advanced society. It probably was once but it isn't any more so when things like this happen, we are shocked,

Here we go. The ‘good old days’ brigade is here.l to tell us about how great things used to be.

MH problems have risen due to lockdowns, health visitors are no longer visiting families in person, nobody can see a GP in person and counselling services are stretched. The economy is also tanking due to Covid and Brexit so people are struggling financially. Sadly children often feel it most when their parent/s are dealing with extreme stress and untreated mental illness.

It’s been happening all my life time and I’m old. It doesn’t make it less tragic but it’s nothing new.

Hang on, I understand that cases of babies and chilsren being murdered are very sadly quite common, but is everyone saying here that cases where fathers (or related males) who murder an entire family, usually the wife or ex wife and children, are not new too? I must say I am surprised by that. I thought it was a relatively new phenomenon which started during the last seven years or so? Happy to be corrected if I am wrong however. The only case before that time period I can remember is that involving Jeremy Bamber's family.

According to this NSPCC report in 2020 there were an average of 62 child (under 15) deaths per year in the previous 5 years from assault/neglect/undetermined intent. No indication that there has been a particular upturn.

learning.nspcc.org.uk/media/1652/statistics-briefing-child-deaths-abuse-neglect.pdf

I have not checked recently but i think the number of children murdered each year has remained pretty stable since the end of WW1 - it simply is not true that things are getting worse.

Social media has meant that we are all aware of things that happen outside of our local area much more now than in the past.

Some cases hit the national headlines - sometimes for no apparent reason - but most used to be reported locally only.

Years ago - about 15 - i was a researcher on a social project and did a lot of work on looking at crime statistics and the headlines in the press, whilst not direct lies give off an unbelievably misleading picture of crime.

There were horrific cases many years ago where women who couldn’t feed their kids overdosed their children and themselves. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if there were more of them. Absolute tragic waste of life.

There was a TV documentary on the other day that said that the number of child murders per year has remained stable since the 1970s and all but a handful were murdered by people they knew.

I read somehwere recently that the phenomenon of "family anihilators" was practically unheard of before the year 2000 (reliable source I thought at the time, afraid I can't remember) .

I found that extremely worrying. It's like a social contagion.

'Ordinary' child murders have always happened.

Men killing a whole family needs to be treated as a hate crime, not a MH issue FFS. They’re not killing themselves or abandoning their kids because they can’t cope - they are murdering them! Completely different.

@Hortibunda

Hang on, I understand that cases of babies and chilsren being murdered are very sadly quite common, but is everyone saying here that cases where fathers (or related males) who murder an entire family, usually the wife or ex wife and children, are not new too? I must say I am surprised by that. I thought it was a relatively new phenomenon which started during the last seven years or so? Happy to be corrected if I am wrong however. The only case before that time period I can remember is that involving Jeremy Bamber's family.

Unfortunately it’s not new. It’s known as ‘family annihilators’ and often the perpetrator commits suicide.

Women kill their children as well, a woman has recently killed 3 children and before that I heard of another mother who killed her autistic son, when women do it it’s put down as mental illness so I don’t see why it should be different for men.

Infanticide by mothers is a class of crime that needs to be seen and understood separately from male murder of families / family annihilation.

Lumping the stats together is disingenuous.

They are certainly separate in law in England & Wales.

@PoolNooodle

Women kill their children as well, a woman has recently killed 3 children and before that I heard of another mother who killed her autistic son, when women do it it’s put down as mental illness so I don’t see why it should be different for men.

Whilst both men and women kill children, I believe their motivations are usually different. Not always of course, but as a rule.

theconversation.com/men-and-women-kill-their-children-in-roughly-equal-numbers-and-we-need-to-understand-why-153527

Australian article but useful.

@Hortibunda

Hang on, I understand that cases of babies and chilsren being murdered are very sadly quite common, but is everyone saying here that cases where fathers (or related males) who murder an entire family, usually the wife or ex wife and children, are not new too? I must say I am surprised by that. I thought it was a relatively new phenomenon which started during the last seven years or so? Happy to be corrected if I am wrong however. The only case before that time period I can remember is that involving Jeremy Bamber's family.

I'm aware of numerous cases prior to that.

A friend of my sister narrowly escaped being murdered by his step-father in the early 1980's. He shot his Mum dead, and had intended to shoot my sister's friend too.

I used to work in a HR type role where people would be dismissed from their employment, and this was always something we were very aware of and would do risk assessments. Would be family annihilators are at their most dangerous when they feel a loss of control or status.

TLDR: for many men killing their children is an escalation of an already present pattern of domestic violence. NAMALT of course. And some women do it too.

Infanticide by mothers is a class of crime that needs to be seen and understood separately from male murder of families / family annihilation

Why? That’s completely illogical. The kids are dead, regardless of the sex of their killer.

@Hortibunda

Hang on, I understand that cases of babies and chilsren being murdered are very sadly quite common, but is everyone saying here that cases where fathers (or related males) who murder an entire family, usually the wife or ex wife and children, are not new too? I must say I am surprised by that. I thought it was a relatively new phenomenon which started during the last seven years or so? Happy to be corrected if I am wrong however. The only case before that time period I can remember is that involving Jeremy Bamber's family.

I hand't seen your post Hortibunda. Just posted similar after you.

My understanding was the same, 'new' phenomenon, and certainly extremely uncommon before the year 2000.

Is it that the year 2000 is seen as a long time ago by other posters?

I'm going to look into this when I have some time. It left me reeling and think about it often.

The news about the case of the boy in the Thames really got to me yesterday.
Sometimes you just have to turn the news off as it can start to affect you.
I still feel terrable for that poor boy

Well I never. It turns out family annihilation is on the rise

www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-23686913

“The cases have also become more common with more than half occurring since the year 2000. Only six cases were found in the 1980s”

The article seems to imply toxic masculinity and a need for control are behind the rise.

I can’t help but wonder if these men have always existed but were more easily able to satisfy their urge for control in other ways historically when it wasn’t so easy for women to escape domestic violence.

Male violence. Yes some women do, and yes societal pressures and mental health invariably plays a part in some cases; but there's always a lot of mental gymnastics and excuses for male behaviour.

• TheSquashyHatOfMrGnosspelius I think part of the problem is we are conditioned to see the UK as a civilised and advanced society. It probably was once but it isn't any more so when things like this happen, we are shocked, Here we go. The ‘good old days’ brigade is here.l to tell us about how great things used to be.*

I’ve just finished watching the 1971 documentary, its about how music was shaped by the society and politics at the time and life was certainly no better then. I don’t think it ever was better, we just are more aware of what goes on because of digital and social media.