Child abuse deaths: not what you'd expect

An interesting and counterintuitive piece of number-crunching from a team at the university of Warwick shows that child deaths from violence fell considerably over recent years. Looking at ONS mortality data and Home Office homicide statistics between 1974 and 2008, researchers found that deaths from assault fell in infants (below 1 year old) and children (between 1 and 14 years old). For adolescents (15-19 year olds), the picture is different: amongst girls, levels have remained static, but there was a substantial jump in deaths caused by violent assault amongst teenaged boys. And depending on which news report you read, this can either mean that the child protection system works (Independent) or that it fails teenage boys (Children and Young People Now). CYPN also notes that figures released by Cardiff University's Violence and Society Research Group showed a rise in numbers of children under 11 being treated in emergency departments and minor injury units in 2008-9.