How are we doing? Not as well as we would like.
Statistics don't tell the whole story. Child abuse and neglect can be measured in many ways, but there's no getting away from the fact that it happens more in some population groups than in others.
This does not absolve individuals from responsibility for their actions, but if we are interested in preventing child abuse we must also consider the social, economic and cultural conditions in which abuse occurs.
So how bad is it? In the 10 years from 1990 to 1999, 87 children under the age of 14 were the victims of homicide: 41 were Maori, 35 Pakeha, three Asian, two Indian, two Samoan and four other. Of the 95 offenders responsible for their deaths, 68 were male and 27 female.
In 21 cases the offender was the father, in 20 the stepfather or the mother's boyfriend or de facto partner. In 15 cases it was the mother, and in 15 a non-household member or stranger. The rest were other household members.
