I think this is important context when we talk about parents who kill their children.
Filicide is the killing of a child by a parent or stepparent it is not something that happens only in the rare cases that dominate national headlines.
Research using FBI homicide data has estimated that roughly 450โ500 children are killed by a parent or stepparent every year in the United States.
That works out to approximately 4,500โ5,000 children over a decade.
And this is NOT exclusively a โmotherโ issue.
In one major analysis of U.S. filicide cases:
โก๏ธ About 57% of offenders were fathers
โก๏ธ About 43% were mothers
โก๏ธ Roughly 72% of the children killed were 6 years old or younger
โก๏ธ About 1 in 3 victims were infants
โก๏ธ Among infant victims, mothers and fathers were represented at roughly similar rates.
A newer study examining thousands of reported filicide incidents from 1999โ2023 likewise found approximately 60% of offenders were male and 40% female.
Every one of these cases has its own circumstances. Some involve abuse. Some involve domestic violence. Some involve suicide or murder-suicide. Some involve severe mental illness. And some involve circumstances that don't fit neatly into any one category.
That distinction MATTERS.
We can acknowledge the horrifying reality that hundreds of children are killed by parents every year while also examining WHY individual cases happen.
And when mental illness is genuinely involved, discussing it isn't the same thing as excusing what happened.
These children deserve more than headlines.
They deserve for us to understand what happened, recognize warning signs when they exist, improve prevention, and ask what could potentially stop another family from experiencing an unimaginable tragedy.
Approximately 4,500โ5,000 children in a decade is far too many.
Mothers AND fathers.
Mental illness AND abuse.
Different circumstances. Different legal outcomes.
@MegEBrock Absolutely. The Trad wife and others like her preach about being a SAHM. But yet they are working and making money from the crap they post. Hypocrites
@TheTyroneBrooks@beherleader If a husband needs to command his wife he has serious control problems. Women aren't servants. They are co heirs and daughters of God.
@xQwirk These men are so emotional. They've decided to attack all women over this. 3rd party voting. I'm no longer a Republican. If that's what Republican men say about us, I don't want to be like them or support them. Never again
@darjv4barry@WaLu1911@MAGAMAHACindy We've heard you. Conservative women are voting independent or 3rd party. Conservative men are whiny little bitches. They hate women but won't admit they want dick๐คท
@Rashnak66@xQwirk Conservative women have not celebrated the murder of children! And that's our point. You men have always hated women and now you think you have the platform to spew your bullshit. We've listened. And our votes will not be for any more conservatives. Period.
@xQwirk I've become an Independent. Or third party. I'm no longer Republican. And those men are to thank for that. Will Vance have a chance? I didn't even care anymore