So in other words, mothers represented just 25% of the abusive parents, though mothers represent the vast majority of parents doing day-to-day caretaking.
Japan has been under tremendous international pressure from fathers rights groups to adopt the Hague Convention and "modernize" their child custody laws, which have traditionally favored mothers. Perhaps we are seeing the fall out from that....
http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/no-of-child-abuse-cases-in-1st-half-of-2015-hit-record-high
No. of child abuse cases in 1st half of 2015 hit record high
( 9 )
TOKYO —
The number of child abuse cases in which the Japanese police took
action in the first half of 2015 rose to a record 376, with more than
80% involving violent assault, including eight cases that led to the
death of the victims, a police survey showed Thursday.The biannual survey was compiled at a time when the increase in child abuse has become a social issue, with the arrest of household members, often parents, becoming more frequently reported.
In February alone, a 36-year-old mother in Chiba Prefecture was arrested on suspicion of killing her daughters aged one and four, citing her “fatigue” over childrearing, while a 36-year-old father in Osaka was arrested on suspicion of killing his six-month-old son.
Several other mothers and fathers were arrested for assaulting their kids in that month.
In the January-June period, the number of people the police suspect of having abused children aged below 18 increased to 387 and the number of child victims rose to 386, both the highest figures since comparable data became available in 2000, the survey showed.
“Abusive behavior often occurs in a place hidden from the outside, such as at home, so we will tackle the issue by cooperating with relevant organizations,” said an official of the National Police Agency.
By type of abusive behavior, the number of cases involving physical assault rose by 79 from a year earlier to 307, accounting for 81.6% of the acknowledged child abuse cases in the six-month period. Of those cases, the number of attempted murders increased by 12 to 28, including eight cases of death.
The number of sexual abuse cases fell by 20 to 58 and that of neglecting to offer basic care to children such as feeding fell by five to one. But the number of cases of psychological abuse, including threatening with knives, rose by five to 10.
Fathers accounted for the largest number of abusers the police took action against, totaling 172, followed by mothers at 83 and stepfathers at 67.
In the period covered, the police reported possible abuse cases regarding a record 17,224 children to child counseling centers, up 32.1%, with about 65 percent of them suspected to have been suffering from psychological abuse, including shock from seeing acts of domestic violence between parents.
