West Germany, which has the lowest birthrate in the world, has higher rates of child abuse than other European countries, according to the Irish Times (January 3, 1985)
Statistics published by the Children’s Aid Society show that last year 30 000 children were mistreated, over 100 committed suicide, “several hundred” were beaten to death and 6000 school-age children were living in homes because they were orphans or had been taken into care, and more children died in road accidents than in any other country.
According to reporter Michael Binyon, West German politicians have often warned against “society’s public hostility to children.” Social workers, blame high unemployment, alcohol abuse, the growth of big cities and lack of decent housing as contributing factors in child abuse.
The German League for the Protection of Children issued even higher figures. They showed that the incidence of abuse was far higher than the 30 000 reported cases, and around 1.5 million children were physically mistreated in West Germany each year.
SM
