From 2010 until this year, the Judiciary Police registered 66 murdered children, including 26 newborns. These figures were presented this Wednesday, December 26th, at the conference “Caring and Protecting: Preventing Violence against Children”, which took place at the headquarters of this police institution, in Lisbon and which are part of a study by the Child Support Institute carried out in partnership with the PJ.
The results are still preliminary, but they have already allowed some conclusions to be drawn. The study coordinator, Fernanda Salvaterra, indicated that of the 66 children killed (one of them in 2009 but found in 2010), 40% were newborns and 30% were under three years old. Mothers are the perpetrators in 64% of all cases, fathers in 12% and both parents in 9%.
With regard to murdered newborns, the majority of cases (92%) occurred in the Greater Lisbon region. Eleven of these cases have already been analyzed through court rulings and led to the conclusion, according to the study coordinator, that “all pregnancies were unwanted, they were hidden” and that the mothers felt they had no support.
Fernanda Salvaterra also highlighted that “there is a parent who never appears” and who is never indicted or criminally punished, with mothers being the ones who take responsibility for the act.
The objective of this study – which received information from the courts about 30% of the 66 cases – is to find common points that can serve as a warning and help prevent future situations.