Our nation’s shame as five children killed in one week
RATE OF CHILD KILLINGS CLIMBS HIGHER IN WHAT IS SHAMEFUL FOR OUR NATION. WHAT CAN WE DO TO PROTECT KIDS FROM VIOLENCE?
Children are being killed at increasingly higher rates, with five young lives lost in just 20 days. These are the little faces we need to remember, writes journalist SHERELE MOODY.
It is not a child’s duty to protect themselves – it’s the duty of adults. We should never lose sight of that.
LET me introduce you to five special children – Charlise Mutten, Vanessa Sharma, Elizabeth Rose Struhs, an unnamed 13-year-old boy and an unnamed 17-year-old boy.
These kids did not know each other but they all have one very sad, very horrific thing in common – they were all allegedly killed in Australia by someone they knew in the past 20 days.
That’s right – in just under three weeks, Australia has lost FIVE children to acts of violence.
That’s one child killed every four days since January 1, 2022.
All of these children have allegedly died at the hands of people they knew – five males and one woman have been charged with their murders.
Lets’ say their names and vow to never forget them:
Nine-year-old Charlise Mutten
Little Charlise’s body was found stuffed in a barrel in the Colo River area of the Blue Mountains, five days after she disappeared. Her stepfather has been charged with her murder.
Six-year-old Vanessa Sharma
Vanessa was stabbed to death at her home in Mill Park in Victoria on January 13. Vanessa’s mum Poonam was also killed. Vanessa’s dad is the main suspect. Vanessa’s older sister was not physically harmed.
Eight-year-old Elizabeth Rose Struhs
Elizabeth was killed in Toowoomba, Qld, on January 7. Her mother and father are charged with her murder and her torture. It is alleged they refused to give her the medication she needed to survive. She had diabetes.
Unnamed 13-year-old boy
A 13-year-old lad was stabbed to death at Kariong in NSW on January 11. A male teenager has been charged with his murder.
Unnamed 17-year-old boy
A 17-year-old boy was killed in Manoora, Qld, on New Year’s Day. A male is charged with his murder.
Rate of child killings climbs higher
I’ve been documenting the murders and manslaughters of Australians for the past five or so years and I have not seen anything like the number of children killed this year.
Normally, we lose one child every month, on average.
We all know that men are the primary victims of violence in Australia – but at this rate, that sad fact will soon be carried by the youngest and most vulnerable members of our community.
This year, the number of
children killed is just one shy of the number of men killed.
For context, as I write six men have been murdered and two women have also been killed.
It is important to note that I document all unlawful deaths in Australia, regardless of a victim or perpetrator’s gender, or relationship between, the accused and the person killed.
This means not every death I document is a result of domestic and family violence.
In the wake of the loss of these children, it’s important for us all to consider what we need to do to protect kids from violence and to ensure the toll of young lives lost ends today.
We need to move away from the fear of strangers doing harm.
Stranger danger should be a concern, but at the end of the day, past cases have shown almost all of the children killed in our country are harmed by people they know – usually a parent, sometimes siblings and occasionally other relatives, neighbours, friends or associates.
As a community we need to be talking about the impact of violence on children and find ways to keep them safe.
It is not a child’s duty to protect themselves – it’s the duty of adults. We should never lose sight of that.
If you have kids in your life, please give them an extra special hug today. Hold them close and let them know how important they are to you because you just do not know if they will be taken away.
News Corp journalist Sherele Moody has multiple journalism excellence awards for her work highlighting violence in Australia. Sherele is also the founder of The RED HEART Campaign and the Australian Femicide & Child Death Map.
*For 24-hour domestic violence support call the national hotline 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or MensLine on 1800 600 636. The Suicide Call Back service is on 1300 659 467.