Mum, not dad, more likely to neglect kids

Article here. Excerpt:

'Mothers are more likely than fathers to neglect and emotionally and physically abuse their children, information obtained under freedom of information laws reveals.

But figures from the WA Department for Child Protection show substantiated cases of child sexual abuse against fathers still far outnumber those against mothers.

The data shows that parents were the perpetrators in almost 39 per cent of the 1505 substantiated cases of child abuse in 2007-08. Of the 582 cases of abuse by parents, mothers were responsible for 73 per cent, while fathers committed 27 per cent.

Mothers were more than 17 times more likely than fathers to neglect their children, while fathers were responsible for 85 per cent of sex abuse cases against children.
...
dults Surviving Child Abuse WA spokeswoman Michelle Stubbs said an initial look at the data did not present a clear explanation and other factors had to be considered.

She said it was important to keep in mind that mothers were often the primary caregivers for children and also may be held more responsible by the department in neglect cases.'