A mother is 1.45 times more likely than the father to victimize her child. She is also 1.2 times more likely to kill them too.

It's pretty common knowledge in this subreddit that women are the perpetrators of the majority of the murders and maltreatments of children. Depending where you look, it's roughly the case that mothers will be involved in the maltreatment of a child 1.7 times more often than fathers, and 1.4 times more likely to be involved in their murder. The effort to make light of these figures is a response to the overwhelming societal consensus that men are the primary problem when it comes to the maltreatment and death of children.

Regardless, as a result of the clear bias in the court system that, according to my later findings, have women claiming custody of the children after a split 5 times more often, it isn't fair not to account for this reality in the maltreatment and fatality statistics. [The bias in the court system is probably a result of the societal expectation of fathers, and judges, even if confronted by facts, may not change their policy because of those societal and feminist pressures.]

So, with some wand waving and voodoo incantations, I figured out the actual figures from 2 separate sources. The results:

A mother is 1.4 or 1.5 times more likely to maltreat their children. She is also 1.2 times more likely to kill them too. So, in conclusion, why the courts continue to feel compelled to reward custody to the mothers 5 times more often than it does for the fathers remains unanswered. This report isn't supposed to be a dick measuring contest. The purpose is so that we have something against the unjustified judicial policy of granting custody to the mother by default. It should be done on a case-by-case basis, which it clearly isn't in the significant majority.

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Boring read below that looks at 3 sources of empirical data:

===MALTREATMENT===

===NIS-4==

For all cases of biological parent child maltreatment, 43% involved fathers, and 75% involved mothers. (From NIS-4 table 6-2)

With respect to biological parent families, 71% of children are raised in a nuclear family, 29% are raised in single-parent families, and 83% of children in single-parent families are mother-led. (From PRB Data brief) We can deduce that:

76% of children have a father present, and 95% of children have a mother present.

For the 76%, 43% of the child maltreatment involved the father.

For the 95%, 75% of the child maltreatment involved the mother.

1 million children were maltreated. (NIS-4 table 6-2)

Thus, approximately:

56 million children have a father involved in the household.

70 million children have a mother involved in the household.

0.43 million children were maltreated by the father.

0.75 million children were maltreated by the mother.

Thus, approximately:

0.8% of children who had a father involved in the household were maltreated.

1.1% of children who had a mother involved in the household were maltreated.

Mothers are 1.4 times more likely to maltreat their children.

==HHS==

For all cases of biological parent child maltreatment, 45% involved the father, and 77% involved the mother. (HHS Figure 3-6)

With respect to biological parent families, 71% of children are raised in a nuclear family, 29% are raised in single-parent families, and 83% of children in single-parent families are mother-led. (From PRB Data brief) We can deduce that:

76% of children have a father present, and 95% of children have a mother present.

For the 76%, 45% of the child maltreatment involved the father.

For the 95%, 77% of the child maltreatment involved the mother.

0.78 million children were maltreated. (HHS Ch.3)

Thus, approximately:

59 million children have a father involved in the household.

70 million children have a mother involved in the household.

0.33 million children were maltreated by the father.

0.60 million children were maltreated by the mother.

Thus, approximately:

0.6% of children who had a father involved in the household were maltreated.

0.9% of children who had a mother involved in the household were maltreated.

Mothers are 1.5 times more likely to maltreat their children.

===FATALITY===

==HSS==

For all cases of biological parent child fatality, 50% involved the father, and 77% involved the mother. (HHS table 4-5)

With respect to biological parent families, 71% of children are raised in a nuclear family, 29% are raised in single-parent families, and 83% of children in single-parent families are mother-led. (From PRB Data brief) We can deduce that:

76% of children have a father present, and 95% of children have a mother present.

For the 76%, 50% of the child fatalities involved the father.

For the 95%, 77% of the child fatalities involved the mother.

955 children were killed. (HHS Ch.3)

Thus, approximately:

56 million children have a father involved in the household.

70 million children have a mother involved in the household.

478 children were killed by the father.

735 children were killed by the mother.

Thus, approximately:

0.0000085% of children who had a father involved in the household were killed.

0.0000105% of children who had a mother involved in the household were killed.

Mothers are 1.2 times more likely to kill their children.

==NIS-4==

Fatality statistics are not comphrensive enough.

===Reference===

PRB Data brief: http://www.prb.org/Publications/PolicyBriefs/singlemotherfamilies.aspx

NIS-4: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/abuse_neglect/natl_incid/reports/natl_incid/natl_incid_perp_char.html

HHS: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm08/cm08.pdf

Note: Even if both studies used the same definitions and method for determining the number of victims, they may use a different timeframe. Furthermore, there are narrower categories that look into sexual, physical, emotional abuse, and different forms of neglect. However, there are a number of problems with them. Firstly, the courts have a clear bias for convicting fathers as the active agent of maltreatment, largely in part because of the clear bias of treating men as the primary source of domestic abuse [which, like child maltreatment, is also untrue]. Secondly, male victim related crimes are far more likely to be under-reported, which would further skew the results towards making fathers look worse, especially in the sexual category [A Sourcebook on Child Sexual Abuse].