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Four infants died from abuse in Switzerland last year

Four infants die after abuse in 2024
Four infants die after abuse in 2024 Keystone-SDA

In 2024, four infants died in Switzerland as a result of maltreatment. In total, 19 Swiss paediatric clinics treated 2,084 children for suspected maltreatment last year.

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The number of reported cases is practically the same as the previous year’s peak, the Child Protection Section of the Swiss Paediatric Hospitals announced on Monday. This means that the child protection caseload in Switzerland remains high, it said.

According to the 16th report of the National Child Protection Statistics, a total of 705 cases of physical abuse were reported. This was 153 cases more than in the previous year.

In contrast, the number of reported cases of psychological abuse fell significantly to 437 in 2024.

+ Switzerland moves to ban smacking of children

Three of the children died in the first year of life as a result of physical abuse. Another child died in the second year of life as a result of severe neglect.

Translated from German by DeepL/ts

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