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6 Hastings Women's L.J. 67 (1995)
Legal Backlash: The Expanding Liability of Women Who Fail to Protect their Children from Their Male Partner's Abuse

handle is hein.journals/haswo6 and id is 73 raw text is: Legal Backlash: The Expanding Liability of Women Who Fail to Protect Their Children from Their Male Partner's Abuse Linda J. Panko* Introduction Although child abuse has existed for centuries in the United States, an increase in the number of reported incidents in recent years' has spurred legislative and judicial response, primarily in the form of failure-to- protect laws.2 Failure-to-protect laws impose liability upon parents, who have a duty to protect their child, when they fail to prevent abuse of the child at the hands of a known offender.3 Child abuse statutes generally appear in two forms: commission statutes,4 which are used to convict * J.D., DePaul University School of Law, Chicago, Illinois; B.A., Chatham College, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The author works as an attorney for the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Solicitor, Chicago, IL. She is a member of Chicago Feminist Law Professors and Friends. 1. The number of reported child abuse cases rose to nearly 3 million in 1992, compared to 2.7 million in 1991. Of the number of reported deaths resulting from abuse, neglect accounted for 36% of cases; physical abuse was responsible for 58%. 1 Million Young Victims - And Counting, USA TODAY, April 7, 1994, at 2A (citing statistics gathered by the National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse and National Coalition for Child Protection Reform). In 1984, Congress passed the Child Abuse Amendments, which appropriated funds for the research, prevention, and treatment of abuse and neglect only to states with child abuse reporting laws. 42 U.S.C. §§ 5101-5107 (Supp. 1985). Reporting statutes require specific professionals dealing with children to report suspected child abuse or neglect cases to the proper authorities. All fifty states comply with child abuse reporting requirements. 2. See Anne T. Johnson, Criminal Liability for Parents Who Fail to Protect, 5 J. LAW & INEQ. 359, 368 (1987). 3. See generally S. Randall Humm, Criminalizing Poor Parenting Skills as a Means to Contain Violence By and Against Children, 139 U. PA. L. REV. 1123 (1991). I use the term failure-to-protect laws to encompass child abuse, neglect, aiding and abetting, and involuntary homicide laws when they are used to punish a parent's omission regarding his or her parental duty. 4. See, e.g., 720 IlL. Ann. Stat. ch. 720, para. 5/12-4.3(a) (Smith-Hurd 1992) (Any person of the age 18 years and upwards who intentionally or knowingly, and without legal justification and by any means, causes great bodily harm or permanent disability or HASTINGS WOMEN'S LAW JOURNAL

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