Child Deaths

The 24-year-old woman, a drug user who allegedly lived alone with her 6-week-old baby, was believed to be HIV positive. After she failed to attend an appointment at a welfare office last week, a social worker went to her apartment. When no one answered, she called the police, who found the bodies. Police have ruled out both suicide and murder.

On Wednesday, Dec. 5, five children aged 3 to 9 were found suffocated at their home in Darry, Schleswig-Holstein. Their mother, who had been undergoing psychiatric treatment, alerted doctors to what had happened.

Social services told reporters Thursday that they had been in close contact with the family since August after one of the two fathers of the children reported difficulties. Prosecutors said they were preparing charges of murder, but would take into account the woman's diminished responsibility.

Earlier this week, a 28-year-old woman was arrested on serial murder charges after the remains of three newborns were found on an apartment balcony in the town of Plauen in Saxony. Police said she told interrogators each of her three daughters "died suddenly" soon after birth in 2002, 2004 and 2005.

Statistics stable

Contrary to public perception, incidents of child death in the home are not on the increase, according to the Federal Crime Office (BKA). Even so, the recent infanticides have left politicians and public alike wondering if these tragedies could have been prevented, had social services been quicker to react.

"Society has to take action to ensure there is no repeat of such cases," said Heide Simonis, head of the German section of the children's relief organization UNICEF.

Weighing in on the debate about the protection of young children in Germany and the role of the welfare offices, Family Affairs Minister Ursula von der Leyen called the latest cases "a tragedy" and said investigations needed to be conducted to see if there had been indications something was wrong.

"Society as a whole has to take responsibility and not turn its back when it sees that a family is in despair or unable to cope," said the minister.

She also added her voice to calls for compulsory medical check-ups, on the grounds that these could help avert neglect and abuse.

"If a family fails to attend, they will get an immediate visit from social services," she told the Süddeutsche Zeitung. "This is a way of filtering out families who might be at risk, so that they can be paid special attention."

On Nov.21, the Schleswig-Holstein parliament did indeed pass a law requiring compulsory health checks for children -- too late for the five children who died this week in Darry.

Society's responsibility

But according to Georg Ehrmann from the children's aid organization, Deutsche Kinderhilfe Direkt, these cases point to a "nationwide structural crisis in children's aid."

Neither social services nor neighbors offered the women in Darry any help, he was quoted as saying the daily Berliner Zeitung.

"We need better resources for welfare offices, compulsory check-ups and earlier intervention," agreed Marlis Herterich from the German Association for Child Protection.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, meanwhile, called on Germans "not to look away" in cases where they suspect children are suffering from neglect.

It was not just the responsibility of local authorities, the chancellor said.

"It is something that concerns all of us," she added. "We need to work together to ensure children have a secure future."