The documentary Leaving Neverland, a disturbing examination of allegations against the late pop star Michael Jackson, has led to a wider discussion about child abuse in society. But why? Certainly, everyone knew child abuse was a serious societal problem before the documentary was aired. Today in The Conversation Canada, Kevin Quigley of Dalhousie University explains the phenomenon of what’s known as “identifiable victim effect” – why we are more likely to provide aid when one person is suffering, but our willingness decreases when the victims are anonymous or presented as a statistic.

Louise Grogan of University of Guelph reports on a troubling issue: there’s evidence to suggest that, for economic reasons, some families in post-communist countries are using sex-selective abortions so that more male babies are born. Why? Male migrants generally earn higher wages and many families in the post-communist countries rely on their sons to send money back home.

And finally…the Ford government in Ontario continues to face a tremendous backlash over its recent changes to autism funding for families. Kimberly Maich of Memorial University – an autism researcher and also the mother of an autistic child – says the approach that Ontario is taking is not only wrong, but may end up being more expensive in the long run.

Regards,