The same thing happens in child abuse cases, unfortunately. People just can't or aren't willing to believe that women can be just as malicious/crazy/ugly as men...
Or gods forbid its the other way around. A few years ago my sister's kid tried to cut her ear off with scissors while she was sleeping. She almost had a stroke.
Not exactly and abusive child (he was 2, didn't know better), but now there is no more scissors in the house.