Childrens custody in domestic violence: new issues and attacks to women's and children's human rights

Domestic violence affects women and their children severely. The decision of a woman to escape domestic violence is very difficult, not only because of the emotional issues connected to such a relation, but mainly because of the concern about her and her children's safety and the possibility of a secure and safe future. In this delicate phase it is crucial that she finds help in order to be able to reorganize her whole life. It is known that in presence of children the woman can not organize her life totally independently from their father, the violent man she is escaping from. It is also known that children living in a domestic violence situation are often directly affected by it and in any case always affected in the form of witnessed violence which is proved to be really damaging for them. It is also known that most of the femicide and the cases of killing of the children by fathers happens during or after separation/divorce, as one of the most dangerous and violent reactions of the violent man to the decision of the woman to escape with the children from a DV situation. Despite clear results of researches all over the world about the damage and danger of a violent father for its children, the father’s right to have contacts with its children is gaining all around the world more and more attention due to the strong father’s movements (in Europe, USA, Canada and Australia) which are effectively lobbying their position and requests. The consequence is that woman are facing incredible custody orders by social services and family Courts which give the violent man/father the same rights of any other father, without considering its violent and dangerous behaviour. In the last ten years not only the attitude of these actors have gone more and more in this direction, also family and custody laws are changed in a way that puts mainly the woman under the “suspicion” of manipulating her partnership situation in order to alienate the father from their common children who are therefore forced by laws to recognize the father’s right; so they have intensive contacts, fathers are dangerously and massively present in their lives, pursuing an effective control and perpetuating – with the services’ and the courts’ support – the violent interaction. Women’s specialized services against VAW, shelters and their lawyers are fighting professionally and with competence against these dangerous tendencies in the services and in Courts, trying not only to support single cases, but also by training and awareness rising actions to evidence the damages for all children and women escaping DV; also international legally binding instruments such as the Istanbul Convention emphasize the importance of protection of the children in DV cases.
The workshop is aiming at discussing by comparison these tendencies in custody rights, at identifying strategies to counter it and to form and strengthen alliances worldwide to defend women’s and children’s human rights in custody issues in DV situations.(492 words)