Citation

Eriksson M. J. Child Custod. 2010; 7(2): 93.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/15379418.2010.508258

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Changes to the Swedish family law that came into force on July 1, 2006 aimed at introducing a more safety oriented approach to custody, contact, or residence disputes where there is also a history of domestic violence. In the 1990s, a more gender sensitive and “holistic” approach to violence in intimate relationships was introduced in Sweden. In the wake of these developments, children who see or hear violence to a parent, typically the mother, have increasingly been defined as crime victims in their own right. It is argued that these developments are also a key to understanding recent changes in family law and policy on custody, residence, or contact more broadly. A feminist framework for understanding violence in heterosexual relationships in combination with the redefinition of children who “witness” violence seems to have created a discursive opportunity structure that enables a shift in focus to violent fathers as parents, reaching into the area of family law.