Seeing the best interests of child victims of coercive control: a study on the authorities’ ability to realize the rights of children and mothers

Kuvaus

The University of Lapland’s project Coercive Control and Transforming Practices of Power: Understanding the Experiences and Needs of Child Victims-Survivors (CAPUCS), led by professor Merja Laitinen and funded by the Research Council of Finland, produces new knowledge on coercive control (CC) as domestic abuse from the perspective of children. CC is a highly gendered form of domestic abuse,so far mainly studied in adult relationships. Previous research indicates that it often victimizes children and mothers , but their rights appear to be at odds. CC is addressed in different judicial and administrative proceedings that seem to provide a remedy either to the child or to the mother, but not both. In my PhD research, as part of the CAPUCS project, I aim to find out how the rights of the child are realized in situations of CC in Finland and how they could be realized together with the rights of the mother. The research is still in its early stages and I would welcome any insights on my methodological choices. The article-based dissertation is situated in human rights and welfare law and applies mixed methods, combining critical legal theories with empirical research. Before carrying out an empirical analysis, I will analyze human rights obligations in relevant treaties such as the CEDAW, the CRC, the Istanbul Convention and the ECHR to identify potential tensions between the rights of mothers and children in CC situations. This will be done by combining perspectives from feminist legal theories and critical child’s rights studies in an attempt to find out how potential tensions could be breached. A focal point will be on the role of the assessment of the best interests of the child. This analysis sets the framework in which the empirical analysis is conducted and the legal standards against which the authorities’ conduct is assessed. For the purpose of identifying potential gaps in the authorities’ response to CC, the empirical material includes different sets of data. Through a qualitative analysis of court decisions and pretrial materials concerning cases of stalking, using tools of intersectional analysis, I will compare how different authorities recognize the rights of children and mothers, especially their evaluation of the best interests of the child. Finally, a vignette interviews of professionals such as judges and social workers facing CC in their work will provide answers as to how best realize the rights of both children and mothers.

Aikajakso	16 toukok. 2025
Tapahtuman otsikko	Nordic Conference on Legal Method
Tapahtuman tyyppi	Konferenssi
Sijainti	Kalmar, RuotsiNäytä kartalla