Våld och vårdnadstvister - betydelsen av att barn bevittnar våld i nära relationer

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study was to examine if and how children witnessing domestic violence affects the judgement a Swedish District Court delivers in cases of child-custody and parents’ right of access to their child. We also wanted to examine if a child’s right to State compensation for witnessing domestic violence affects said judgements in a District Court. This right to State compensation stems from a modification in the Law of Compensation for Crime Victims made in 2006 and is accorded by the Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority. Using semi-structured qualitative interviews we talked to three judges, two lay assessors and an official at the Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority. The informants were also asked to comment on a fictitious case. Only one of the judges was familiar with child compensation for witnessing domestic violence and none of the judges and lay assessors believed it to be an important factor when judging child-custody cases. They did think it vital to consider the consequences of witnessing domestic violence but not the compensation itself. The analysis was intersectional i.e. we examined how gender, ethnicity, age and class interact in sociocultural hierarchies and power-based relationships in our research material.