Family courts are frequently reported to promote the endangerment of battered mothers and their children through awarding child custody or unsupervised child visitation to batterers, even in cases involving batterers’ continuing abuse of the mother, and/or outstanding allegations of child abuse involving these men. Previous analyses of court records have documented biases against battered women by the Massachusetts Family and Probate Court in such cases. This systemic mistreatment of battered women and their children has received little attention relative to other DV issues, despite an expanding literature describing the risks to children from battering men. This presentation will review the goals and methodology of the Battered Mothers’ Testimony Project, a collaboration of public health researchers, battered women’s advocates and human rights workers to examine the impact of family court systems on the health, safety and well-being of battered women and their children in cases of disputed custody/visitation. Preliminary findings from semi-structured interviews with 50 battered mothers regarding (1) experiences of abuse against themselves and their children, both during the relationship and since separation; (2) whether and how the batterer has continued to intimidate/abuse her through family court litigation; (3) experiences with state actors of the family court system (e.g., judges, custody evaluators); and (4) other concerns regarding their treatment within the family court system (e.g., discrimination based on race, sexual orientation, and/or socioeconomic status) will be presented. Plans for dissemination of information, organizing and activism to reform state policies and practices based on these findings will also be discussed.
Learning Objectives: 1. Recognize the pervasive and harmful nature of biases against battered women in cases of disputed child custody/visitation. 2. Identify strategies to document such biases and work collaboratively for reform.
Keywords: Domestic Violence, Human Rights
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.