Module VII: Custody and Visitation Implications
Seven Misconceptions Concerning Domestic Violence and Custody
Thus, obtaining the full picture in domestic violence cases is essential in the custody/visitation context as in other types of risk assessment. See, Risk Assessment. Unfortunately, everyone involved in custody determinations – custody evaluators, psychologists and psychiatrists, guardians ad litem, mediators, parent coordinators and judges – too often ignores allegations of domestic violence or actively punishes women who disclose the violence.
Seven Misconceptions Concerning Domestic Violence and Custody:
- Domestic violence is rarely a problem for divorcing couples involved in child custody disputes.
- Domestic violence ends with separation for abused women.
- As long as children are not abused directly, they are not harmed by exposure to domestic violence.
- Since domestic violence is behavior between adults, it is not relevant to determination of child custody.
- Family courts, lawyers, and court-related services, such as mediation and custody evaluation, can assess the needs of abused women and their children as well as the impact of the batterer.
- Legal and mental health services for abused women and their children separating from batterers are readily accessible and well coordinated.
- There are no apparent solutions and community strategies to the complex dilemmas posed by abused women and their children separating from batterers.
(Jaffe et al., Common Misconceptions in Addressing Domestic Violence in Child Custody Disputes, 2003 at 58-62.) |
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