From witness to crime victim Nordic approaches to children exposed to violence in their family

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From witness to crime victim? Nordic approaches
to children exposed to violence in their family

• Maria Eriksson
• 4 March 2008

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This presentation

• Explores the differences and similarities between
  different organisations and different countries
• Ways of understanding
• Organisational activities and strategies,
  especially efforts to promote the criminalisation
  of childrens exposure to violence
• A political issue or a crime?
• To transform these childrens situation into a
  political (collective) problem, to enable
  protection and support (a welfare approach)
• Childrens rights to compensation and holding
  perpetrators accountable (a justice approach)

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Background

• Increased attention paid to children exposed to
  violence in practice, policy, and research
• In all Nordic countries
• Recent policy change, e.g. in Sweden
• 15th November 2006 rights to crime victim
  compensation
• 15th November 2006 1 July 2007 change in the
  Social Services Act
• 1 July 2006 change in Family Law (Parental Code)

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Method material

• Material documents (primarily from web-pages)
  interviews with key persons
• 10 childrens rights and womens shelter
  organisations at a national level, in DK, FI, NO,
  SE
• 9 persons interviewed (chair or ex-chair, board
  member, child-group member, advisor responsible
  for the national programme or for violence and
  child sexual abuse, psychotherapist at crisis
  centre, daily manager, development manager for
  childrens services)

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The organisations

• DK
• Landsorganisation af kvindekrisecentre (LOKK)
  Red Barnet (Save the Children)
• FI
• Federation of Mother and Child Homes and Shelters
  Rädda Barnen (Save the Children)
• NO
• Krisesentersekretariatet, Norsk
  Krisesenterforbund (NOK) Redd Barna (Save the
  Children)
• SE
• Riksorganisationen för kvinno- och tjejjourer i
  Sverige (ROKS), Sveriges Kvinnojourers
  Riksförbund (SKR) Rädda Barnen (Save the
  Children)

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An issue in itself?

• LOKK (DK), the Federation (FI) Save the
  Children SE most clearly treat this as an issue
  in itself
• Relatively visible as an issue in itself in the
  material from NOK (NO) SKR (SE) as well
• In other cases (Save the Children FI not
  included) children exposed to violence is
  integrated with other issues
• StC in DK NO violence to children
• KS (NO) ROKS (SE) violence to women

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Advisor, Save the Children Norway

• The last five years or so we have had a turn
  meaning that we have become more and more
  occupied with violence against children that is
  not specifically about child sexual abuse ---
• When you say children and violence, is that about
  children physically subjected to violence
  themselves, or how is this issue of witnessing
  violence included?
• Well, we have learnt through the work of others
  that being subjected to violence or to witness
  violence towards one of the parents for example,
  that can be defined as violence to children. The
  damages can be just as serious regardless of
  whether you are a witness or subjected yourself
  mm. So we look at it as two aspects of the same
  thing.

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Frames approaches
Federation, LOKK
An issue in itself
Save the Children SE
NOK, SKR
Crime victim
Subjected to violence
Save the Children FI OFF THIS MAP!
KS, ROKS
Integrated with other issues
Save the Children DK, NO
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Strategies for change

• Integrated issue
• External awareness-raising (e.g. Save the
  Children in DK NO)
• Internal awareness-raising and knowledge
  development (e.g. ROKS, SKR in SE)
• An issue in itself (LOKK, the Federation, Save
  the Children in SE)
• Development of services professionalisation
• Developing new knowledge

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Approaches strategies for legal change
An issue in itself
A child protection issue social/child protection
law
The rights of children as victims of crime
Crime victim
Subjected to violence
Part of violence to women family law
Men as perpetrators of crimes against children
Integrated with violence to women
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Conclusions 1

• Womens shelter/crisis centre organisations tend
  to emphasise the status as crime victim more
  than Childrens rights organisations (in DK, FI,
  NO)
• Follows from the overarching strategy to
  criminalise mens violence to women?
• A new development men/fathers as perpetrators of
  crimes against children?
• Save the Children Sweden an interesting
  exception
• Focusing more upon children as victims

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Conclusions 2

• Relatively speaking A welfare approach to
  violence seems to be more influential amongst the
  crisis centres in Denmark and shelters in
  Finland, a justice approach seems to be more
  influential amongst the shelters in Norway and
  Sweden
• Mirrors broader patterns in the Nordic countries?

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Conclusions 3

• Criminalisation a means to what end?
• To bring the issue of children exposed to
  violence into the public domain and to redefine
  private suffering to a political (collective)
  problem demanding political (collective)
  solutions
• To promote welfare rights rights to protection
  and support

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Conclusions 4

• Why have Childrens rights organisations been so
  slow to pick up the issue of children exposed to
  violence? (cf. e.g. child sexual abuse)
• Does this kind of suffering not fit into a
  childrens rights agenda?
• What are the consequences of the weight placed on
  welfare, relative to justice and accountability?
• For individual children these children as a
  group?