Sexual Abuse Allegations in Divorce and Custody Disputes

• In Event: Sex Offenders and the Courts

Abstract

In the Netherlands each year in around 300-500 divorce cases one parent accuses the other parent of sexual abuse of the child(ren) (CSA). CSA committed by a parent is hard to uncover, especially when the other parent turns a blind eye. However, automatic continuation of joint parental responsibility and shared residence may give the mother an incentive to accuse the father in order to get favorable decisions. Thus, civil law judges face an uneasy dilemma. Not taking allegations seriously may result in exposing the child to abuse. Taking the allegation seriously means exposing the child and the accused parent to an invasive investigation, which may damage their relationship as well as their well-being. Current Dutch family (procedural) law provides judges with no special guidelines how to deal with such allegations.
Using case files on 90 cases, our study describes the characteristics of families where such allegations occur, at what point in divorce or custody procedures they occur, how civil judges respond, and in how many and what kind of cases the allegations were founded. These insights can make a valuable contribution to the limited existing knowledge and consequently provide professionals in the field with new perspectives.

Authors

• Anne Smit, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

• Catrien Bijleveld, Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement

• Masha Antokolskaia, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam