@article{ref1,
title="Fathers' rights in Swedish family law reform: taking account of fathers' violence against mothers",
journal="Canadian journal of women and the law",
year="2016",
author="Burman, Marianne",
volume="28",
number="1",
pages="152-181",
abstract="A strong assumption in Swedish family law that shared parenting and parental cooperation post-separation or divorce are preferred creates, as in many other jurisdictions, problems for mothers who try to protect themselves and their children from violent fathers. Changes in law during the last decade have, however, weakened the assumption that joint custody and extensive contact with violent fathers are the normal legal outcomes. This article analyzes how fathers' rights discourses since 2006 have been visible in, and influenced by, Swedish law reform processes on child custody and related issues, taking particular account of the context of fathers' violence against mothers. In the analysis, fathers' violence against mothers is situated within a Swedish gender equality context, and four domains of law and policy that are related to fathers' violence against mothers are delineated as an analytical framework in order to understand the dynamics of fathers' rights discourses in relation to the law reforms. The study shows that fathers' rights groups have been active and that their discourses are visible in the legislative documents but that the space for fathers' rights discourses has been somewhat restricted in law reforms since 2006. However, the author argues that the four law and policy domains seem to lack the ability to counteract fathers' rights discourses regarding economic issues. Moreover, discourses on children's rights, interests, protection, and well-being that are present within all domains have been more influential on the outcomes of the reforms than gendered discourses on fathers' violence against mothers. Even though gendered discourses on violence seem to have played a role in counteracting fathers' rights discourses, gendered discourses have struggled at the same time to influence several domains related to fathers' violence against mothers.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0832-8781",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}