ABSTRACT
Introduction Research from a range of countries shows that a significant minority of children experience violence between the adults in the family in some form or another while growing up. For example, a recent study of child abuse and neglect in the United Kingdom by NSPCC found that 12 per cent of children under eleven years old, 17.5, per cent of children aged 11-17 and 23.7 per cent of 18-24 year olds had been exposed to violence between adults in their homes during childhood (Radford et al., 2011). In both the United Kingdom and Sweden, it is estimated that approximately 5 per cent of children experience violence regularly (Annerbäck et al., 2010; Cawson, 2002; Janson, Jernbro & Långberg, 2011). Furthermore, that between 75 and 90 per cent of violent incidents in the home are experienced by children (Underdown, 2007). Research also shows that some groups of children are more at risk than others, such as children with divorced or separated parents. In this group of children, probably a larger proportion have been exposed to intimate partner violence, considering the high level of violence from ex-partners reported by women (EU Fundamental Rights Agency, 2014). The higher risk of violence in the context of, or aftermath of, separation and divorce can both be explained by the fact that in some cases violence starts within the context of separation, and by violence as one of the reasons behind a divorce and/or separation (Lundgren et al., 2002; Meltzer et al., 2009; cf. Fleury, Sullivan & Bybee, 2000). In both countries used as examples above, the typical case of intimate partner violence is a father who is abusive towards his children’s mother. For example, the NSPCC study reported that adult males were the main perpetrators, accounting for 93.8 per cent of cases where one parent had “beaten up” the other (Radford et al., 2011). Children can of course experience violence in other types of relationships as well, such as the father’s violence against a new partner, or violence in same sex relationships. In heterosexual relationships, women can use violence and in some instances be the main source of violence. However, in cases with systematic violence with severe consequences for health and well-being, the main pattern is men who are violent to women (see Dobash & Dobash, 2004; Hester et al., 2006).
