Considering Children in Dutch Interparental Violence Criminal Proceedings: A Qualitative Case Study of the Rotterdam Domestic Violence Approach

Children exposed to interparental violence are usually no formal party in domestic violence criminal proceedings of their parents, yet both the exposure to the violence and the criminal proceedings can adversely impact them. At the District Court of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, a Domestic Violence Approach was developed to address the underlying causes of domestic violence and provide future-oriented solutions. Drawing on 32 qualitative in-depth interviews with judges, public prosecutors and victims’ lawyers, this study examines how children are considered in interparental violence proceedings within the Rotterdam Domestic Violence Approach, to what extent this reflects a Family Systems Theories (FST) approach and how legal actors perceive their role regarding these children. The findings indicate that judges, public prosecutors and victims’ lawyers find it important to consider and address children in such proceedings. However, children are not consistently considered at all stages of the proceedings and respondents sometimes differ in the extent to which they take children into account, implying that an FST approach is not uniformly reflected. Judges with a background in family or child protection law appear to put a greater emphasis on children. Finally, judges, public prosecutors and victims’ lawyers differ in how they perceive their role regarding these children. Dutch criminal law provides limited scope for these children as they have no formal position in such proceedings. Nevertheless, the Rotterdam Domestic Violence Approach illustrates that they can be considered in practice, representing a valuable development from an FST perspective.