Allegations of child abuse during divorce

Objective: This study aims to draw attention to allegations of child abuse in family courts during divorce of the parents. It contains information about demographic features, the role of child abuse in divorce and also the... [ view full abstract ]

Objective: This study aims to draw attention to allegations of child abuse in family courts during divorce of the parents. It contains information about demographic features, the role of child abuse in divorce and also the treatment and legal processes of divorced parents and their children who have applied to Child Protection Center of Gazi University in Turkey.

Methods: The data about the facts of 32 children reports that is sent with the allegations of abuse of one of the parents during divorce from courts between 2010 and 2013 to Child Protection Center of Gazi University in Turkey were analysed retrospectively.

Results: The scope of the research was the 32 children with a total of 65 allegations of different types of abuse. Out of these, 78% were girls. The average age of children was 6,72±3,41. Almost half of mothers were illiterate or primary school graduates while 19 fathers were high school graduates or have higher education. Four fathers (12%) were alcohol or cannabis user. The type of abuse allegations were: emotional abuse in 27 children, physical abuse in 23 children and sexual abuse in 15 children. Out of these children 11, 11 and 9 cases were decided not to be abused respectively after thorough evaluation by the child protection center team but it is concluded that the claim of mother that her child is abused by his or her father is generally proven to be right.

Conclusion: In our study, it has been concluded that child abuse might be the main reason of divorce or may be used by one of the parents as a pretext for divorce although it is not true. Therefore evaluation of the cases by the child abuse experts is critically important. Long term follow may be necessary for child’s safety.