violence have access to help so as to prevent accumulation.
Divorce often raises many legal issues (custody, visitation rights, property
distribution, financial issues, possible restraining orders, in the case of
immigrant women place of residence issues), and the presence of violence in
a partnership may well have a bearing on how those issues are handles and
resolved. Once they have divorced, women who have experienced intimate
partner violence continue to remain in a legal relationship with their violent
partner because they have shared custody of their children or because
that partner has extensive visitation rights. Studies in other countries (e.g.
Eriksson 2003; Hester & Radford 1996; Jaffe et al. 2008; Johnson et al.
2005) have shown that custody and visitation rights are a common source
of problems when violence is present in the family setting and part of both
parents’ and children’s lives. Like many other European countries, Finland
has a policy of favouring joint custody and continued contact among the
parents after divorce. However it is not always appreciated that the violence
suffered by women may even increase in divorce situations and that the
violence and abuse of children, too, may continue. One of the problems
raised by earlier research is that the ideal of peaceful settlement does not
work in situations that have involved violence. The negotiation process may
increase the risk of violence, and violence or the threat of violence may hinder
any prospect of a balanced negotiation. In these cases joint custody may not
be a workable solution. Meetings with children may provide a pathway for
the continuation of pressure, harassment and violence. They may present
major risks to the safety of both children and to the non-violent parent.
There is a sense that the authorities have not addressed these problems with
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due seriousness