18/06/2026
Danke an WAVE Network, WWP-EN und alle teilnehmenden Organisationen für diesen tollen Austausch!
Eine der wichtigsten Erkenntnisse aus dem Treffen war für uns, dass die institutionelle Gewalt an Gewaltopfern kein Phänomen eines einzelnen Landes ist, sondern international sehr ähnlich ist. Die Vorgehensweise ähnelt sich frappant. Genau deshalb braucht es auch eine globale Herangehensweise, um Mütter und Kinder vor Gewalt zu schützen!
WAVE recently co-hosted a roundtable in Vienna with WWP-EN (Work with Perpetrators European Network) on child custody and child protection in the context of domestic violence. It brought together member organisations of both networks from across Europe working in women's specialist services (WSS) and perpetrator programmes (PP). The roundtable was designed as a structured dialogue and needs assessment, creating space to share national experiences, identify gaps in practice, and reflect on how systems currently respond to domestic violence, particularly in relation to the safety and rights of women and children.
🔍 What emerged:
⚖️ Legal frameworks exist in most countries, but are not consistently applied. Domestic violence is routinely minimised or reframed in the move from criminal to family court.
🚨 The lack of coordination between criminal and family courts is one of the most critical barriers across all countries represented, with severe consequences. A violent father subject to a no-contact order in the criminal court may still be granted access to his child in the family court. This is a miscarriage of justice that puts women and children directly at risk.
❗ The so-called concept of "parental alienation" (unscientific, debunked, and actively promoted by the fathers' rights movement) continues to be accepted in family courts across Europe and weaponised against survivor-mothers, in some cases leading to loss of custody. It has no place in legal proceedings!
👶 Forced visitation is too often treated as a procedural step, not a safety measure. Children's wishes are selectively heard, accepted when they support contact, dismissed when they do not.
💶 In several countries, PP have been funded at the expense of WSS. Participants were clear: WSS funding must have priority, and the two must not sit in the same budget line. Critical perspectives on perpetrator work were central to the conversation throughout.
💔 Across the board: stronger, gender-sensitive, evidence-based approaches are urgently needed to ensure the safety and wellbeing of women and children.
This roundtable formed part of an ongoing exchange between networks and demonstrated the need for continued vigilance, reflection and dialogue.
