Exposure of children to violence in relationships:
analysis of the processes for awarding custody and visiting rights

The 2013 INFRAS study ‘Costs of violence in relationships’ commissioned by the Federal Office for Gender Equality (FOGE) stated that ‘In particular, the databases needed to determine the costs of legal proceedings and the costs of support services for children exposed to domestic violence, including the health problems resulting from this violence, are lacking. These costs could be considerable, as exposure to violence has far-reaching repercussions that can last a lifetime. Not to mention the fact that children exposed to violence run a very high risk of becoming victims or perpetrators of violence when they reach adulthood.

In 2022 KidsToo planned to update the cost estimate to include the costs associated with children. The feasibility study commissioned from Social Insight showed that little progress had been made in data collection since 2013 and that the planned study was not feasible.

The experts contacted put forward suggestions for partial studies specific to children.

KidsToo chose the proposal concerning the issue of access to children because, while academic commentators have regularly warned against giving too much weight to the parental relationship and drawn attention to the danger run by children who have witnessed violence if access is subsequently granted on the grounds that they themselves have not been the victims of direct violence and that a temporary suspension of access or support measures may then often be necessary, practice does not always, not really, not often take this into account. See also the study commissioned by the FOGE and the Swiss Conference against Domestic Violence (CSVD) ‘Offers of support and protection measures for children exposed to violence in the parental couple’ published in April 2024.

KidsToo worked with Social Insight to draw up the terms of reference for the study. The proposals were evaluated by a group of experts.

The Foundation has commissioned the Centro competenze lavoro, welfare e società of the Scuola universitaria professionale della Svizzera italiana (SUPSI) to carry out a study on ‘ Children’s exposure to violence in relationships: analysis of processes and costs in the context of the allocation of custody and visiting rights ’ in conjunction with the Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaten (ZHAW). The project is led by Ornella Larenza, PhD and Ricercatrice (SUPSI), in collaboration with Prof. Andreas Jud (ZHAW).

The study will be based on the realities on the ground in the cantons of St. Gallen, Ticino, Vaud and Zurich.

The results are expected by the end of summer 2025.