Double standards in the prosecution of violent fathers
In the media image: Bethany Beck via Unsplash
The prosecution of violent fathers is regularly abandoned, supposedly ‘in the best interests of the child’. Assistant professor Mojan Samadi responds in an interview with RTL and Investico: ‘It’s problematic if you accept this argument as a matter of course.’
Suspects of domestic violence frequently escape prosecution, even when there’s a strong legal basis for the case, according to research by RTL Nieuws and the investigative platform Investico. In a rare exception, the journalists were granted access to dozens of case files. Among these, they identified 17 cases where the Public Prosecution Service decided not to pursue prosecution. In most instances, these involved families with children: the prosecution of a violent father was then dropped, for example, because it was said not to be in the child’s best interests.
According to Samadi, this amounts to applying double standards. ‘If you father ends up in prison for drug trafficking, that’s also very difficult for a child,’ says the criminal law lecturer. ‘But apparently we consider that less serious than in cases of domestic violence.’
Samadi explains that this sets a dangerous precedent: ‘It’s problematic if you accept this argument as a matter of course – that “the presence of children means: no prosecution”. In effect, you’re declaring a woman with children in a domestic violence situation fair game.’