The Trouble with Feminist Advocacy Around Child Victims of Domestic Violence

Abstract

This article considers some of the problems arising from feminist advocacy around child victims of domestic violence (DV). I argue that this advocacy has been detrimental from a feminist perspective as it leaves feminists vulnerable to charges of bad faith and ignores certain women's experiences. I also claim that feminist advocacy in this area has been problematic from a child advocacy perspective since it reinforces the legal treatment of DV as more serious than child maltreatment (CM) and DV victims as more deserving of legal protection than CM victims.

Keywords: Domestic violence; child abuse; feminist legal theory