Children as Victims of Domestic Violence – Deprivation of Parental Rights according to the Family Law Act of the Republic of North Macedonia and the Family Law Act of Kosovo

Abstract

Domestic violence is one of the most serious forms of violation of basic human freedoms and rights regardless of ethnicity, gender, religion, and status. A reflection on many international statistics shows that women are the most frequent victims of domestic violence. Based on the definition of the phenomenon of domestic violence, the forms of abuse, the manner how violence is treated, the possibility of children, men, extramarital spouses, brothers, sisters, and old people living in an extended domestic community, of also being victims is not excluded. Since domestic violence is not only a national problem but a worldwide problem, international organizations have worked towards the eradication of this phenomenon by sanctioning it in various international conventions. Also, the legal systems of many countries prohibit and sanction domestic violence by special laws obliging the state authorities to act in all situations when there are indications that there are direct or indirect violent acts in a family. In this paper, the authors present only the domestic violence against children as an evident problem in families, but which is often unreported. The legal frameworks of the Republic of North Macedonia and Republic of Kosovo are presented in this paper with the aim to describe the material-legal and procedural-legal treatment of domestic violence by pointing out the failure of the state authorities in implementing the laws on protection and prevention of this phenomenon. The authors take the approach of only treating the legal consequences of child abuse by parents that in both legislations is deprivation of parental rights for the violent parent. They conclude that the state authorities should intensify their work in taking control measures towards all the families where there are suspicions that the parental rights are neglected, and the child is abused. Because many cases of abuse have not been detected or reported, and in both countries a special study especially on domestic violence against children does not exist, the possibility that the number for this type of child abuse is great.

Emotional Intelligence Based Intervention Program for Children in Residential Care During Pandemic Lockdown

“…Accordingly, in Mexico, the nearly 40 million children and adolescents represent a third of the country's population and live diverse realities [5]. For example, it is increasingly common to find children and adolescents working in public spaces to meet their daily needs; these problems and lifestyles are part of a growing phenomenon whose origin is economic adversity and domestic violence, among other factors, which forces families to incorporate minors into economic activity, or may lead to abandonment [6]. Children from vulnerable conditions are exposed to living in the street, victims of human trafficking and/or to work in conditions that affect their development and physical and mental integrity, among others [7].…”