The full professor of the Civil Law and the director of the projects regarding gender-based violence of the Universitat de València, Sonia Rodríguez de Llamas, clarifies some issues about the situation with child visiting regulations. She claims that the victims of gender violence face many uncomfortable questions these days.
The professor of the Faculty of Law, Sonia Rodríguez de Llamas, analyses the gender impact of the COVID-19 crisis and discusses the concept of gender violence during the state of emergency which brings discomfort, unease, and unrest in the lives of the female victims of gender violence. According to the professor Rodriguez de Llamas, one of the questions that causes even more distress for these women is the conditions of the child visiting regulations if their live separately from their abusers. “They cannot find a clear answer because it does not exist. Each solution depends on the specific case,” explains the professor.
Sonia Rodríguez de Llamas recommends that the female victims of gender violence consult certain guidelines - the protocol published by the Ministry of Equality about the protection of women in the situation of confinement and in a state of emergency.
These guidelines outline that women can request the suspension of precautionary visiting regulations if a child incurs any health risks because of constant exchanges. “One thing is that women can ask for this suspension, and another is that a judge should allow it,” adds professor Rodríguez de Llamas. In any case, the child’s interests and his/her right to maintain good health should prevail over the wants of the parents.
Sonia Rodríguez de Llamas is a co-author of the recently published book Menores en disputa. Custodia. Visitas y Patria Potestad en la Comunidad Valenciana. This work was published by the Universitat de València upon request of the Valencian government Generalitat Valenciana within the framework of the Valencian pact against gender violence. The book discusses the lack of child protection in the processes of gender violence as well as the need to incorporate the gender perspective in the legal proceedings.
