Multicultural child custody battles tend to result in single parenting

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By Venla Pystynen
     
      In almost every second international custody dispute, the Finnish District Courts tend to give the sole custody of a child to one of the parents.
      In most cases, the mother who lives with her child presses for a decision on the form of custody. In multicultural disputes involving child custody the mother is also ordered to become the sole official guardian of her child somewhat more often than in all custody disputes on average.
     
Over the period from 2005 to 2006, in 46 per cent of all cases involving multicultural custody disputes the sole custody of a child was given to the mother. In only 2 per cent of cases was the father given the sole custody of his child.
      Most often, sole custody demands are made when the child’s father is a Finn and the mother is of foreign origin.
      Research officer Elisa Valkama from the National Research Institute of Legal Policy believes that the court often rules for sole custody in multicultural cases as the cases involve a large number of disagreements.
      Conflicts may be caused by cultural clashes, the nationality of the child, religion, the raising of the child, and by communication with relatives.
      ”When the custody of a child is given to only one parent, the purpose is to prevent the battle from continuing”, Valkama explains.
     
The annual number of multicultural custody disputes handled by the Finnish district courts amounts to some 250.
      In the period from 2005 to 2006, some 13 per cent of all custody disagreements at district courts occurred between people with different cultural backgrounds.
      Valkama believes that the number of such multicultural custody rows will continue to increase as the number of immigrants is growing. ”Maybe Finnish courts should have some expertise available”, Valkama adds.
     
Valkama notes further that on average multicultural custody disputes are more difficult to resolve than disagreements between two parents of Finnish origin.
      In some cultures divorces are not accepted, and the dissolution of a marriage is regarded as shameful, which could also prevent conciliation when it comes to the custody of any children arising out of the union.
      Further problems could occur if the foreign party does not know the Finnish legal system, Valkama continues.
      ”In some countries, the father of children is automatically given custody. The fact that it is not so in Finland could come as a nasty surprise to the other party”, Valkama says.
      Getting into a circle of custody disputes - so-called repeated disputes - is rather common in multicultural custody battles.
     
Among the custody disputes handled by the Finnish district courts over the period from 2005 to 2006, one in three families had carried on a lawsuit over the custody of the child already earlier.
      In multicultural custody disagreements, the court more often than usual ends up in ordering supervised visitation rights to the divorced person. Such visits are arranged in mother and child homes and shelters, with a social worker supervising that the meeting of the divorced parent and the child goes safely.
      ”The underlying factor behind this arrangement could be that the custodial parent is worried that the foreign parent might abduct the child abroad”, Valkama believes.
      Other reasons for supervised visitations include domestic violence, mental illness, or substance abuse.
     
     
FACTFILE: Parties to the conflict are often a Finnish father and a foreign mother
     
In roughly seven out of ten multicultural custody disputes the conflict seems to focus on the form of custody. In other words, on whether one of the parents should be given the sole custody of the child or whether the parents should be given joint custody.
     
In the period from 2005 to 2006, the parties to every second multicultural custody conflict were a Finnish father and a foreign mother. In most cases, the mother was of Estonian or Russian origin.
     
In about one in three multicultural custody disputes the mother of the child was Finnish while the father was of foreign origin. Most often the father in these cases came from Northern Africa or Southern Europe.
     
At the end of 2006, the number of bicultural married couples with children was 13,890. The greatest number of children lived in families with a Russian mother and a Finnish father.
     
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 23.8.2009


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Russian mother of abducted Anton Salonen astonished at her treatment in Finland (19.8.2009)
  Russian mother in international child abduction case back in Finland (3.8.2009)
  Police find Espoo girl who was abducted by father 11 years ago (13.8.2008)
  Father takes Jacob and Alexander Rogers back to USA (23.12.2004)
  Supreme Court rules for father in final decision in international custody case (21.12.2004)

See also:
  Study indicates mixed marriages end much more often in divorce (4.8.2009)

Links:
  National Research Institute of Legal Policy

VENLA PYSTYNEN / Helsingin Sanomat