Rights of children caught in parental conflict need focus

Prelims level : Rights Issues Mains level : GS – II
No Set Found with this ID
  • A proactive step need to be taken to focus on child rights, specifically in cases of parental conflict – Supreme Court.
  • The rights of children caught in the middle of an ugly divorce or a custody battle between parents need specific articulation.

A quagmire:

  • Divorce and custody battles are a quagmire and it is heart-wrenching to see an innocent child ultimately suffer for the legal and psychological war waged between the parents.
  • The plight of children caught in the emotional roller-coaster of their parents’ divorce and custody battles.

Psychological harm:

  • The courts and judges could be able to resolve the legal problems of the parents, grant them divorce and send them on their separate ways. But what would become of the psychological harm caused to child who has witnessed the ugliness between the parents
  • The child is unwittingly at the centre of the custody battle, but is yet not a true participant in the process.
  • The child’s psychological balance is deeply affected through the marital disruption.
  • Hence, for the sake of a child’s future relationship with each of his parents, a negotiated settlement is much better than an order imposed by a court after adversarial proceedings.
Share Socially