The best interests of the child in “mixed” couples’ divorce in Belgium and the Netherlands
Filipino mothers’ socio-legal encounters about their children
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1180Keywords:
Socio-legal encounters, divorce, best interests of the child, mixed couples, Filipino migrant women, Belgium, the NetherlandsAbstract
Studies on the marital break-up of “mixed couples” in which partners have different nationalities and/or ethnicities pay little attention to how individual partners, notably the one with a migration background, experience the law and institutions concerning their children. Drawing on ethnographic observations and interviews with Filipino women in Belgium and the Netherlands, this paper investigates these migrants’ socio-legal experiences to shed light on their children’s situation during the divorce process. Paying attention to the principle of the “best interests of the child”, data analyses reveal that the children of women experiencing problematic divorce and/or domestic violence have more direct encounters with laws and/or institutions than those whose parents separated on good terms. Likewise, young people whose parent(s) resort to socio-legal assistance in their country of residence are more exposed to the legal aspects of divorce. This case study underlines the intersubjective dimension of divorce and suggests that state policies do shape individual lives.
Downloads
Metrics
Downloads:
PDF 579
XML 721
References
Abrego, L.J., 2011. Legal consciousness of undocumented Latinos: Fear and stigma as barriers to claims-making for first- and 1.5-generation immigrants. Law & Society Review [online], 45(2), 337–370. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5893.2011.00435.x [Access 13 January 2021]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5893.2011.00435.x
Adams, B.N., 2004. Families and family study in international perspective. Journal of Marriage and Family [online], 66(5), 1076–1088. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-2445.2004.00079.x [Access 13 January 2021]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-2445.2004.00079.x
Allerton, C., 2014. Statelessness and the lives of the children of migrants in Sabah, East Malaysia. Tilburg Law Review: Journal of International and European Law, 19(1–2), 26–34. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/22112596-01902004
Amato, P.R., 2001. Children of divorce in the 1990s: An update of the Amato and Keith (1991) meta-analysis. Journal of Family Psychology [online], 15(3), 355–370. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.15.3.355 [Access 13 January 2021]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037//0893-3200.15.3.355
Amato, P.R., 2010. Research on divorce: continuing trends and new developments. Journal of Marriage and Family [online], 72(3), 650–666. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2010.00723.x [Access 13 January 2021]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2010.00723.x
Amato, P.R., and Keith. B., 1991. Parental divorce and the well-being of children: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin [online], 110(1), 26–46. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.110.1.26 [Access 13 January 2021]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037//0033-2909.110.1.26
Asis, M.M.B., 2006. Living with migration: Experiences of left-behind children in the Philippines. Asian Population Studies [online], 2(1), 45–67. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/17441730600700556 [Access 13 January 2021]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17441730600700556
Bawin-Legros, B., and Gauthier, A., 2001. Regulation of intimacy and love semantics in couples living apart together. International Review of Sociology [online], 11(1), 39–46. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/03906700020030983 [Access 13 January 2021]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03906700020030983
Blogie, E., 2014. Pensions alimentaires: Un droit difficile à faire valoir. Le Soir [online], 29 August. Available from: https://www.lesoir.be/art/640110/article/actualite/belgique/2014-08-29/pensions-alimentaires-un-droit-difficile-faire-valoir [Access 13 January 2021].
Blom, J.C.H., and Lamberts, E., 2006. The History of the Low Countries. Trans.: J. C. Kennedy. New York/Oxford: Berghahn. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3167/9781800735453
Breger, R., and Hill, R., eds., 1998. Cross-Cultural Marriages. Oxford/New York: Berg.
Chesler, P., 2011. Mothers on Trial: The Battle for Children and Custody. Chicago: Lawrence Hill Books.
Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO), 2014. Stock estimate of overseas Filipinos as of Dec. 2013 [online]. Manila: CFO. Available from: https://cfo.gov.ph/yearly-stock-estimation-of-overseas-filipinos/ [Access 13 January 2021].
Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO), 2019. Number of Filipino spouses and other partners of foreign nationals by sex: 1989–2018 [online]. Manila: CFO. Available from: https://cfo.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/statistics/FS/FS-1989-2018-by-SEX.xlsx [Access 13 January 2021].
De Hart, B., and Besselsen, E., 2020. “Everything went according to the rules”. Female citizen sponsors’ legal consciousness, intimate citizenship and family migration law. Identities [online], published online 16 February. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/1070289X.2020.1723310 [Access 13 January 2021]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1070289X.2020.1723310
de Winter, J., and Spranger, A., 2012. Partner alimony less common, but higher amounts paid. Statistics Netherlands [online], 31 October. Available from: https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/news/2012/44/partner-alimony-less-common-but-higher-amounts-paid [Access 13 January 2021].
Dreby, J., 2012. The burden of deportation on children in Mexican immigrant families. Journal of Marriage and Family [online], 74(4), 829–845. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2012.00989.x [Access 13 January 2021]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2012.00989.x
Erel, U., Reynolds, T., and Kaptani, E., 2018. Migrant mothers’ creative interventions into racialized citizenship. Ethnic and Racial Studies [online], 41(1), 55–72. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2017.1317825 [Access 13 January 2021]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2017.1317825
European Justice, 2020a. Créances alimentaires – Belgique [online]. Last updated 17 December. Available from: https://e-justice.europa.eu/content_maintenance_claims-47-be-maximizeMS_EJN-fr.do?member=1 [Access 13 January 2021].
European Justice, 2020b. Divorce – Netherlands [online]. Last updated 11 December. Available from: https://e-justice.europa.eu/content_divorce-45-nl-maximizeMS_EJN-en.do [Access 13 January 2021].
Fresnoza-Flot, A., 2015. The Bumpy Landscape of Family Reunification: Experiences of First and 1.5-generation Filipinos in France. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies [online], 41(7), 1152–1171. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2014.956711 [Access 13 January 2021]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2014.956711
Fresnoza-Flot, A., 2018a. Raising citizens in “mixed” family setting: Mothering techniques of Filipino and Thai migrants in Belgium. Citizenship studies [online], 22(3), 278–293. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/13621025.2018.1449807 [Access 13 January 2021]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13621025.2018.1449807
Fresnoza-Flot, A., 2018b. Rethinking children’s place(s) in transnational families: Mobile childhoods in Filipino international migration. In: V. Ducu, M. Nedelcu and A. Telegdi-Csetri, eds., Childhood and Parenting in Transnational Settings. Cham: Springer, 11–24. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90942-4_2
Fresnoza-Flot, A., 2018c. Social citizenship and divorce: Filipino migrant women (un)claiming social rights in the Netherlands and in Belgium. Nijmegen Migration Law Working Papers, series nº. 2018/01.
Fresnoza-Flot, A., 2019. Interacting legal norms and cross-border divorce: Stories of Filipino migrant women in the Netherlands. Migration Letters [online], 16(4), 521–529. Available from: https://doi.org/10.33182/ml.v16i4.669 [Access 13 January 2021]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33182/ml.v16i4.669
Fresnoza-Flot, A., and Ricordeau, G., eds., 2017. International Marriages and Marital Citizenship: Southeast Asian Women on the Move. Abingdon/New York: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315446363
Hegar, R.L., and Greif, G.L., 1991. Parental kidnapping across international borders. International Social Work [online], 34, 353–363. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1177/002087289103400404 [Access 13 January 2021]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/002087289103400404
Hegar, R.L., and Greif, G.L., 1994. Parental abduction of children from interracial and cross-cultural marriages. Journal of Comparative Family Studies [online], 25(1), 135–142. Available from: https://doi.org/10.3138/jcfs.25.1.135 [Access 13 January 2021]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3138/jcfs.25.1.135
Horton, S., 2009. A mother’s heart is weighed down with stones: A phenomenological approach to the experience of transnational motherhood. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry [online], 33(1), 21–40. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-008-9117-z [Access 13 January 2021]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-008-9117-z
Hubeau, B., and Terlouw, A., 2014. Legal aid and access to justice: How to look at and evaluate legal aid systems. In: B. Hubeau and A. Terlouw, eds., Legal Aid in the Low Countries. Cambridge: Intersentia, 3–15.
James, A., and James, A.L., 2004. Constructing Childhood: Theory, Policy and Social Practice. Basingstoke/New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Kaganas, F., and Sclater, S.D., 2004. Contact disputes: narrative constructions of “good” parents. Feminist Legal Studies [online], 12(1), 1–27. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:FEST.0000026077.03989.70 [Access 13 January 2021]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:FEST.0000026077.03989.70
Kelly, J.B., 2007. Children’s living arrangements following separation and divorce: Insights from empirical and clinical research. Family Process [online], 46(1), 35–52. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1545-5300.2006.00190.x [Access 13 January 2021]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1545-5300.2006.00190.x
Kim, D.S., 2010. The rise of cross-border marriage and divorce in contemporary Korea. In: W.S. Yang and M.C.W. Lu, eds., Asian Cross-Border Marriage Migration: Demographic Patterns and Social Issues. Amsterdam University Press, 127–153.
Kruk, E., and Hall, B.L., 1995. The disengagement of paternal grandparents subsequent to divorce. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage [online], 23(1–2), 131–148. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1300/J087v23n01_09 [Access 13 January 2021]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1300/J087v23n01_09
Lussier, G., et al., 2002. Support across two generations: children’s closeness to grandparents following parental divorce and remarriage. Journal of Family Psychology [online], 16(3), 363–376. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.16.3.363 [Access 13 January 2021]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037//0893-3200.16.3.363
Macedo, S., 2015. Just Married: Same-Sex Couples, Monogamy, and the Future of Marriage. Princeton University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.23943/princeton/9780691166483.001.0001
Manalansan, M.F. IV, 2006. Queer intersections: Sexuality and gender in migration studies. International Migration Review [online], 40(1), 224–249. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-7379.2006.00009.x [Access 13 January 2021]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-7379.2006.00009.x
Mand, K., 2005. Marriage and migration through the life course experiences of widowhood, separation and divorce amongst transnational Sikh women. Indian Journal of Gender Studies [online], 12(2–3), 407–425. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1177/097152150501200211 [Access 13 January 2021]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/097152150501200211
Mazzucato, V., and Schans, J., 2011. Transnational families and the well-being of children: Conceptual and methodological challenges. Journal of Marriage and Family [online], 73(4), 704–712. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1741-3737.2011.00840.x [Access 13 January 2021]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2011.00840.x
Moreau, T., 2015. Préambule : L'évolution du concept d'intérêt du mineur sur le plan juridique. In : J. Marquet and L. Merla, eds., L’intérêt supérieur de l’Enfant dans la Mosaïque familiale : Ce que Cela Signifie pour les Enfants. Rapport final. Louvain-la-Neuve: CIRFASE, CIDE and CeFAP, 6–18.
Morewitz, S., 2019. Kidnapping and Violence: New Research and Clinical Perspectives. New York: Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2117-1
Municio-Larsson, I., and Pujol Algans, C., 2002. Making sense of fatherhood: The non-payment of child support in Spain. In: B. Hobson, ed., Making Men into Fathers: Men, Masculinities and the Social Politics of Fatherhood. Cambridge University Press, 191–212. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511489440.009
Nelson, T.J., 2004. Low-income fathers. Annual Review of Sociology [online], 30, 427–451. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.29.010202.095947 [Access 13 January 2021]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.29.010202.095947
Noël, L., 2016. Aperçus du Non-Recours aux Droits sociaux et de la Sous-Protection sociale en Région bruxelloise. Rapport bruxellois sur l’État de la Pauvreté 2016 [online]. Brussels: Observatoire de la Santé et du Social de Bruxelles-Capitale. Available from: https://www.ccc-ggc.brussels/sites/default/files/documents/graphics/rapport-pauvrete/rapport_thema_fr_2016.pdf [Access 13 January 2021].
Oostrom, L., Sterk, M., and Goedhuys, M., 2012. Rapport Monitoring Kinderalimentatie [online]. The Hague: Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek. Available from: https://www.cbs.nl/-/media/imported/documents/2012/47/121122-monitoring-kinderalimentatie-rapport.pdf?la=en-gb [Access 13 January 2021].
Pande, A., 2017. Mobile masculinities: Migrant Bangladeshi men in South Africa. Gender & Society [online], 31(3), 383–406. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243217702825 [Access 13 January 2021]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243217702825
Parreñas, R.S., 2005. Children of Global Migration: Transnational Families and Gendered Woes. Stanford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781503624627
Piper, N., 2000. Globalization, gender and migration: The case of international marriage in Japan. In: J. Cook, J. Roberts and G. Waylen, eds., Towards a Gendered Political Economy. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 205–225. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230373150_11
Pound, R., 1910. Law in books and law in action. American Law Review, 44, 12–34.
Quah, E.L.S., 2017. Rethinking intimacies in transnational divorces: the case of Singaporean transnational divorce biographies. Presentation in the conference Transnational families and divorce: revisiting marital break-up in times of global (im)mobilities, 27–28 September.
Quah, E.L.S., 2018. Emotional reflexivity and emotion work in transnational divorce biographies. Emotion, Space and Society [online], 29, 48–54. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emospa.2018.09.001 [Access 13 January 2021]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emospa.2018.09.001
Samson, M., 2016. Parental kidnapping: An epidemic that is escalating. Cardozo Journal of Law & Gender, 23, 309–338.
Schnitzer-Reese, E.A., 2004. International child abduction to non-Hague Convention countries: The need for an international family court. Northwestern Journal of International Human Rights [online], 2(1), 2–19. Available from: https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1010&context=njihr [Access 13 January 2021].
Silberman, L.J., 2008. Rethinking rules of conflict of laws in marriage and divorce in the United States: What can we learn from Europe. Tulane Law Review, 82, 1999–2019.
Singh, K., 2008. Child custody cases in the context of international migration. In: R. Palriwala and P. Uberoi, eds., Marriage, Migration and Gender. New Delhi: Sage, 326–347. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9788132100324.n13
Singla, R., 2015. Intermarriage and Mixed Parenting, Promoting Mental Health and Wellbeing: Crossover Love. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137390783
Solis, J., 2003. Re-thinking illegality as a violence against, not by Mexican immigrants, children, and youth. Journal of Social Issues [online], 59(1), 15–31. Available from: https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1111/1540-4560.00002 [Access 13 January 2021]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-4560.00002
Sportel, I., 2016. Divorce in Transnational Families: Marriage, Migration and Family Law. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-34009-8
Statistics Netherlands (CBS), 2015. More and more underage children live with one parent [online]. 27 March. The Hague/Heerlen/Bonaire: Statistics Netherlands. Available from: https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/news/2015/13/more-and-more-underage-children-live-with-one-parent [Access 13 January 2021].
Strasser, E., et al., 2009. Doing family. The History of the Family [online], 14(2), 165–176. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hisfam.2009.02.005 [Access 13 January 2021]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hisfam.2009.02.005
Suzuki, N., 2003. Transgressing “victims”: Reading narratives of “Filipina brides” in Japan. Critical Asian Studies [online], 35(3), 399–420. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/1467271032000109908 [Access 13 January 2021]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1467271032000109908
Thomson, R., et al., 2002. Critical moments: Choice, chance and opportunity in young people’s narratives of transition. Sociology [online], 36(2), 335–354. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038502036002006 [Access 13 January 2021]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038502036002006
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Asuncion Fresnoza-Flot
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
OSLS strictly respects intellectual property rights and it is our policy that the author retains copyright, and articles are made available under a Creative Commons licence. The Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution No-Derivatives licence is our default licence, further details available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 If this is not acceptable to you, please contact us.
The non-exclusive permission you grant to us includes the rights to disseminate the bibliographic details of the article, including the abstract supplied by you, and to authorise others, including bibliographic databases, indexing and contents alerting services, to copy and communicate these details.
For information on how to share and store your own article at each stage of production from submission to final publication, please read our Self-Archiving and Sharing policy.
The Copyright Notice showing the author and co-authors, and the Creative Commons license will be displayed on the article, and you must agree to this as part of the submission process. Please ensure that all co-authors are properly attributed and that they understand and accept these terms.
