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The thesis concerns two pathways for legal intervention in cases of suspected child abuse at the hands of parents. One pathway is based on social law, where society's utmost tool is child protective custody. The other pathway is criminal law, where the abuse is investigated and enforced as a criminal offence. Sometimes only one of these pathways becomes relevant, sometimes both. The purpose of the thesis is to examine and analyse the regulatory framework and its practical application, and to highlight what the two pathways of intervention can accomplish in relation to the child victim's rights and interests. In the case of child abuse, the (legal) relationship between parents and children - and between children, parents and society - is brought to a head. The study demonstrates that many complex legal issues arise when the person subjecting the child to violence and abuse is the same person who under family law answers for the child's protection, care and representation. It is inter alia noted that the concept "best interests of the child" is interpreted somewhat freely, which can risk overriding the legal rights of the child victim. It is concluded that, in order to secure the child victim's legal protection, the regulation needs many small enhancements, each tailored to the problem conditions.

This investigation explores the international perspectives of causality of human traffic, specifically, traffic into commercial sexual exploitation. Current Western approaches to combat trafficking centre around law and order, immigration issues, and victim protection programs. While these are important for a holistic effort to deter traffic, these foci overlook prevention endeavors, thereby acting as a band-aid on a bullet wound, addressing the symptoms, but not the foundation of trafficking. Western perspectives toward prevention concentrate on economic aspects of supply and demand while crediting the root cause to be poverty. Using social exclusion theory, this thesis demonstrates that the current paradigm of viewing human trafficking in purely economic terms is an oversimplification. This project proposes to widen the focus of prevention efforts those cultural and social structures which push and pull victims into trafficking. The research is a response to an international call for further initiatives to prevent human trafficking, the recent rise of human traffic in Guatemala, Central America and the lack of research which focuses on the social links with trafficking and mainstream society. Research conducted in Guatemala, included a thirteen-month ethnography and involved one-hundred and thirteen qualitative interviews conducted in nine Guatemalan cities strategically located along trafficking routes. The target research population included women sex workers and former traffic victims from Central America and included insights from non-governmental organizations workers. Twenty-three interviewees were Central American migrants which provided insight in the wider regional structures of traffic and commercial sexual exploitation. The interviews aimed at understanding the lived experiences of exploitation in order to determine whether social exclusion affects human traffic within commercial sexual exploitation. The findings revealed the underlying social and cultural structures which reinforce human trafficking. Empirical data collected provides real-time data on trafficking networks, commercial sexual exploitation and reveals the geo-political significance of Guatemala as a hot-spot for traffic. Analysis of interviews illustrates variations in the experience of human traffic and commercial sexual exploitation which challenges current western stereotypical ideas on traffic victims. Conceptually, macro-structures—political, economic, social, and violence—are presented as a back drop for the formation of wider networks of exploitation. The exploration of violence as a push factor challenges international forced repatriation policies. Micro-structures—gender roles, family, violence, and coping strategies—are examined in the ways they perpetuate social systems of trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation. Theoretically, the thesis argues against the current paradigm which narrowly focuses on economics, but calls for the incorporation of social exclusion theory to understand the multi-dimensionality of human traffic and its wider links to society in order to open up new dialogue for prevention between the West and the majority world.

The study provided a general orientation of crimes against children in South Africa to buttress the rationale of the research. A concise definition of crime, child, child abuse, sexual child abuse, physical child abuse, victims and perpetrators of sexual crimes against children. The research described the various forms of crimes against children in Guateng, the causes and explanations. An interpretation of the empirical study was provided in this research. It focussed on the perpetrators and victims of child sex crimes. The types of offenders, the motives and theoretical explanations of their behaviour. The modus operandi of the perpetrators found in the empirical study. The various characteristics of victims and perpetrators, the legal processes in the adjudication of child sexual offenders. The research examined some of the prevention strategies of child sexual crimes. Findings of the empirical research are provided. / Criminology / M.A. (Criminology)

The study provided a general orientation of crimes against children in South Africa to buttress the rationale of the research. A concise definition of crime, child, child abuse, sexual child abuse, physical child abuse, victims and perpetrators of sexual crimes against children. The research described the various forms of crimes against children in Guateng, the causes and explanations. An interpretation of the empirical study was provided in this research. It focussed on the perpetrators and victims of child sex crimes. The types of offenders, the motives and theoretical explanations of their behaviour. The modus operandi of the perpetrators found in the empirical study. The various characteristics of victims and perpetrators, the legal processes in the adjudication of child sexual offenders. The research examined some of the prevention strategies of child sexual crimes. Findings of the empirical research are provided. / Criminology and Security Science / M.A. (Criminology)

År 2021 trädde en ny lag om barnfridsbrott i kraft, vilket innebär att det är straffbart att barn bevittnar brott i nära relationer. Studiens syfte var att undersöka socialsekreterares upplevelser och erfarenheter av hur barnfridsbrottslagen påverkat det praktiska arbetet med barn som har bevittnat våld i nära relationer. För att uppnå syftet valdes en kvalitativ ansats och sju semistrukturerade intervjuer med socialsekreterare genomfördes. Empirin analyserades med hjälp av en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Som teoretisk utgångspunkt för analysen valdes organisationsteori ur ett Human Resource-perspektiv samt begreppen “barnperspektivet” och “barnets bästa”. Resultatet tolkades även mot bakgrund av tidigare forskning om barnfridsbrottslagen och socialtjänstens praktiska arbete med barn som upplevt våld. Resultatet visade att ett fåtal av socialsekreterarna upplevde sig ha tillräckligt med kunskap om lagstiftningen och majoriteten önskade mer kunskap. De mest påtagliga förändringarna i arbetet efter införandet av lagen var att socialsekreterare bör överväga om polisanmälan ska göras, det blir tydligare i kommunikation med föräldrar att det är brottsligt för barn att bevittna våld samt att lagen möjliggör att kunna bryta det våldsamma mönstret. De mest framträdande utmaningarna var att det krävs ett grundbrott, att det är svårt att närma sig våldsproblematiken med både föräldrar och barn samt att polisförhör tenderar att dröja. Förbättringsmöjligheter som socialsekreterare önskade var tydligare beskrivningar på; centrala begrepp och ansvarsfördelningar mellan olika professioner. Slutsatsen var att socialsekreterare är i behov av mer stöd och resurser för att kunna arbeta med barnfridsbrottslagen på bästa sätt och för att de ska kunna ha en samsyn kring arbetet. / In Sweden, since 2021, it is illegal to let children witness domestic violence. In this qualitative study, we investigate social workers’ experiences regarding the question of how the respective law affects their work with children and adolescents. We conducted seven semi-structured interviews with social workers. The data was analyzed through a qualitative content analysis. The theoretical starting point of the analysis was organization theory from a Human Resource-perspective and the concepts “child perspective” and “best interest of the child”. We also refer to previous research on the new law and the practical work of the social services. The results of the study show that a few social workers feel that they have enough knowledge of the legislation and the majority wish for more knowledge. The most obvious change is that social workers need to consider filing a police report, that it can be clearly communicated that it is criminalized to let children witness domestic violence and a possibility to break the violent pattern. Challenges with the law was that a fundamental crime is required, to approach the problem of violence with parents and children and that police interrogation tends to be delayed. Suggestions for improvements are clearer descriptions of central concepts and distribution of responsibilities between different professions. The conclusion was that social workers need additional support and resources to be able to work with the new law in the best way to be able to have a consensus regarding the work.