This paper aims to examine how the legal status of animals as property affect them and their owners in the context of domestic abuse, and to answer the question of whether it would be appropriate to change this. Several methods are used, most notably the legal dogmatic, legal analytic, and socio-legal. A feminist perspective is also applied. Animals are classified as objects in the Swedish legal system. According to the courts, however, they are not an object like any other. Despite their legal status, they are entitled to certain rights. Through research on what is called the link, it has been proven that animals play a very important role in domestic abuse relationships. They are effectively weaponized against the woman, and they are also often themselves abused, something that is not always understood considering the animals’ status as property. Because of recent court judgements and other societal tendencies, it can however be discussed if this is still the case, or if the order is slowly shifting. The paper finds that it cannot be claimed that animals by the legal order are viewed as more than objects in cases of domestic abuse. It can however be claimed that court judgements, public projects and recent changes on the animal rights area show inclinations of the Swedish legal system increasingly acknowledging animals within the domestic abuse context, however principally to the extent the abused woman views the animal as meaningful to her. Further findings include that it is not expedient to broaden the right of appeal in animal rights cases for the sake of the domestically abused animal, until they are considered more than property. It is furthermore not expedient to consider all or certain types of animals as more than property in the context of domestic abuse, as it would not outweigh the opposing interests. The findings lead to the conclusion that animals in situations of domestic abuse are best protected within Swedish law by strengthening animal welfare, by recognizing abuse against animals as a form psychological violence against women, and by establishing national measures on how the link problematic is to be addressed and redressed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-472778 |
| Date | January 2021 |
| Creators | Fischer, Beatrice |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Juridiska institutionen |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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