Author:

Keywords:

Cultural diversity, Legal anthropology, Migration, (Shared) Child residency, Family law, Social Sciences, Law, Government & Law, cultural diversity, migration, family law, (shared) child residency, legal anthropology, 1801 Law, 4804 Law in context

Abstract:

Based on two empirical studies conducted in Belgium in different courts of family justice and interviews held with families and other stakeholders, this contribution addresses the issue of child residency after separation or divorce in families with a migrant background – mostly of Moroccan origin. The study of families' pathways to justice constitutes an interesting starting point to reflect on the diversification of family configurations which often develop in the margins of the standards shaped or conveyed by the law. In this article, the authors examine how lived realities of child residency in families with a migrant background interplay with the Belgian Law of the 18th of July 2006, which institutes equal shared residency as the reference model for child residency after parental disunion. By associating legal and socio-anthropological perspectives, the article highlights how the gap between mainstream ideals (for example, equal shared residency) and the lived realities of (migrant) families can sometimes work against the egalitarian myth pursued by the legislature and the judiciary, as well as against the interests of the child, but also of its parents, particularly at the expense of the mother, throughout but also after the judicial process.