We all get bruises

We all get bruises. How much is required to protect a child?

Is it reasonable for a child to be forced to live with a parent documented as violent? Why does social services often take the side of the perpetrator and disregard the perspective of the child? Is access to a parent more important than a child feeling safe?

In this important book, Monica Dahlström-Lannes consistently takes the side of the children. Having worked as a police officer for almost 40 years, she had enough. Pattern after pattern repeated itself. Perpetrators are believed by social services and courts – and the children, well, they are often dismissed. The children's need for both parents is often prioritized over the need for a childhood without abuse and fear in court judgments.

This book clearly shows how society fails children – and how parents who have themselves been subjected to abuse by their previous partners must watch their children endure abuse without having the slightest opportunity to intervene or even meet the children.