Experiences of Divorce and Separation in Times of Crisis: Social and Gender Inequalities in Family Courts during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Despite the move towards private ordering of legal issues in divorce, family courts in Switzerland remain a key actor in regulating the consequences of divorce and separation, especially when individuals struggle to negotiate their own agreement and when it is critical to protect the most vulnerable parties. During the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals with minor children who were already in a situation of instability, experienced increased vulnerability, both material and emotional, with adverse but differentiated consequences for mothers, fathers and children (e.g. in relation to visitation and physical custody arrangements and maintenance payments). Uneven use of digital technologies by Swiss family courts during the sanitary crisis created additional risks of inequality based on various factors (e.g., gender, age, ethnicity, social class, canton of residence, health status, digital skills).

This interdisciplinary project entitled "The practice of family law during the Covid-19 pandemic: digital justice and gender inequalities" aims to investigate the practices and challenges associated with the shift to digital justice during the COVID-19 pandemic in family proceedings in Switzerland, with a focus on separations and divorces. It consists of a legal text study of the changes in Switzerland with an international comparison (1), coupled with a qualitative study with three case studies of court practices (2) and a quantitative survey of family judges and lawyers (3). Based on these three types of data, this presentation focuses on the impact on individuals' experiences of divorce and separation from their own perspectives and from the perspectives of professionals in order to understand gender and social inequalities in family law during a major crisis.