Race (and Gender and Class) and Child Custody: Theorizing Intersections in Two Canadian Court Cases

Abstract

In the summer of 2001, the Canadian media devoted attention to two court cases that resulted in mothers losing custody of their children. Kimberly Van de Perre and Nadia Hama might have been overlooked if the presentation of their cases had not evoked discussion regarding the relevance of claims of racism in custody decisions. Analysis of the media narrative reveals that the narrow focus on race distorted perceptions of these family situations, and contributed to the marginalization of the two single mothers involved. This paper examines this process to explore how an analysis based on multiple identities, and simultaneous existence and privilege, may have led to different outcomes for these two families