This article examines the opportunities and obstacles for vulnerable and victimized children's participation in family law proceedings. With the help of a set of interviews with children, a framework for the analysis of vulnerable and victimized children's participation is outlined with reference to, on the one hand, the childhood studies debates concerning children's participation and, on the other hand, the contemporary debates about children as victims of crime when exposed to men's violence to women in their family. The authors argue that participation can be viewed as central not simply to a rights perspective on children, but also to a care perspective. (Contains 7 endnotes and 1 figure.)