This article examines the opportunities and obstacles for vulnerable and victimised 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 victimised children’s participation is outlined in dialogue with, 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. We argue that participation can be viewed as central not simply to a rights perspective on children, but also to a care perspective.