{"id":46650,"date":"2024-11-20T11:53:51","date_gmt":"2024-11-20T11:53:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/womensaid.org.uk\/?p=46650"},"modified":"2025-07-29T16:11:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T15:11:17","slug":"the-family-justice-response-to-domestic-abuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/womensaid.org.uk\/the-family-justice-response-to-domestic-abuse\/","title":{"rendered":"The Family Justice Response to Domestic Abuse"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Family Justice Response to Domestic Abuse<\/h1>\n

A new report <\/span>The Family Justice Response to Domestic Abuse<\/span><\/i><\/a> adds to a <\/span>rapidly increasing evidence base<\/span><\/a> of what is now confirmed to be <\/span>deep-rooted, systematic problems in the family justice response to domestic abuse in England and Wales.<\/span><\/a> This new publication reveals that many of these problems are widespread across five separate jurisdictions in Europe. Back in 2017, Women\u2019s Aid partnered with Queen Mary University to explore <\/span>survivors of domestic abuse\u2019s experiences of the family courts through the lens of human rights.<\/span><\/a> This study formed the preliminary research to this three-year investigation across six countries. Within the new report, judges, lawyers, survivors, and court-appointed experts were consulted in Spain, Italy, France, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and England and Wales to understand the family justice response to domestic abuse. <\/span><\/p>\n

Several key themes emerged:\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. Understandings of violence and abuse:<\/span><\/b> Concerns were raised about a lack of understanding of domestic abuse amongst legal professionals, with any training related to this area not being mandatory nor transparent.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Experiences of the justice system:<\/strong> Survivors overwhelmingly felt their experiences had been made worse by the justice system, and the differing expectations and accountability for mothers compared to fathers.<\/li>\n
  3. Barriers to justice:<\/span><\/b> A lack of coordination between the court systems resulted in courts not being kept up to date with relevant criminal proceedings. Other barriers included lack of access to legal aid and inequality in proceedings. <\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Parental alienation:<\/span><\/b> Whilst there was an awareness of the widespread <\/span>concern of its usage<\/span><\/a> and origin, stakeholders reported that the terminology used is irrelevant, the weight it continues to hold in the family courts and the belief that it is primarily mothers who engage in the behaviours associated with the concept.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Human rights: <\/span><\/b>It was resoundingly acknowledged that the rights of survivors were rarely cited by lawyers in arguments even though they were clearly relevant.<\/span> The project commissioned <\/span>this animation<\/span><\/a> to disseminate their findings regarding the usage of human rights arguments.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    At Women\u2019s Aid, we have been calling on the government and all \u202ffamily courts agencies to make the family court process safer for women and\u202fchild\u202fsurvivors of domestic abuse through our <\/span>Child First campaign<\/span><\/a> since 2016.\u00a0 It has now been over four years since the publication of the publication of the <\/span>Harm Panel report.<\/span><\/a> Whilst there have been some welcome developments, including provisions in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, women survivors of domestic abuse continue to tell us that <\/span>the family courts are failing them and their children.<\/span><\/a> The recently published <\/span>Cafcass domestic abuse practice policy<\/span><\/a> marks another step forward in the right direction.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    However, research publications such as this one serve as a stark reminder of how far there is still to go. We call upon the Government to urgently commit to the following recommendations:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n