Domestic abuse victims in family law courts

A January 2016 Women’s Aid report highlighted the cases of nineteen children killed by perpetrators of domestic abuse. The killings were made possible through unsafe child contact arrangements, formal and informal. Over half of the child contact arrangements were ordered through the courts. The report recommended that: 

• further avoidable child deaths must be prevented by putting children first in the family courts
• there is an urgent need for independent, national oversight into implementation of Practice Direction 12J – Child Arrangements and Contact Order: Domestic Violence and Harm

Women’s Aid has launched a Child First campaign “calling on the Government, all family courts professionals, and involved agencies to make the family court process safer for women and children survivors of domestic abuse”.