Domestic Abuse Commissioner: New Report “Everyday Business”
Press release from Domestic Abuse Commissioner: “A damning new report by the Domestic Abuse Tsar has revealed that domestic abuse is ‘everyday business’ for the Family Courts, yet a pro-contact culture and dismissive attitudes towards victim-survivors are contributing to decisions that may be putting children’s safety at significant risk.”
- New research reveals that domestic abuse is ‘everyday business’ within the family justice system, as nearly 90% of cases reviewed by the Commissioner identified it as an issue
- A pro-contact culture and a failure to recognise domestic abuse and its severity is leading to decisions that may jeopardise children’s safety
- The Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales says the reform promised in the wake of the Harm Panel Review in 2020 remains unfulfilled and demands urgent action to better protect adult and child victims
New research led by academics at Loughborough University – based on a pilot study across three Family Court sites which reviewed nearly 300 child arrangement case files, live observations of nearly 100 case hearings, as well as focus groups with domestic abuse survivors and interviews with judges, magistrates and Cafcass/Cafcass Cymru officers – provides unprecedented insight into the workings of the family justice system which has, until now, never been comprehensively collected.
