Domestic Abuse and Child Contact: International Experience

This book provides insights into international best practices in addressing allegations of domestic violence in child contact cases, highlighting common problems and promising initiatives.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 166 pages
Publication date: 25 September 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This book presents a collection of papers from an International Symposium on Contact Disputes and Allegations of Domestic Violence: Identifying Best Practices, held in London in May 2017. The editors invited a group of esteemed international experts to share their approaches to handling allegations of domestic violence in child contact cases, with the aim of identifying global best practices in such cases. The book encompasses contributions from various jurisdictions, including England and Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, Sweden, and Spain, as well as information presented at the symposium from New Zealand and Australia. The chapters delve into specific issues such as the establishment of specialist domestic violence courts, judicial training, and the importance of hearing the voices of children involved. Collectively, the chapters highlight a range of common challenges encountered across all the jurisdictions, including a predominant focus on maintaining children's ongoing contact with non-resident parents, often at the expense of addressing domestic violence and safeguarding the rights of children who do not wish to have contact with abusive parents. While best practices in taking domestic violence seriously and providing adequate protection for children and non-abusive parents were less evident, the concluding chapter offers a glimpse of promising initiatives and approaches that hold the potential for positive change.

The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law.

Weight: 453g
Dimension: 246 x 174 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367646349