8 Safety issues
123. Domestic violence and other forms of abuse raise
emotive and controversial issues. Unfortunately, the Department
was unable to provide accurate statistics indicating how frequently
such problems occurred in contact disputes. Other witnesses offered
widely differing views. Groups representing victims of abuse,
such as Women's Aid and the NSPCC, focused on the inappropriate
grant of contact and the underreporting of domestic violence.
Groups representing non-resident parents stated that false accusations
were frequently made to frustrate contact and that this was not
adequately recognised by the Court. Witnesses also pointed out
that many child abuse cases arose while the child was at the home
of the resident parent. Baroness Ashton acknowledged that "we
do not have any statistics about unfounded allegations because,
as they are unfounded, they are not pursued".[93]
Anecdotal evidence based on case reports was produced by the judiciary
demonstrating that unfounded accusations of domestic violence
had occurred in some cases.
124. The Department accepted that the underreporting
of domestic violence was a problem. Baroness Ashton stated that:
What we are trying to do is to develop a systematic
way in which we approach this, a process that from the beginning
enables those who might be victims of domestic violence to bring
that forward. We know from experience that those who suffer domestic
violence sometimes do not know that they are even victims of domestic
violence, it is how they live.[94]
125. Following the implementation of s 120 of the
Adoption and Children Act 2002 the Department has announced a
number of initiatives in this area, including the introduction
of 'Gateway forms' to allow courts to be informed about allegations
of domestic violence at the outset of a case. An evaluation of
the number of applications with domestic violence will start in
the summer of 2006.[95]
Baroness Ashton told us that:
We want to make absolutely sure that where [safety]
could be a factor it is enabled to be raised at the beginning
and throughout the process and that where it is raised the court
makes a finding of fact looking at the evidence that might be
available to the court to determine whether or not it is a factor
and then, where it is a factor, it should be clear about the definition
of harm and what the implications would be of that in terms of
contact with the child.[96]
126. The introduction of further finding of fact
hearings in every case where domestic violence or safety issues
are raised would automatically lead to further delays. It may
not be essential for a finding of fact hearing to take place in
every case, since in some cases parents will admit to misconduct,
whilst in others it may be plain that there is not a continuing
safety issue in respect of the children. The Government should
undertake research to assess the percentage of claims of violence
found to be upheld in findings of fact hearings in contact and
residence cases.
127. Until the Department is able to present coherent
statistics on the issue of domestic violence, there will continue
to be a dispute as to the extent to which claims are underreported
or are falsely made in order to exclude fathers from contact.
Baroness Ashton acknowledged that this was a problem:
One of the interesting aspects whenever a Select
Committee does a piece of work is that one finds out what one
does not know and certainly I would say to the Committee that
one of the helpful things that has happened is that we need to
think very carefully about the kind of statistics we collect and
the sort of information we need without burdening, as you will
appreciate, CAFCASS, the courts or others and it might well that
be the Gateway process in a sense enables us to do that.[97]
After we finished taking evidence, we received the
report A Profile of Applicants and Respondents in Contact Cases
in Essex by a team at the University of East Anglia.[98]
Part of this work considered the reasons given for domestic breakdown.
This included domestic violence—cited by 24% of women as
the first reason for breakdown of the relationship: 38% of women
cited domestic violence or physical abuse as one of the reasons
for breakdown of the relationship. Although this study is based
on a relatively small sample (59 contact cases in Essex over a
four month period) it is a useful and welcome addition to the
research on this topic. The researchers concluded: "In terms
of the overall sample there was no clear link between reports
of physical abuse and domestic violence and child protection issues".[99]
128. There is little accurate or credible research
on the extent to which problems relating to domestic violence
have a bearing on contact applications, although we accept that
domestic violence is generally underreported. The Department is
proposing to introduce 'Gateway forms' to identify whether domestic
violence is an issue at the earliest possible stage. These will
have to be closely monitored, both to assess the safety issues
and to ensure that they do not give rise to additional legal argument.
It is essential that where safety is an issue this is reported.
Nevertheless, the Government will have to be careful to ensure
that the use of these forms in every case does not provide parents
with another weapon to use against each other, leading to more
delay in deciding cases.
129. It is vital that important safety issues
such as domestic violence and other forms of abuse are effectively
addressed. Enforcement action by the courts should not occur while
there are unresolved safety concerns. Equally, false accusations
raised by parents as a mechanism to frustrate contact should not
succeed. The Department should follow up the introduction of 'Gateway
forms' by examining the proportion of cases where the courts conclude
that violent or abusive conduct has actually occurred.
Contact centres
130. The Government has indicated that new money
will be found to increase the number of contact centres, where
contact has been ordered in circumstances where there may be a
risk of harm. On 18 January 2004, the Department made an announcement
(in conjunction with the Department for Education and Skills and
the Department for Trade and Industry) that the Government will
be making a further £7.5m available over 2006/07 and 2007/08
to sustain and develop services to support contact between parents
and children, including those delivered through child contact
centres.[100] It has
been suggested by some witnesses that use could be made of grandparents
and other extended family in such circumstances,[101]
whilst some fathers' groups believe that orders for contact restricted
to contact centres are abused.[102]
131. We welcome the extra funding which has been
found for the provision of additional contact centres. Referral
of cases to such centres should be a matter of last resort where
there is no other safe way to facilitate contact. A wider range
of options such as children's centres and extended schools would
provide more opportunities for contact and supervised contact.
There should be greater focus on creative and cost effective solutions,
such as those involving grandparents.
93 Q 439 Back
94
Q 437 Back
95
Cm 6452, para 19 Back
96
Q 437 Back
97
Q 440 Back
98
A Profile of Applicants, op cit Back
99
A Profile of Applicants, para 8.4, p 89 Back
100
www.dca.gov.uk Back
101
See for example Q 58 where His Honour Judge Meston QC commented
that in the context of providing interim contact orders: "If
an interim order has to be made to get things moving you make
an interim order, even if it means using a contact centre or something
of that sort, or using grandparents to help contact, just to keep
it going, so that the court process in itself is not an excuse
for not allowing contact to resume on a proper basis" and
also Q 90 Back
102
Ev 81- 82 Back
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