Type:	Journal Article
Title:	For the sake of the children: law, domestic violence and child contact in England
Other Titles:	Women's studies international forum
Authors:	Humphries, Julie Woodfield, Kandy-Sue Radford, Lorraine Hester, Marianne
Keywords:	Family law
Year:	1997
Publisher:	Pergamon Press
Citation:	20 (4), 1997
Notes:	Argues that Family Law in England which covers child contact fails to address the problem of domestic violence. The Children Act 1989 (UK) abolished notions of custody and access and replaced these with the concept of ‘parental responsibility’, with a strong presumption of maintaining contact and an increasing emphasis on mediation and keeping cases out of court. The authors discuss the implications of these developments for women and children following separation where a man has been violent. Describes qualitative research undertaken between 1992 and 1995 looking at the contact arrangements of 53 women recently separated from violent men and 77 professionals involved in contact cases. The majority of the women initially saw some value in retaining contact between fathers and children and made great efforts to ensure that it occurred. All but 3 of the women were assaulted by their ex-partners when taking or collecting children from contact visits. A particular problem for the women and children was the way in which fathers used contact as a vehicle to further abuse the mother. Only 7 out of 53 women were eventually able to set up contact so that there was no further violence or harassment. Describes the difficulties which women found in dealing with the courts when contact involved violence to themselves or abuse of their children.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/14873
ISSN:	0277-5395
Appears in Collections:	Journal Articles

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