Women’s Aid responds to the removal of the presumption of parental contact in the Courts and Tribunals Bill

Farah Nazeer, Chief Executive of Women’s Aid, comments:

“We are delighted to see the government announcement of the repeal of the presumption of parental contact from family court cases, as part of Courts and Tribunals Bill yesterday. This marks a major campaign victory for Women’s Aid, our sector partners and the survivors we have worked with, including our ambassador Claire Throssell MBE. We are hopeful that this historic decision will help ensure the safety of children is put before the rights of abusive parents. 

‘Claire’s two sons, Jack and Paul, were murdered by their abusive father and she has been campaigning for this landmark change ever since. The proposed change in law will mean that from now on, children should be protected and that abusers will no longer be able to use family courts as a weapon against their victims.  

“We will now be calling for specialist domestic and sexual abuse training to be mandated for judges, in recognition of the fact that years of pro-contact culture will take time to reverse. Education and better understanding of domestic abuse are essential to ensure that preventable mistakes are avoided and both women and child survivors are kept safe.”