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The idea (expressed in the Children and Families Act 2014 PART 2 Family justice, Section 11, 'Welfare of the child: parental involvement’) that parental contact should be terminated only in exceptional circumstances has caused tremendous harm to vulnerable children and women in our society.
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It has even led to the death of many women and of children, including as a result of court-ordered unsafe contact arrangements.
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The presumption in Section 11, that the involvement of both parents after parental separation is in the child’s best interests, is based on a contingent, contradictory and ambiguous body of research
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Research has shown that lower courts have operated on the assumption that parental contact should be maintained even in cases of abuse, and that the statutory presumption is operating in the same way; in this way it reinforces the pro-contact culture, with the balance in favour of domestically abusive parents
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Authors see at least three scenarios where the presumption of ‘parental involvement’ creates more harm than good: i) domestic abuse and/or child abuse, ii) parental abandonment, and iii) complex parenting relations• Globally, almost a third of women are subjected to violence by their partner or ex-partner
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The 2020 Ministry of Justice Harm Panel Report concluded that there is an urgent need to transform the pro-contact culture that has allowed for systematic minimising of violence and abuse of women and children while forcing them into unsafe child arrangements with dangerous fathers.