Description

Domestic abuse is one of the most serious and pervasive forms of violence against women and girls and constitutes a violation of their human rights. Given the prevalence of domestic abuse in relationships, and that separation from a perpetrator can be the most dangerous period for the victim, a focus of increasing concern has been the dangers posed by post-separation contact to both adult and child victims (either as direct victims or as witnesses and including sexual abuse). The phenomena of domestic abuse perpetrators using family law proceedings as a tool to continue the abuse and coercion has been demonstrated by a substantial body of research.  This not only facilitates the secondary traumatisation of victims of abuse but also implicates state institutions in its perpetuation, most particularly when access to children is mandated and custody of children is awarded to perpetrators, despite evidence of a history of domestic and/or sexual abuse.  In recent years, it is apparent that the concept of ‘parental alienation’ in its many forms and iterations, has played a significant role in providing justifications for such outcomes which is causing widespread alarm and distress.

The response of family justice systems towards victims of domestic abuse across the world epitomises a lack of understanding of the dynamics of domestic abuse and the utilisation of family law proceedings by perpetrators to continue abuse, most particularly with reference to so called ‘parental alienation.’  Most stark, however, is the lack of reference to human rights law. The private arena of family law has remained largely untroubled by advances in understanding concerning domestic abuse and the applicability of due diligence standards and positive obligations in this regard. This lecture will provide a detailed overview of these issues and an analysis of the relevance of international human rights law to this area.