Domestic Abuse Commissioner warns that the government’s commitment to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) is at risk without urgent funding for specialist domestic abuse services. Over a quarter of domestic abuse services (27%) surveyed in England and Wales are having to turn children away from vital support amid severe funding shortages, new research …
Today, 27th March 2025, the government has released its evaluation of the Pathfinder Family Court approach, outlining the positive impact of domestic abuse informed, child-inclusive and efficient proceedings. The Pathfinder Courts have acted as trials for a nationwide model to replace the current model which has been criticised for being adversarial, minimising domestic abuse and …
Commissioner responds to the government’s evaluation of Pathfinder Family Court pilots Read More »
Contact [email protected] for access to the survey Today the Domestic Abuse Commissioner is calling on professionals who support child victims of domestic abuse to help her map provision across England and Wales. To do this she has developed a 30 minute survey, and responses will help improve the funding and services for child victims of …
Help us improve funding and services for child domestic abuse victims Read More »
In July I presented my report, The Family Court and domestic abuse: achieving cultural change to government calling for wide reaching reform in the Family Court. The report shared concerning findings from my legal practitioner survey: more than 80 percent of those surveyed felt that the Family Court was likely to re-traumatise victims and survivors …
Today the Domestic Abuse Commissioner has released a report highlighting ongoing concerns about the traumatising experience of the Family Court for victims and survivors of domestic abuse. The report outlines the Commissioner’s plan for wholesale change in the Family Court process. This comes as new research with legal practitioners found that more than 80 percent …
Exclusive new data from the Domestic Abuse Commissioner has revealed the huge scale of inequalities in service provision for victims and survivors of domestic abuse across England and Wales. For the first time, pioneering new mapping by the Commissioner shows the extent of the disparities in levels of domestic abuse service from area to area, …
Exclusive new mapping data reveals a postcode lottery and patchwork of provision Read More »
Fewer than half of survivors were able to access the community-based support that they wanted, and only 28% said accessing help was easy or straightforward. Just 29% of survivors who wanted support for their children were able to access it. Only 7% of survivors who wanted their perpetrator to receive support to change their behaviour …
Every day I hear from domestic abuse survivors about their experiences in the family courts. Far too often survivors and their children have been let down and retraumatised through the process and it is one of my utmost priorities to change this. The stakes in these cases could not be higher. The family justice system …
Improving the Family Court response to domestic abuse Read More »
The Domestic Abuse Commissioner is calling for urgent long-term funding and more dedicated specialist court support after a new report revealed that 89 per cent of domestic abuse survivors don’t get any support when they go through the family courts. The report also found that 71 per cent of domestic abuse survivors don’t get any …
“The family and criminal court system retraumatises victims”, according to a new report Read More »
