Custody, violence against women and violence against children Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences, Reem Alsalem

We are delighted that our submissions from SHERA members Dr Elizabeth Dalgarno, University of Manchester, Dr Adrienne Barnett, Brunel University, Paola Motosi, CPI Voz Materna and Dr Sonja Ayeb-Karlsson, University College London are featured in the latest report from the UNSRVAWG:

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Custody, violence against women and violence against children

Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences, Reem Alsalem

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The UNSRVAWG makes several recommendations for states to act now to protect child(ren) and mothers who are victims of violence and sexual abuse by perpetrator fathers including:

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(a) States legislate to prohibit the use of parental alienation or related pseudo-concepts in family law cases and the use of so-called experts in parental alienation and related pseudo-concepts;

(b) States comply with their responsibilities and positive obligations under international human rights law by establishing regular monitoring mechanisms to oversee the effectiveness of family justice systems for victims of domestic abuse;

(c) States ensure mandatory training of the judiciary and other justice system professionals on gender bias, the dynamics of domestic violence and the relationship between allegations of domestic abuse and of parental alienation and related pseudo-concepts;

(d) States issue and implement specific guidance to the judiciary on the need to examine each case on the basis of facts and to judge fairly, according to the range of evidence before them, what outcome best supports the welfare of the child;

(e) States institute publicly funded systems of experts to provide information to courts on the best interest of the child and such experts be regularly trained on the dynamics of domestic violence and its effect on victims, including children;

(f) States ensure and maintain a list of approved experts for the family law system and introduce a formal complaint mechanism and an enforceable code of practice that addresses conflicts of interest and the recognition of expertise to practise in this area;

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The full report and recommendations can be accessed here.