Centre for Gender and Violence Research Seminar (Free to attend)

Seminar 8: The use of family courts to address domestic abuse in England and Wales.

Online event 13:00-13:50 GMT

This is a free event. Joining details will be sent to you upon registration.

Speakers:

Dr Ludivine Garside, University of Bristol, School of Law

Domestic abuse is a known concern in many types of family law cases, both private and public. It affects over half of private child arrangement cases, and two thirds of birth mothers in samples of children subject to care proceedings. However, it remains unknown which types of court users receive protection through Non-Molestation or Occupation Orders granted by family courts. New administrative datasets and linkages can supplement the information already available from national statistics, providing an evidence base to understand how family court users approach domestic abuse matters, their experiences of the family justice system, and how the court responds.
This project is one of the first to gain approval from HM Courts & Tribunals Services (HMCTS) to use de-identified versions of their family court data and linkage to the Children and Families Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass) datasets, insofar as courts refer the case to Cafcass for advice about the safety and best interests of children. The project describes the court journeys and legal outcomes associated to different types of individuals and cases in England and Wales, and how the added understanding at population-level can focus and support discussions about the use of family courts to address domestic abuse.