Survivors of domestic abuse campaign for change in family courts

Almost thirty thousand decisions have been taken over two years in the family courts in Northern Ireland - almost 17,000 of which involve family home and domestic violence and children orders.Several women have told UTV that their experience with this part of the legal system - which is held behind closed doors - has left them traumatised.

Some allege they were threatened with penal notices, contempt of court, and the potential removal of their children.

The women, who are also survivors of domestic abuse, cannot be identified to preserve their anonymity and that of their children.

They met the victims of crime commissioner at Stormont earlier this week to lobby for a greater level of transparency to ensure victims of domestic abuse and their children are better protected - including a call for journalists to be allowed to report on family proceedings.

'Beth' - not her real name - has battled for over two years through the family courts in Northern Ireland to protect her now three-year-old son from contact with his father - a drug addict and her abuser. 

The 40-year-old alleges she was threatened with penal notices, removal of her children and even arrest after she was unable to make certain court appearances to care for her son who has complex needs.

Her ex-partner she believes was orchestrating custody proceedings to coercively control her.

''I ended up becoming the criminal in my case where I was trying to safeguard my child and I was being stigmatised as a vexatious mother. I was being labelled as a parental alienator. Implacable hostility was used against me. How is this being allowed to happen within our judiciary system in Northern Ireland?,'' she claims.

'Beth' added: ''Why are judges putting penal notices on mothers that are victims? You're being told that you'll be held in contempt of court if you don't obey the court order which is a forced contact with an abusive parent. You're being threatened with a residency order that your child is going to be removed from your care and put under the care of the unsafe parent, the abusive parent.''

The Victims of Crime Commissioner agrees reform of the family courts needs urgent attention.

Geraldine Hanna plans to carry out research in this area to determine the scale of the problem.

''What we know is of child contact can be another tool for perpetrators to use post-separation. And what we want to see in our family courts is the recognition and understanding of that,'' said Ms Hanna.

''One of the challenges we have is that the family court system is a closed court so we don't have the same transparency of that system for good reasons.''

The Justice Minister Naomi Long says she would be keen to have a discussion about the merits of greater transparency, including media access to family courts for the media to be there.

''The challenge is how that would come about because obviously these are some of the most sensitive personal and intimate details which people are sharing in family court,'' she said.

''So finding a way of maintaining the privacy and dignity of those accessing the family court while at the same time making the public more aware of the processes will, I think, be the key balance.''

'Beth' believes reporters being present in these types of cases will help women like her.

''For the media to be there I do believe that I would have a massive impact on the way judges are approaching cases,'' she said.

In a statement from the office of the chief justice, Dame Siobhan Keegan said she and her judicial colleagues were aware of the ''devastating impact'' on families experiencing domestic abuse and she wanted to ensure that complainants who have suffered domestic abuse are ''heard, supported and have access to the full suite of special measures and orders which the court can provide to ensure the protection of them and their families''.  

She added: ''The welfare of the child or children is at the forefront in the consideration of any family case and the outcome will depend on the specific circumstances that pertain to that case.

''A range of different factors will be considered by the Judge including all of the evidence provided to the court as well as the relevant statute and case law before making their decision.''

The statement continued that Dame Keegan has ''long advocated for transparency and greater access to our court system to promote open justice and help the public better understand the complex decisions that judges make''.

''Following on from the work in 2019 to pilot media access and reporting of cases in the Family Division of the High Court, the shadow Family Justice Board asked the Department of Justice to consider the necessary policy and legislative considerations to support media access to family cases,'' it read.

A scheme to allow reporters into family court has been piloted within the last number of weeks in England and Wales.

Further legislative change would be required here.

'Beth's' case may have been resolved.

But the journey for others navigating a complex and closed system is far from over.

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