Navigating child arrangement proceedings can be challenging, especially when domestic abuse is involved. If you or your child has been a victim of such abuse, it’s crucial to understand your rights and the protections available to you and your child through the court system.
Understanding Controlling and Coercive Behaviour:
To grasp how courts approach domestic abuse in child arrangement proceedings, it’s essential to understand the different types of abuse, including controlling and coercive behaviour. This behaviour can manifest in physical, sexual, psychological, emotional, and financial forms.
Definitions:
- Controlling Behaviour: Acts designed to make a person subordinate and/or dependent by isolating them from support, exploiting their resources, depriving them of independence, and regulating their everyday behaviour.
- Coercive Behaviour: A pattern of acts of assault, threats, humiliation, and intimidation used to harm, punish, or frighten their victim.
Types of Abuse:
Physical Abuse:
Intentional injury or pain, including beating, smacking, pushing, shaking, spitting, pinching, scalding, misuse of medicine, inappropriate restraint, or other physical injury.
Sexual Abuse:
Unwanted sexual interaction without consent, covering child sexual abuse, harassment, assault, rape, and non-contact abuses like exploitation, grooming, or sending graphic photos without permission.
Psychological Abuse:
Regular and deliberate use of words and actions to manipulate, hurt, weaken, or frighten a person mentally and emotionally, changing their sense of self and harming their wellbeing.
Emotional Abuse:
Non-physical actions intended to manipulate, alienate, or intimidate, causing significant psychological harm and trauma.
Financial Abuse:
Controlling a victim’s ability to obtain, use, and keep financial resources, isolating them through economic dependence.
The Courts’ Responsibility:
The court prioritizes the child’s best interests. If a child’s well-being is impacted by a parent’s controlling or coercive behaviour, the court may adjust child arrangements and issue prohibited steps orders to restrict the abusive parent’s behaviour.
Addressing Domestic Abuse in Proceedings:
- Safeguarding Enquiries: If initial enquiries, Form C1A, or other information indicate domestic abuse, the court addresses these issues at the hearing.
- Special Arrangements: The court makes necessary arrangements to protect parties attending hearings.
- Early Determination: The court quickly determines if domestic abuse is relevant to decisions about the child’s welfare, recording this in orders.
- Admissions of Abuse: Any admission of abuse is recorded and made available to relevant authorities.
- Fact-finding Hearings: Interim child arrangements orders are only made if they are in the child’s best interests and do not expose them to risk.
Direct Contact Considerations:
When domestic abuse has occurred but direct contact is deemed safe and beneficial, the court considers:
- Supervision of contact
- Conditions on the contact order, such as seeking intervention
Ensuring the Best Outcome for You and Your Children:
At Aristone Solicitors, we understand how emotionally taxing these proceedings can be. Our team is dedicated to supporting you through every step of the process with grace and sensitivity.
How can we help?
If you are facing domestic abuse in child arrangement proceedings, don’t go through it alone. Reach out to us today to schedule a confidential consultation. Let us help you protect your rights and the well-being of your children.
Reach out to us today at the following numbers to connect with a member of our team:
• Luton, dial +441582 383 888.
• London, dial +442034 393 888.
• St Albans, dial +441727 519 888.
Alternatively, if you’re accessing this information outside our business hours (9am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays) or prefer to put your request in writing, please use our contact form. We’ll promptly respond within 1 working day.
