Violence Against Women and Their Children Professor Marianne Hester

Female VICTIM/ SURVIVOR Male PERPETRATOR CHILD Whose rights?

Tension between: children’s right to know their two parents, children’s right to safety and protection Adult’s right to family life

Tension between right to know & right to safety: emphasis on children’s right to know their two parents increase in (abusive) fathers’ rights compromises children’s right to safety and protection Undermines mothering and women’s safety

Woman abuse – child abuse men’s violence to female partners is the most common context for child abuse; male domestic violence perpetrators are more likely to be abusive to children and more extremely so; the more severe the violence to a female partner, the more severe the abuse of children in the same context; and children may experience multiple forms of abuse.

Across many studies - the research shows The risk of domestic violence for women is nearly doubled where children are present There is a close relationship between the safety of mothers and the welfare and safety of their children

When? Mostly while the couple are living together Can also continue after the couple have separated - e.g. Child contact

Women’s needs should not be conflated with children’s needs. ….They are linked, but separate Women’s reactions are in response to & in context of the male perpetrator’s violent and controlling behaviour

Major problem faced by practitioners working with women and children: Difficulty in establishing safe outcomes for children and safety for women

Female VICTIM/ SURVIVOR Male PERPETRATOR CHILD Whose rights? Whose interests?

Part of the problem: different, separate, & contradictory ideas and practice approaches to Domestic violence Child protection Child contact

Different contexts – three planets Domestic violence: Child protection Child contact

Domestic violence planet Domestic violence: considered a crime (civil and criminal law); range of support violent male partner

Life on three planets: domestic violence and child protection Domestic violence: considered a crime (civil and criminal law); gendered - ‘violent male partner’ Child protection: (public law) welfare approach; state intervention in abusive families; mother seen as failing to protect

But… Expectation that woman will eventually exclude the abuser - using civil protection remedies or through the intervention of criminal justice agencies. All the responsibility for protecting children is placed on mothers Dynamics of gender violence is ignored

Relying on women to protect their children is clearly a flawed policy.… When women who live with violent men are clearly unable to protect themselves, the chances of their being in a position to protect their children may be remote (Elaine Farmer, 2006)

English Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Act of 2004 section 5 - offense of causing or allowing the death of a child or vulnerable adult… where the defendant either was or should have been aware of the risk and failed to take steps to protect them. Has been used against a number of mothers who “stood by” when their male partners killed their child… where the mothers were themselves experiencing domestic violence from the same individuals

In May 2005 Rebecca Lewis, aged 21, was sentenced for failing to prevent the murder of her baby, Aaron Gilbert, at the hands of her partner, Andrew Lloyd, with whom she had lived for six weeks. She was sentenced to six years in prison. Lloyd was sentenced to 24 years in prison for murder. The court was told that Lewis was largely absent during Lloyd’s attacks and was not present when he killed the baby. However, she knew that Lloyd had flicked Aaron’s ears and feet when he cried; had picked him up by his ears and ankles; and had thrown him onto a bed. (Crim. L.R. 927), in) … In sentencing her the judge said: “You put your own interests first, above and beyond that of your vulnerable child. You could have stopped the violence that Lloyd was subjecting Aaron to. You could so easily have got the authorities to stop it.” At the trial Lewis had explained that she did not summon help because Lloyd had said he would kill her if she left.

…and child contact? Domestic violence: considered a crime (civil and criminal law); range of support violent male partner Child protection: (public law) welfare approach; state intervention in abusive families; mother seen as failing to protect Child contact: (private law); negotiated or mediated outcome; good enough father

assumptions in family courts 1. Most parents are “reasonable parents” who can be encouraged to make decisions that are the best decisions for their children. 2. It is best if parents can agree to decide things for themselves rather than bother the courts. 3. Co-parenting, “shared care,” and generous contact are the top three outcomes for children. ALSO – GENDER: 1. Mothers who do not facilitate shared care or generous contact are selfish and unreasonable and possibly child alienators. 2. The best cure for maternal resistance is the enforcement of orders that support the father’s contact with the child.

Tension between right to know & right to safety: emphasis on children’s right to know their two parents increase in (abusive) fathers’ rights compromises children’s right to safety and protection Undermines mothering and women’s safety

Conclusion - tension between: children’s right to know their two parents, children’s right to safety and protection Men’s right to family life Women right to safety