NO - Jane McCulloch, chair of the Solicitors Family Law Association's domestic abuse committee
Family courts are not failing child victims of domestic violence: they have to work within the framework of the law and make the best possible assessment of a child's best interests based on the evidence available.
That does not mean there is no scope for improvement. We propose that courts should be required to apply a risk assessment checklist to identify safety issues, and that allegations of domestic violence should be investigated quickly.
YES - Hilton Dawson MP, member of Constitutional Affairs select committee
It's essential that family courts, and all those associated with them, develop a more sophisticated understanding of domestic violence and that they are able to hear children. We have heard evidence of contact arrangements placing children with violent men where no proper arrangements have been made to guarantee their safety. Judges who make these decisions should be sacked. Let's start from the top and let's hold the people who make these decisions truly accountable.
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