Family courts failing domestic abuse survivors, mother jailed for abduction

What the investigation found

An investigation has found that family courts are failing domestic abuse survivors. Women across the country said judges did not take their allegations seriously and sent their children to stay with potentially dangerous parents. The reporting also highlights the case of a mother jailed for child abduction after taking her son abroad for his own safety.

Women describe a hostile system

Georgina spent 10 years fighting over custody of her son. She said the threat of returning to court was used to control her. She was advised not to cause a scene, not to make allegations and not to disclose what was happening. She feared that any allegation against her former partner would be used against her. She stayed silent because she thought nobody would listen or act.

Susan, who said she was in an abusive relationship, said she did not feel believed. 'As soon as you walk in, you feel like a criminal,' she said. She described trying to prove she was a good mother even though she had done nothing wrong. There was no criminal case against her ex-partner. She said she feared for her daughter's safety, adding: 'I didn't know whether she was going to come home in a coffin.' She called the situation 'sanctioned abuse'.

Protest and expert criticism

In Westminster, women protested against practices they say have dominated family courts for decades. They did not show their faces. They said the system had silenced them.

Adrienne Barnett, who spent 30 years as a barrister specialising in family law, said courts often hear mothers allege abuse but are not interested. She said domestic abuse becomes almost normalised, and judges can react as if it is a case of 'here we go again'. Another barrister said women who give evidence in family courts are essentially putting themselves on trial, because the proceedings are about what they are like as mothers and the consequences for their children.

Current case and legal change

The investigation also revealed an extreme current case: a British woman who fled what she saw as abuse and went through traumatic family court battles. She was jailed for child abduction after taking her son abroad for his own safety. The case is presented as an example of how far the system can go wrong.

Legislation has been passed to stop judges prioritising a child's contact with both parents at all costs. The government says change is coming. But those who have been through the system fear women will still be silenced. A legal expert said the law alone would not be enough and that the change must be cultural, so that any contact with both parents is always safe for the child. When asked whether the culture of the past had been wrong, one interviewee said: 'I accept that there's been a need for change.'