As was noted earlier, mothers alleging child abuse face serious systemic barriers to being able to provide independent evidence in support of such allegations. In cases where mothers have alleged child abuse and the judge has rejected the allegations, judges reflect on the likelihood of the mother promoting a positive relationship between the child and the other parent. The common conclusion in such cases is that mothers have dangerously and abusively promoted a false view of the father to the children. If the children disclose the abuse to professionals such as health and education workers, this can be interpreted as the mother inducing the children to spread false claims about the father. It is not uncommon in such cases for the court to order the children to live permanently with the alleged perpetrator and to severely restrict or deny any relationship between the mother and children on the basis that she is too dangerous to them. Further, alleging parents can be instructed not to seek any therapeutic care for the child on the basis that they are using health services to promote belief in the abuse of the child.
Across the family law system there are serious deficits in its capacity to identify, assess and manage risks to victims of family violence and abuse. This is partly due to the reliance on state and territory child protection services, partly due to the limits of professionally qualified expertise in family violence dynamics, trauma and child development, and partly due to the dominance of false beliefs. False beliefs which are in fashion in family law are that:
- Parents who abuse the other parent can be a safe parent to their child
- Children’s disclosures of abuse and reactions to it are the product of coaching
- Abusing parents can be managed appropriately through supervision
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There needs to be sustained education, system review and specific resourcing in the family law system to support safe outcomes for families leaving abusive partners.
Our apologies to Elspeth. We ran a media release yesterday instead of this op-ed. While the op-ed covered the ground well, this article is much more extensive.
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About the Author
Dr Elspeth McInnes is a Lecturer at the University of South Australia, Convenor
of the National Council of Single Mothers and their Children and a member of
the ACOSS Executive. Dr McInnes' most recent research has focused on mothers'
transition into lone parent family structures, exploring the impact of violence
on mothers and children during separation and their subsequent adaptation and
access to community resources and to both market and non-market income.
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