- Conference
- 2005 National Women's Conference
- Date
- 18 October 2004
- Decision
- Carried
For the past 18 months a group of men have been campaigning for contact with their children after the breakdown of their relationships with the child’s/children’s mother. This had received a lot of press coverage and whilst we accept that some of the claims they make about women refusing them contact with their children we feel that this is not the whole story. Many people are not aware of the difficult situation women on the receiving end of domestic abuse find themselves when the issue of contact is raised. In 2002, the courts granted 61,356 contact orders and only refused 518 cases, that is 0.8 per cent of cases.
Recent research commissioned by the Department of Constitutional Affairs found that allegations of domestic abuse featured in 23 per cent of contact and residence cases.
In 1999, a survey of 130 abused parents found that 76 per cent of their children were said to have been abused during contact with violent parents.
In this country we still do not have legislation which requires the courts to ensure contact and residence arrangements are safe for children.
The trend is for contact to be refused in fewer and fewer cases, in 1999 1,752 cases were refused contact, in 2002 this had dropped to 518 cases refused, yet as Conference knows there was no corresponding drop in cases of domestic abuse. Therefore, Conference calls on the National Women’s Committee to:
1)ensure that this issue is highlighted in any UNISON publicity about domestic violence/abuse;
2)make branches aware of this issue as it may be a factor when assisting any women members on the receiving end of domestic abuse;
3)submit an article covering this issue for publications which are received by our members and activists.