On Thursday 26 March the Lords Domestic Abuse
Act 2021 Committee will continue its inquiry examining the
legislation's operational effectiveness by hearing evidence about
how children are affected by experiencing or witnessing domestic
abuse. The Committee will hear from two panels who represent
practitioners working with children in the legal system and
experts who conduct research on practitioners and the legal
system in this area.
The first session will start at 10.35am and the second
session at 11.40am. Both sessions will be available to watch live
or on demand at Parliament
TV or attend in person in Committee Room 1, Palace
of Westminster.
Giving evidence will be:
10.35am
-
Elisabeth Carney-Haworth OBE, Joint Creator,
Operation Encompass;
-
Barbara Mills KC, Head of Chambers, 4PB; and
-
Jacky Tiotto, Chief Executive Office, Children
and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS).
11.40am
-
Jude Eyre, Associate Director for Strategy and
Delivery, Nuffield Family Justice Observatory;
-
Dr Kelly Bracewell, Senior Research Fellow,
University of Lancashire; and
-
Lauren Seager-Smith, Chief Executive Officer,
For Baby's Sake.
Questions will include:
- The Domestic Abuse Act states that children are victims in
their own right if they see, hear or witness abuse. What effect
has this had? What issues affect the way that the legal system
currently handles children as victims? What could be done to
address these issues?
- What tensions, if any, arise between how the legal system
treats children as witnesses to domestic abuse and children as
victims of domestic abuse?
- What issues, if any, does collecting evidence for, or proving
‘coercive and controlling behaviour', have for children as
victims?
- How well supported are children throughout the court process
and subsequently? What challenges, if any, are there for how well
supported children are?
- What specific issues, if any, arise for minoritised children
as victims and how the courts and legal system handle these?
