ENGLAND – Women’s views are often ignored in the family law system, says charity

Information leaflets published to help women through the separation and divorce process

Maypole Women, the UK charity supporting women through separation and divorce, have launched their first Information Leaflet, aimed at women, and the professionals who support them, through separation and divorce.

Called ‘Listening to Mothers’, it aims to inform professionals involved with families through the family court process why they should pay attention to women’s views.

The charity says that women often find their concerns are ignored or minimised through the family law system. It refers to a recent study found court conciliators routinely ignore, reframe, or reject allegations of domestic abuse during dispute resolution sessions (So Presumably Things Have Moved on Since Then?’ The Management of Risk Allegations in Child Contact Dispute Resolution, L Trinder, A Firth and C Jenks, 2009.)

Listening to Mothers’  provides evidence based research to show that there is a strong correlation between women’s concerns, risk of future abuse, and the well being of their children, indicating that practitioners should give significant weight to women’ views when assessing risk and seeking to promote the best interests of children.

Listening to Mothers’ is the first of a planned series of Information Leaflets for women through the separation process. It can be purchased from Maypole’s web site at http://www.maypole.org.uk/information-leaflets.htm. Funds raised from the sale of the leaflets will contribute to ongoing research and updating of information.

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