Breaking the Cycle of Domestic Abuse in Family Courts with Fair Hearing
Échec de l'ajout au panier.
Échec de l'ajout à la liste d'envies.
Échec de la suppression de la liste d’envies.
Échec du suivi du balado
Ne plus suivre le balado a échoué
Breaking the Cycle of Domestic Abuse in Family Courts with Fair Hearing
-
Narrateur(s):
-
Auteur(s):
À propos de cet audio
Episode description
Cristina Odone and Julia Margo from Fair Hearing expose how Britain's family courts fail domestic abuse survivors. After enduring 10 years of litigation and 37 hearings, Julia transformed her experience into systemic change—training over 200 senior judges and establishing domestic abuse education at the Judicial College.
Together, they secured £283m government funding for victim support and fought for landmark legislative reform. Since recording, amendments to the Victims and Courts Bill now automatically remove parental responsibility from serious sex offenders who've abused their own child. The government announced plans to repeal the 'presumption of contact' recital in the Children's Act.
Yet 99% of family court cases still result in unsupervised contact, even where serious abuse is proven. Cristina and Julia reveal why: 80% legal aid cuts, pseudo-experts pushing parental alienation theory, and Article 8 rights that make reform near-impossible.
One in four adults experiences domestic abuse. The evidence for reform is overwhelming. So why won't institutions change?
Content warning: This episode discusses domestic violence, child abuse and suicide. Listener discretion is advised.
Key quotes
"I lost my cognitive function for a time... PTSD and the health impacts of domestic abuse are treatable and one can recover. I've recovered."
"19 children were killed over 18 years by a parent who had been accused of domestic abuse. That's 19 children over 18 years."
"For a victim, it is not the outcome of the hearing that is so important, it is the fact that she has been heard. Validation is so important to them."
"I wouldn't be working in this area if I didn't think there was the potential for change. I've seen so much change since we started working in this area."
Contact
Email: press@addresstheharm.org
Instagram / TikTok / X @addresstheharm
Take action
Support our crowdfund at https://crowdfunder.co.uk/addresstheharm
Hosted by: Leah Brown FRSA (@leahtalks_)
Production: Leah Talks Ltd © 2025