Watchdog criticises family courts’ handling of domestic abuse

System retraumatises victims of abuse in England and Wales and puts children’s safety at risk, report says

The family courts are putting the safety of children at risk by failing to deal effectively with domestic abuse, a report says.

The domestic abuse commissioner for England and Wales, Nicole Jacobs, calls in the report for urgent reforms to a family justice system that she says retraumatises victims, minimises abuse and fails to hear the voice of the child.