IRTT factor F6 · Abuse dynamics
Systems Abuse and the Family Court
Systems abuse, sometimes called legal or paper abuse, is a form of post-separation coercion and control carried out through courts and agencies.
The factor
The perpetrator uses child arrangements, repeated applications, complaints and reports to agencies to stay in contact with the survivor and keep up the pressure.
The Domestic Abuse Act statutory guidance names vexatious family court applications and forcing the survivor to pay legal fees as forms of abuse.
Effect on risk
Separation is a recognised point of raised risk, and systems abuse can keep the survivor tied to the perpetrator long after the relationship has ended.
Statutory guidance notes that 38% of women killed by an ex-partner between 2009 and 2018 were killed within the first month of separation.
Proceedings can exhaust the survivor emotionally and financially, and contact arrangements can expose the survivor and any children to further harm.
The 2020 Harm Panel heard that Black and minoritised survivors experienced racism in court, and that language barriers could make them appear less credible.
The Harm Panel also found that survivors with insecure immigration status risked deportation and the possible permanent loss of their children.
Protections in court
Practice Direction 12J requires the court to consider domestic abuse at all stages of child arrangements proceedings, including the first hearing.
Since 21 July 2022, section 65 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 bars the perpetrator from cross-examining the survivor in person in family proceedings.
A section 91(14) order requires the perpetrator to seek permission before making further applications that would put the survivor or child at risk.
Family Justice Council guidance from December 2024 states that the court should consider domestic abuse allegations first when alienating behaviour is alleged.
The same guidance states that parental alienation syndrome has no evidential basis and is considered a harmful pseudo-science.
Questions for practice
- How might the perpetrator be using the family court, child arrangements or reports to agencies to keep control of this survivor?
- What effect is the process having on the survivor's safety, finances and wellbeing, and on the wellbeing of any children involved?
- Does the survivor know about special measures and the ban on cross-examination in person, and have they been referred for specialist legal advice?
- Has the risk information you have gathered been shared with the court in a way that the survivor understands and has agreed to?
Using the IRTT
Systems Abuse is factor F6 in the Intersectional Risk Tracker Tool, which assesses it alongside forty other intersectional risk factors.
You can open the IRTT for free, or join a free one-hour introduction to see how practitioners use the tool in their casework with survivors.
Further reading
Related factors
Sources