<
https://theconversation.com/quite-irreparable-damage-child-family-violence-survivors-on-how-court-silenced-and-retraumatised-them-185198>
"Nobody spoke to Donna* or her sister in the lead up to the family court
decision that ordered the children to spend time alone with their father, who
was violent. Donna was eight.
Later, after the children told the court’s Independent Children’s Lawyer their
father had been “drinking a lot” when he was with them and made “threats to
kill”, the judge appointed a supervisor to ensure the children would be
physically “safe” from any further violence that might occur. Donna explains,
[…] so, they thought it was safe, but it wasn’t […] we were just terrified
of him. Really, really scared …
Donna, now in her 30s, says the court’s disregard generated emotional harm that
was “more traumatic” than the serious family violence leading up to court:
[…] when you come from a situation of family violence as a child, your
mother is your place of safety - generally - and when mum [is] removed […]
you know, those times I was made to spend time with him without her was
terrifying. And that was probably more traumatic than the years and years of
trauma leading up to that.
After about two years of court-enforced contact, Donna’s father physically
assaulted the court-appointed supervisor in front of Donna and her sister, and
the judge agreed to lift the orders.
But the psychological damage would resurface later in Donna’s adult life:
[…] when I was 20, 21, I think […] I started to have flashbacks, and that’s
when I realised that I needed to get some help because I couldn’t sleep
because I just kept having flashbacks.
I spoke to Donna as part of a project for the Whitlam Institute within Western
Sydney University.
Based on the research for my book
Broken: Children, Parents and Family
Courts, the project combines a podcast and policy paper with 12
recommendations designed to create a family law environment able to learn from
children’s experience – one based in children’s rights."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
