FNF Newsletter 28th May 2018

Hello Visitor,

Welcome to this urgent Newsletter. In this issue

Thank you for your support.

With best wishes

Jerry Karlin

Chair and Managing Trustee

Ministry of Justice Domestic Abuse Consultation - Deadline is 31st May!

Well-intentioned plans can have devastating consequences

31^st May deadline - make sure your voice is heard!

Many of you tell us of your experience of being falsely accused of domestic violence or abuse in the context of family separation. We also hear frequently from dads who have been victims of abuse, only to then have this compounded with allegations of actually being perpetrators. It is often assumed that the reason for under-reporting by men of such situations is because of the stigma men feel. There may be something in this, however, our service users often say that it is because of their fear of reprisals in relation to them seeing their children or feeling that their experiences will be ignored by the authorities.

Please take the time to provide your input. There is a long version and a short version of the consultation document. Depending on the time you have available to you, please use the appropriate links below. The full version contains 65 questions.

Short MoJ Consultation - Click Here

Full MoJ Consultation - Click Here

 Brief Outline of Proposals

The Government are consulting on proposals to toughen-up on perpetrators of abuse and to extend it to include coercive behaviour. In particular, they propose a new Domestic Abuse Protection Notices/Orders as a centre-piece. As proposed, these would work a bit like current Non-Molestation Orders whereby a breach of such an order will result in an automatic criminal record. On the face of it such proposals may appear to serve the positive purpose of protecting vulnerable adults and children - those who have truly have suffered deserve all the support that they can get. However, we are concerned at the lack of necessary checks and balances in the system to ensure that they do not lead to an increase in its abuse where malicious ex-partners use these to undermine relationships with children in the context of family separation. We are also concerned at the lack of appropriate support given to men and in particular to fathers. The consultation also proposes a Commissioner for Domestic Violence, but we feel that this would not serve the needs of men as currently proposed and that there should therefore be a separate Commissioner or Deputy-Commissioner focused on the experience of men. Your feedback to the government based on your experiences will help to redress the balance. If you would like to read more about FNF's key concerns in response to the questions posed in the consultation then please read on.

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