In August 2024, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported on a case where a serial rapist was granted unsupervised contact with his young daughter.
Charlotte Proudman, a family barrister and co-director of Right to Equality, said she has seen cases where fathers found to be paedophiles and rapists have gained access to their children. She said repealing the presumption “sends a clear message: children’s welfare will always be the priority and parents who undermine their welfare cannot use the system to continue to perpetrate harm.”
Warnings that the legal presumption and a “pro-contact culture” were putting children at risk of domestic abuse were made published in a 2020 report. The government at the time commissioned a review of the presumption which was finally published last night.
Justice minister Baroness Levitt KC said: “The horrors of domestic abuse can scar a child for life. It is apparent from our research that the presumption of parental involvement can, in some cases, lead to contact being ordered even in cases where there has been domestic abuse.
“Being a parent is a privilege not a right: the only right which matters is a child’s right to safety.”
The news follows an earlier announcement on Monday that the government will widen the scope under which parental responsibility can be restricted for child sex offenders.
Previously a person would only be stripped of their parental responsibilities if they had been convicted of serious sexual offences against their own child. But the narrow approach left other children at risk.
Now the government has extended the restriction so that anyone convicted of child sexual offences – against any child – carrying a sentence of four years or more will automatically have their parental responsibility removed. The restriction will also apply where a child has been conceived through rape.
Claire Waxman, victims’ commissioner for London said it was “significant week” for victims in the family justice system. “These announcements represent huge steps forward in protecting victims and children.” She added that the announcements must now be followed by “swift legislation”.
