Domestic violence, coercive control, post-separation abuse, narcissism, and gaslighting have been around since the beginning of time, and it is only in the last decade that these have become more widely recognised. There are large swathes of the population who still do not understand these issues, and it is clear that this is also the case within the family court system. There is a complete lack of understanding and knowledge on all of these issues in our family courts.

The government has started to take domestic violence and all it encompasses seriously, especially with the new domestic violence bill that was passed in April 2021 and will come into force in 2022. But as far as the police, the courts, and judges/magistrates are concerned, there is a long way to go. The ignorance and pre-conceived ideas held are shocking. This is something we feel the government needs to urgently address. In fact, the whole of society needs to address the ignorance towards domestic violence and change it so that it is far more easily recognised and understood.

Please note that domestic violence encompasses coercive control, post-separation abuse, narcissism, and gaslighting and none of these are mutually exclusive. They all overlap and are part of the same thing.