How courts punish the victims of domestic abuse
"Even after leaving their tormentors, those who have suffered at the hands of their partners face a brutal legal battle."
It is 18 July 2021 and I am seething with indignation at an article in a Sunday newspaper. The piece, which is trailing a forthcoming Channel 4 Dispatches programme, focuses on one woman’s battle to protect her children from their paedophile father.
“Julia” – she is referred to only by her first name – was living with her partner and their two children when she received a Facebook message from a woman who claimed to know Julia’s partner and his ex-wife. The woman explained that the marriage ended when Julia’s partner was convicted of sexually abusing their seven- and nine-year-old nieces. (He served 18 months of a three-year sentence.) The crimes had taken place abroad, and the perpetrator had entered the UK undetected by assuming a false name. When Julia confronted her partner, he denied the claims, but then grew abusive. This continued for months, until Julia left, taking her children to safety.
