How To Help Save Abused Children From Dangerous Family Laws

A Quick Run Down On What This Hub Is About

If you look online, you will find overwhelming amounts of documented evidence and a great many blogs discussing the unforeseen effects that Shared Parenting Laws have had on abused children in Australia and in numerous other countries around the world, including the UK, Canada and the US, and you will get an idea of just how many parents are facing similar dilemmas.

I feel we all have a duty of care to these children, and I plead with you all to make their cases heard. Our children cannot speak for themselves!

Below, I have include links to many resources where you can find more information and/or become active in the fight to get current laws amended.

But I'm Only One Person - What Can I do about it?

One drop raises the ocean!

• Find out more about it
• Tell your friends and family about it
• Write about it on your blogs
• Sign petitions
• Attend protest rallies
• Write to your politicians
• Join groups supporting the cause on FaceBook

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek"

- Barack Obama

(Please Note: Every point in the lists below is a click-able link that will take you to a related site featuring more information/ articles/ petitions/ groups/ etc...)

Find Out More About It - Links to Information, News Articles, etc...

Sign Petitions or Start Your Own!

Write about it on your blogs

Write To Your Politicians

Join Some FaceBook Groups

Some statistics on Abuse

A survey of 130 abused parents found that 76% of the 148 children
ordered by the courts to have contact with their estranged parent were
said to have been abused during visits: 10% were sexually abused; 15%
were physically assaulted; 26% were abducted or involved in an abduction
attempt: 36% were neglected during contact, ...and 62% suffered emotional
harm. Most of these children were under the age of 5 (Radford, Sayer &
AMICA, 1999.)

Further more: 70% of children living in UK refuges have been abused by their father.
(Bowker et al., 1998)

79% of women leave their violent partner because the abuse is affecting their children or they fear for their children's lives. - Humphreys and Thiara (2002)

‎"Relationship to perpetrator: Around two-thirds (66%) of men physically assaulted during the last 12 months said that the perpetrator was a stranger. In contrast, women were less likely to be physically assaulted by a stranger (22%) than by
someone they knew (82%). Almost a third (31%) of women physically
assaulted said that the perpetrator was a current or previous partner,
and 37% reported their attacker as being a family member or friend (see Australian Social Trends 2007, Women's experience of partner violence).
Women were also most likely to be sexually assaulted by someone known
to them (89%), with 29% of those sexually assaulted reporting that the
perpetrator was a current or previous partner, and 39% a family member
or friend."

A study of 200 women’s experiences of domestic violence commissioned
by Women’s Aid, found that 60% of the women had left because they
feared that they or their children would be killed by the perpetrator.
(Humphreys & Thiara, 2002).

In the same study, 76% of separated women suffered post-separation
violence. Of these women:
- 76% were subjected to continued verbal and emotional abuse;
- 41% were subjected to serious threats towards themselves or their
children;
- 23% were subjected to physical violence;
- 6% were subjected to sexual violence;
- 36% stated that this violence was ongoing.
In addition to this, more than half of those with post-separation child
contact arrangements with an abusive ex-partner continued to have
serious, ongoing problems with this contact (Humphreys and Thiara,
2002)

MYTH: Children are not being placed at risk by court ordered contact
FACT: A recent report stated that there are 'serious concerns that contact is
being inappropriately ordered in cases where there are established
risks' (Hunt and Roberts Child contact with non-resident parents 2004 )

42% of all female homicide victims, compared with 4% of male homicide
victims, were killed by current or former partners in England and Wales in the year 2000/01. This equates to 102 women, an average of 2 women each week (Home Office, 2001...).

Between 50% and 60% of women mental health service users have experienced domestic violence, and up to 20% will be experiencing current abuse. (Department of Health, 2003; Bowstead, Janet, 2000; ReSisters, 2002).

From April 2000 to June 2001 there were 30,314 offences under the
Protection from Harassment Act 1997 in London alone (Metropolitan
Police Service). A study carried out by the Home Office found that more
than a third (41%) of cases brought to ...the courts under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, the suspect had previously had an intimate
relationship with the complainant. 33% of the suspects were ex-partners, 4% were relatives, 1% a current partner and 4% were friends. In situations where the suspect previously or currently had an intimate relationship with the victim, 94% of the suspects were men (Home Office Research Study 203, 2000).

• The Sarah Connor Effect
• STOP the Violence Against Women & Children
• My kids are my HEROES!
• Organize to Resist! STOP the Violence Against Women & Children!!!!
• Agent of Light Family Law Special Unit Headquarters:
• I hate it when your soulmate turns out to be a psychopath
• To all the misogynists on FB (Yes, I'll wait while you get the dictionary)
• Pets are part of the family and suffer from family violence along with us!
• Pro gays, lesbians, hetrosexuals & all others, but ANTI psuedo-homophobics

_{Except where otherwise credited, or where text forms part of an external link, this article is under the following copyright:}

_{Copyright © 2010 Mel Stewart, "safe-at-last", of Perth, Western Australia. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise credited, all images are under the following copyright:
Copyright © 2010 Mel Stewart, "safe-at-last" and Licensors Nodtronics Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.}