Cafcass, the court advisory body that represents children in the family court system, has sent a ‘cease & desist’ style letter to domestic abuse campaigner Dr Jessica Taylor, after she quoted statistics on domestic abuse at a book launch event. Dr Taylor cited Crime Survey findings that around 1 in 5 people report experiencing abuse during childhood. She further deduced that, on the balance of probabilities, some children of social workers (including Cafcass social workers) will have experienced domestic abuse.
The comments were made in the context of a discussion on bias, attitudes and outcomes in the family court system, at the launch of Dr Charlotte Proudman’s book, He Said, She Said: truth, trauma and the struggle for justice in family court.
The letter, from the Chief Executive of Cafcass, described Dr Taylor’s comments as “extremely offensive”, said the government body was putting Dr Taylor “on notice”, and demanded a written apology and an assurance that she will not repeat these statements. Dr Taylor responded publicly, via Instagram, confirming that she would not withdraw her comments, was dismayed by the letter she received, and quoted recent convictions of social workers to support her argument.
Dr Proudman’s organisation Right 2 Equality published a statement expressing alarm at Cafcass’ actions, which they describe as ‘intimidation’ in response to protected speech under article 10 of the Human Rights Act (1998). Dozens of professionals and campaigners have signed Right 2 Equality’s open letter to Cafcass on this matter.
Cafcass’ actions may signal a concerning change of direction in their approach to domestic abuse cases before the family courts. In October 2024, Cafcass launched a new domestic abuse practice policy for social workers. The new guidance was published after an earlier Harm Panel report found that the family justice system does not always protect victims of domestic abuse (including child victims), and on some occasions promotes a dangerous ‘contact at all costs’ approach to decisions regarding child contact.
For many years, Women’s Aid and other feminist groups have campaigned for stronger protections for children in the family courts, highlighting instances of child deaths following unsafe child contact rulings. Journalist Louise Tickle has reported extensively on these issues.
Launching the new practice guidelines in October 2024, Jacky Tiotto, CEO of Cafcass said: “I am sorry that some four years on from the Harm Panel report, there are still children and adults in family court proceedings who do not receive the protection they deserve and require.”
This week’s letter to Dr Taylor appears to be at odds with earlier moves towards greater transparency and stronger safeguarding procedures for children in the family court system.
As barristers Jennifer Robinson and Keina Yoshida set out in their book Silenced Women, it is relatively common for women who make allegations of abuse at high profile men to receive ‘cease & desist’ style legal letters demanding they retract their statements. However, it is unusual (in democratic states) for government bodies to send such letters to campaigners who comment on and extrapolate population level statistics.
Cafcass said it had “no further comment to make on this matter.”
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