Decoding the ‘cult of masculinity’ around Tom Phillips
The outpouring of support for the Marokopa fugitive reveals several pervasive myths about masculinity, fathers and the court…
#NewsBeep #News #Headlines #CommentsEnabled #FamilyCourts #JusticeSystem #NewZealand #NZ #sexism #Society #tomphillips
https://www.newsbeep.com/128550/
The legal establishment v Charlotte Proudman: An extraordinary exposure of misogyny and arrogant male entitlement in family courts
Charlotte Proudman Pic Credit:charlotteproudman.comLast week I attended with Janice Chapman from CEDAWinLAW the launch of barrister Charlotte Proudman’s book He Said, She Said in London.
She is an extraordinary brave woman who stands up for sexually abused women and children in one of the most secretive parts of the judicial system – the family court – where estranged couples fight for custody of their children following a marriage breakdown. Most hearings are in private, ostensibly to protect the children, though a few can be reported in public following recent reforms.
For those familiar with my reporting of judgments in employment tribunals where whistleblowers stand only a 4 per cent chance of success this may not be such a surprise. Hearings such as those conducted by Leeds employment judge Philip Lancaster who has received 16 complaints from women he has insulted, belittled and patronised during hearings fit a pattern that seems rife in the family court system.
Janice Chapman and me with Charlotte Proudman at her book launch on the roof garden at Carmelite House. Janice asked her as a patron of CEDAWinLAW about the convention for the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and why it needed to become law here.. Evidently the UK has not had a representative on the Geneva based committee under the last government and Baroness Helena Kennedy did not know whether the present government had to done anything to rectify this.The book is a shocking eye opener into what goes on these largely secretive area of justice and exposes the appalling treatment of women in family courts – both by husbands and judges and ends with a failed attempt by the Bar Standards Board to end Charlotte’s career because she was exposing the mentality of the “boys club” world by both some male barristers and judges.
Among these is the case of a judge -Judge Scarratt – who threatened a woman who had been raped by her abusive partner and had been forced by him to take drugs to take away her daughter and put her in care and report her to social services for taking drugs. He made it clear that he was going to allow her abusive husband to have unsupervised contact with her daughter and said the whole proceedings were a waste of time. Charlotte Proudman managed to get his decision reversed by the Court of Appeal but by then the woman was traumatised as she says ” forcing even those who win to crawl over broken glass, leaving wounds that may never heal.”
Other highly disturbing material in the book includes the role of parental alienation used against women by men to say that women are turning their children against them. Extraordinarily these claims are backed up by so called experts – some who have no qualifications – who seem to be making a business out of the family court system.
Husband made wife sign a written contract allowing him to sexually assault his wife whenever he wanted
The most disgusting stuff is in a chapter on abortion and and reproductive coercion. It includes two contracts one before a woman became pregnant – which men forced on their partners. One insisted the husband would not have to give his sporting hobbies while she had to agree to shop for clothes in charity shops and ” keep the house as tidy as possible” and included the phrase ” I will entertain all sex requests- whenever and whatever -with a smile on my face and as a willing participant. It went to specify conditions for oral sex. As she comments; “It was, in effect, a charter for a man to rape and sexually assault his wife whenever he chose – a disgusting power fantasy.”
Two other chapters deal with a tragic case that involved the Hague Convention which is so limited in its scope that a woman fleeing her partner in Australia with her child because of domestic abuse was forced to return to him – as the issue of domestic abuse could not be used as a reason under the Hague Convention as it would have to be decided in Australia. The man then broke all his promises to the court.
Another case involved the hostile environment against child asylum seekers who faced female genital mutilation in their own country. Though the practice is illegal in the UK, the Home Office decided to split two sisters – allowing an 11 year old to stay but to deport her 14 year old sister on the wrong grounds she was too old to have FGM. After a desperate battle Charlotte managed to prevent the 14 year old from being deported.
The final part of the book turns the tables on Charlotte herself when she finds herself facing a tribunal at the Bar Standards Board for bringing the judiciary into disrepute – while far worse attacks are made against her on line by other barristers and men who lost their cases.
The tribunal decides that the justice system is robust enough to accept her on line criticisms of it – and board loses the case. The arguments put by the board to discredit her frankly look pathetic.
What this devastating book shows is that we still have along way to go to reform the judiciary and end the outdated boys club mentality. But Charlotte Proudman is on the right side of history and I am sure will prevail.
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#charlotteProudman #familyCourts #judges #rape #sexualAssault #traumatisedWomen
Charlotte Proudman Pic Credit:charlotteproudman.com Last week I attended with Janice Chapman from CEDAWinLAW the launch of barrister Charlotte Proudman’s book He Said, She Said in London. She…
#Proposals to #repeal #nofaultdivorce cause #concern even as #Republican #efforts #stall
#Couples across the #US have had access to #nofaultdivorce for more than 50 years, which is crucial to #supporting #domesticabuse #victims and key to preventing already crowded #familycourts from drowning in complicated divorce #proceedings.
#Women #Transgender #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #Conservatives #Extremism #Fascism #Religion #RepublicanParty #Misogyny #ThePartyOfHate #EmptyThePews
https://apnews.com/article/divorce-nofault-repeal-republican-states-40d6c51bd26b7d8c6a2d4969b21d4b53
Warnings have been popping up on social media urging women who might be considering divorce to “pull the trigger” while they still can ever since President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance won the election. While Trump hasn’t championed overhauling the country’s divorce laws, Vance did lament that divorce is too easily accessible, as have conservative podcasters and others. Yet despite concerns, even those who want to make divorces harder to get say they don’t expect big, swift changes. There is not a national coordinated effort underway. And states determine their own divorce laws, so national leaders can’t change policy.
Evaluation of the Family Court Reporting Pilot.
This study evaluated the pilot, which enabled accredited journalists and legal bloggers to report on family court cases across three pilot areas in England and Wales, following a wider review of transparency in the family courts. The pilot enjoyed strong support amongst court staff, legal professionals and media stakeholders.
Full findings can be found here: https://natcen.ac.uk/publications/evaluation-family-court-reporting-pilot-and-transparency-family-courts
This study evaluated the pilot, which enabled accredited journalists and legal bloggers to report on family court cases across three pilot areas
Tens of thousands of #children in limbo after parents split due to #CourtDelays
#FamilyCourts in #England and #Wales can take more than a year to make decisions on where children will live after separation
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/aug/01/tens-of-thousands-of-children-in-limbo-after-parents-split-due-to-court-delays #ToryPoliciesInAction
Now, this world-renowned forensic psychiatrist and violence expert, who has taught at Yale School of Medicine and Law School, feels the same way about America’s family court crisis.
“I hadn’t expected that I would write on this subject and have been working in courts for 25 years,” she said, “but what I have stumbled upon is so alarming, so egregious and so dangerous to women and children that I can’t remain silent about it.”
Brett Harper
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