Abuse victim calls on PM to help her end court scandal
A CAMPAIGNER fighting for justice for victims of domestic abuse who are let down by the Family Court is calling on the Prime Minister to meet her to discuss the scandal.
Rachel Williams, who was beaten and shot in the knee by her husband when she left him after 18 years of abuse, wants to highlight the issues, highlighted by the Daily Express End This Injustice campaign.
The 47-year-old’s husband Darren, 45, shot her in a hairdressing salon in Newport in 2011. He later hanged himself. Six weeks later her son Jack aged 16 also hanged himself.
The campaign wants MPs to pass shadow policing minister Louise Haigh’s Parental Rights (Rapists) and Family Courts Bill, which aims to remove the parental rights of fathers of children conceived through rape.
It also wants an inquiry into the handling by the Family Court of abuse and violence against women and girls in child arrangement cases.
Rachel, from Newport, who has a total of 500,000 signatures on petitions relating to the Family Court, has backed the Express campaign.
She said: “I would like to give Boris Johnson the opportunity to sit down with me, being someone with horrific experiences of domestic abuse and violence, so I can share with him the faults in the system.
“My four petitions are about Family Court, restraining orders, making nonfatal strangulation a specific crime and taking domestic abuse and violence seriously in court to stop handing out weak, pathetic sentences to those perpetrators of abuse. I also welcome Home Secretary Priti Patel to be present as she says ‘I want criminals to fear prison and the justice system’. This is not the case with perpetrators sticking two fingers up to the system.”
Rachel, who has met ex-prime minister Theresa May and has the backing of Hollywood star Martin Sheen, is hosting the first Stand Up To Domestic Abuse Conference in Wales at Celtic Manor, near Newport, next month and has invited Mr Johnson to attend.
Last week, the Daily Express revealed how a former nanny to MPs had seen custody of her daughter awarded to her ex-partner, despite abuse fears. The woman, who cannot be named, had her child taken away following a Family Court battle.
She had raised concerns to police after her daughter returned from a visit to the ex-lover with bruises, but she said: “Within 24 hours, they took her off me and gave her to my ex.”
Meanwhile, survivors of domestic abuse and other harmful conduct have two weeks left to have their say on how well the Family Court protects them and their children in private family law proceedings.
The Government’s call for evidence, ends on August 26. Experts will look at how the court manages the safety and wellbeing of children at risk of domestic abuse. To register views go to https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digitalcommunications/assessing-harm-privatefamily-law-proceedings/