Under English law the definition of abuse can include not only physical abuse but also verbal, psychological, emotional and financial abuse. Between 5% and 6% of adults between the age of 16 and 74 during the year ended March 2019 were victims of abuse.
The family justice system provides protection via orders which can regulate the occupation of a family home or prohibit one party from harassing or abusing the other. These can be obtained at short notice from the court. The threshold for obtaining these orders in cases where there is no violence is quite high and our specialists solicitors can help advise on the best way to approach a situation where there has been history of abuse.
Often such applications are fraught with emotional difficulty and may run in parallel to children proceedings. The government has also introduced criminal offences of controlling and coercive behaviour and our solicitors are experienced in dealing with cases that involve allegations of that sort.
We are also used to dealing with allegations around negligent care of children in the context of private disputes (between parents). We do not have a practice in public children law (care proceedings with local authorities).
Why not talk in confidence to one of our team regarding your situation?
Please note that all of the work we do is privately funded and we do not have a legal aid certificate. It may be that if you have been a victim of domestic abuse you are entitled to legal aid for family matters and if so please ask us and we will direct you to another firm which does offer legal aid.
