Domestic violence and divorce mediation

Abstract

Both domestic violence and mediation have attracted considerable attention from academics and the public at large. However, the debate has focused on these issues as discrete and unconnected and it is only in recent years that they have been recognised as potentially interlinked. The question of whether disputes should be mediated where the partners have been involved in an abusive relationship has not, therefore, been high on the public agenda in the past. This is not now so. The Law Commission's proposals for divorce reform, recently endorsed in the Consultation Paper issued by the Lord Chancellor's Department, include a waiting period when couples will be made aware of the benefits of mediation. Whilst the Consultation Paper acknowledges that divorcing spouses who have experienced domestic violence constitute a special category there is little acknowledgement of the complexity of the issue. This article, therefore, reviews research on domestic violence and mediation to point out the theoretical and practical difficulties to be addressed in evaluating these proposals.