Children’s human rights in the contexts of domestic abuse and COVID-19

ABSTRACT

Domestic abuse is a simultaneous attack on children’s and women’s human rights. Research underlines the relationality of domestic abuse, unveiling the entwined experiences of children and women. While these experiences may be connected, their rights are distinct and there are risks in viewing mothers as proxies for their children. Policy measures introduced to address COVID-19 had profound impacts on the lives of children and women experiencing domestic abuse. Drawing on an independent Children’s Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA) in Scotland, the article explores the impacts such policy measures had on children’s human rights in the context of domestic abuse. It offers insight on the opportunities and limitations of CRIAs when considering the issue of domestic abuse. CRIAs make visible and prioritise children’s human rights; however, they risk masking the relationality of rights and therefore the implementation of children’s human rights. By integrating human rights instruments – the UNCRC and the Istanbul Convention – the article offers ways to recognise children as victims of domestic abuse, while supporting connections between their rights and the women’s rights. It concludes that a Joint Protocol between the UNCRC and the Istanbul Convention is needed to integrate children’s human rights with the relationality of domestic abuse.

KEYWORDS:

• Child rights
• domestic abuse
• COVID-19
• UNCRC
• Istanbul Convention

Acknowledgements

The authors want to acknowledge the underlying work for this article, in the independent CRIA. It was commissioned by the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland, supported by the Observatory of Children’s Human Rights Scotland, and written by a committed team. We wish to thank Leah McCabe for her research assistance and the practitioners who we interviewed as part of the CRIA. The analysis presented in the article benefited from collaborative learning with children, young people and adults across a range of projects, including the Univeristy of Stirling SPARK Grant and Carneigie RIG 008635. We appreciate the constructive comments from the anonymous reviewers.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

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3 J. Herring, Domestic Abuse and Human Rights (Intersentia, 2020).

4 For a policy example see the Scottish Government strategy to prevent and eradicate violence against women and girls Scottish Government. 2018. Equally Safe National Strategy https://www.gov.scot/publications/equally-safe/. See the s11.7(c) of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 for an example of the term ‘domestic abuse’ used in legislation.

5 UN Women. The Shadow Pandemic: Violence against women during COVID-19. [UN Women.website] 2020. https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/in-focus-gender-equality-in-covid-19-response/violence-against-women-during-covid-19; See also Joint statement by the Special Rapporteur and the EDVAW Platform of women’s rights mechanisms on Covid-19 and the increase in violence and discrimination against women. 2020. https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26083&LangID=E.

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9 European Network of Ombudspersons for Children (ENOC). 2020. A Guide on How to Carry out CRIA, p. 11. http://enoc.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/ENOC-Common-Framework-of-Reference-FV.pdf.

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21 C. Humphreys, et al., ‘Supporting the Relationship between Mothers and Children in the Aftermath of Domestic Violence’, in Domestic Violence and Protecting Children: New Thinking and Approaches, 130–47, 2015; L. Radford and M. Hester, Mothering through Domestic Violence (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2006).

22 Mullender et al. Children′ s Perspectives on Domestic Violence.

23 N. Stanley, Children Experiencing Domestic Violence: A Research Review (Dartington: Research in Practice, 2011).

24 J. Birchall and S. Choudhry, ‘I Was Punished for Telling the Truth’: How Allegations of Parental Alienation Are Used to Silence, Sideline and Disempower Survivors of Domestic Abuse in Family Law Proceedings’, Journal of Gender-Based Violence (2021); F. Morrison, ‘“All over Now?” The Ongoing Relational Consequences of Domestic Abuse through Children's Contact Arrangements’, Child Abuse Review 24, no. 4 (2015): 274–84.

25 F. Buchanan, C. Power, and F. Verity, ‘Domestic Violence and the Place of Fear in Mother/Baby Relationships: “What Was I Afraid of? Of Making It Worse”’, Journal of Interpersonal Violence 28, no. 9 (2013): 1817–38; R. Pain, ‘Everyday terrorism: Connecting Domestic Violence and Global Terrorism’, Progress in Human Geography 38, no. 4 (2014): 531–50.

26 Humphreys, et al. ‘Supporting the Relationship between Mothers and Children in the Aftermath of Domestic Violence’.

27 E. Katz, ‘Beyond the Physical Incident Model: How Children Living with Domestic Violence are Harmed by and Resist Regimes of Coercive Control’, Child Abuse Review 25, no. 1 (2016): 46–59.

28 Humphreys et al. ‘Supporting the Relationship between Mothers and Children in the Aftermath of Domestic Violence’.

29 F. Buchanan and N.T. Moulding, ‘Mothering during Domestic Abuse: Protective Agency as a Force for Change’, Qualitative Social Work 20, no. 3 (2021): 665–80.

30 Katz, ‘Beyond the Physical Incident Model’.

31 A.R. Baly, ‘Leaving Abusive Relationships: Constructions of Self and Situation by Abused Women’, Journal of Interpersonal Violence 25, no. 12 (2010): 2297–315.

32 S. Lapierre, ‘Mothering in the Context of Domestic Violence: The Pervasiveness of a Deficit Model of Mothering’, Child & Family Social Work 13, no. 4 (2008): 454–63.

33 C. Humphreys, et al., ‘“Talking to My Mum”: Developing Communication between Mothers and Children in the Aftermath of Domestic Violence’, Journal of Social Work 6 (2006): 53–63.

34 Stanley, Children Experiencing Domestic Violence.

35 S.M. Nolas, E. Sanders-McDonagh, and L. Neville, ‘“Gimme Shelter”? Complicating Responses to Family Violence’, 2018.

36 E.K.M. Tisdall and F. Morrison, ‘Children’s Human Rights under COVID-19: Learning from Children’s Rights Impact Assessments’, International Journal of Human Rights (in press).

37 For an overview of the CRIA and its methodology see Independent Children’s Rights Impact Assessment on the Response to Covid-19 in Scotland, https://www.cypcs.org.uk/wpcypcs/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/independent-cria.pdf.

38 K. McCall-Smith, ‘What Remains Following the UNCRC (Incorporation)(Scotland) Bill Reference Judgment?’, 2021, https://ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk/what-remains-following-the-uncrc-incorporation-scotland-bill-reference-judgment/.

39 Home Office, Implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Combating Violence Against Women and Girls and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention) – 2021 Report on Progress, 2021, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1030014/E02686085_Istanbul_Conv_Progress_Report_Elay.pdf; Article 44 requires legislative measure to apply to British citizens who commit crimes against women whilst abroad, regardless of the whether the country is party to the Convention. Currently, this does not extend to all forms of violence against women or across all of the UK. Article 33 requires psychological violence be criminalised. There are gaps in legislation in Northern Ireland. Articles 4(3) and 59 require measures to protect the rights of victims are secured without discrimination owing to immigration status. Migrant women with ‘no recourse’ to public funds are ineligible for government benefits that enable victims to access these measures.

40 Scottish Government, Coronavirus (COVID-19) Supplementary National Violence against Women Guidance, 2020, https://www.cosla.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0030/19668/COVID-19-Supplementary-VAW-Guidance-Sept-2020.pdf.

41 N. Stanley, et al., ‘A Stop–Start Response: Social Services' Interventions with Children and Families Notified Following Domestic Violence Incidents’, The British Journal of Social Work 41, no. 2 (2010): 296–313.

42 Ibid.

43 Scottish Government, Coronavirus (COVID-19): Physical Distancing in Education and Childcare Settings, 2020. https://webarchive.nrscotland.gov.uk/10682/20200515175817/http://www.gov.scot/20200516043911/https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-physical-distancing-in-education-and-childcare-settings/pages/education-provision/.

44 https://www.hestia.org/uksaysnomore.

45 S. Pink, H. Ferguson, and L. Kelly, ‘Child Protection Social Work in COVID-19’, Anthropology in Action 27, no. 3 (2020): 27–30.

46 SCRA. 2020. Official Statistics 2019/2020. https://www.scra.gov.uk/2020/07/scras-official-statistics-2019-20/.

47 Lord President. 2020. Coronavirus Crisis: Guidance on Compliance with Court Orders Relating to Parental Responsibilities and Rights. https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/docs/default-source/default-document-library/updated-covid-19-guidance-on-compliance-with-court-orders-relating-to-parental-responsibilities-and-rights_january-2021.pdf?sfvrsn=0.

48 UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. 2009. General Comment No. 12. https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRC%2fC%2fGC%2f12&Lang=en.

49 Council of Europe. Committee of Ministers, 2010. Guidelines of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on child-friendly justice. Council of Europe. https://search.coe.int/cm/Pages/result_details.aspx?ObjectID=09000016804b2cf3.

50 Lord Advocate. 2020. Lord Advocate’s Guidelines: Liberation by the Police Covid-19 or Coronavirus. https://archive2021.parliament.scot/S5_JusticeCommittee/Inquiries/Lord_Advocates_Guidelines_on_Liberation_Coronavirus_Publication_Version_02_30_March.pdf.

51 Release of Prisoners (Coronavirus) (Scotland) Regulations 2020.

52 Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. 2020. Joint statement from Lord Advocate and Chief Constable. https://www.copfs.gov.uk/media-site-news-from-copfs/1876-joint-statement-from-lord-advocate-and-chief-constable.

53 This ‘pivoting’ of specialist services to remote provision is reported by GREVIO, but the focus is largely on adult victims. See GREVIO. 2020. Second General Report on GREVIO’s Activities. https://rm.coe.int/grevio-s-second-activity-report-2021/1680a2165c.

54 Scottish Women’s Aid. 2020. Submission to the Equalities and Human Rights Committee. https://womensaid.scot/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Equalities-and-Human-Rights-Committee-submission-final.pdf; Scottish Government. 2020. COVID-19 Allocations Advice and Information for the Housing Sector. https://www.webarchive.org.uk/wayback/archive/20200428101908/https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-allocations-advice-and-information-for-the-housing-sector/.

55 UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. ‘General Comment No. 12’.

56 E.K.M. Tisdall and P. Cuevas-Parra, ‘Beyond the Familiar Challenges for Children and Young People’s Participation Rights: The Potential of Activism’, The International Journal of Human Rights (2021): 1–19.

57 C. Houghton, ‘Voice, Agency, Power: A Framework for Young Survivors’ Participation in National Domestic Abuse Policy-Making’, in Responding to Domestic Violence: Emerging Challenges for Policy, Practice and Research in Europe, ed. S. Holt, C. Øverlien, and J. Devaney (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2018), 77–96. See also the Everyday Heroes reports (https://everydayheroes.sps.ed.ac.uk/reports/) from the project involving children and young people with experience of gender based violence in the development of the current Equally Safe policy in Scotland, https://everydayheroes.sps.ed.ac.uk. See also, Voice against Violence https://www.voiceagainstviolence.org.uk/ significantly impacted the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 and set standards for participation of young survivors in policy-making.

58 See Yello! Animations, IJCC project https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/ijcc/2020/10/we-knew-we-had-to-help/.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Fiona Morrison

Fiona Morrison is a Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Child Wellbeing and Protection, University of Stirling. Her research interests are in the areas of children's rights, child welfare, domestic abuse and research with children. Before entering academia, she held policy and practice roles in the areas of domestic abuse and child wellbeing.

Claire Houghton

Claire Houghton is a Lecturer in Social Policy and Qualitative Research, at the School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Edinburgh. Her research interests are in gender and violence, children's rights, participation, policy-making, feminist theory, ethics and research practices.