Improving justice in child contact is a project exploring child contact decisions in families affected by domestic abuse. It is funded by the European Union’s Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme (2014-2020). Child contact is understood to be the systems and court processes which decide whether and how a child sees a parent that they are not living with.

Two webinars were organised towards the end of the project to disseminate the findings:

• ‘Children and young people’s participation is not a project. It’s a right!’ on the 2^nd November 2020 on Zoom
• ‘A strategy for transformation child contact systems: Improving justice in child contact’ on the 9^th November 2020 on Zoom

Children and young people’s participation is not a project. It’s a right!

This free webinar was hosted on Zoom on the 2^nd November 2020. This event shared how children and young people can contribute to legal decisions about child contact, in the context of domestic violence. Based on the 5-country project Improving Justice in Child Contact (IJCC), this webinar presented and discussed how children and young people, who have experienced domestic violence, can provide their opinions and knowledge to improve systems and processes. This webinar attracted 140 people from various sectors to attend.

The webinar was chaired by Professor Kay Tisdall, Improving Justice in Child Contact, with presentations from:

• Prof Kay Tisdall, on behalf of the Childhood and Youth Studies Research Group(CYSRG), University of Edinburgh
• Dr Marsha Scott, Susie Dalton and Sue McKellar, on behalf of Scottish Women’s Aid, and
• Ana Alexandre, Alexandra Dourado, and Zahrah Latif, on behalf of União de Mulheres Alternativa e Resposta(UMAR)
• Sónia Pinela, on behalf of Family and Children Center of the Specialized Integrated Section of Domestic Violence of the District of Lisbon (Portugal)
• Rosa Monteiro, on behalf of Portuguese State Secretary for Citizenship and Equality

Links to the presentations of all speakers, their video transcripts, and information sheets in each partner’s language are publicly accessible on the website of IJCC. These documents can be downloaded in PDF format.

• Presentation slides
• Video transcripts of Public Prosecutor Sónia Pinela (in English) and of Rosa Monteiro (Portuguese State Secretary for Citizenship and Equality) (in English and in Portuguese)
• Information sheets in Bulgarian, English, Greek, Portuguese and Romanian

The recording and English transcript of the webinar with English subtitle is also available on the project website. The parts that show videos of young people in their avatars at the webinar have been deliberately removed from the recording in order to protect their confidentiality.

A strategy for transformation child contact systems: Improving justice in child contact

Following the Participation webinar on the 2^nd November, the IJCC project hosted this webinar on Zoom on the 9^th November 2020. This free event shared how we can systematically change and improve child contact systems, when children and women have experienced domestic violence. Based on the 5-country project Improving Justice in Child Contact, the webinar presented and discussed learning about how to make strategic change. This webinar included contributions from the 5-country partners (from Bulgaria, Cyprus, Portugal, Romania, and Scotland) and reflections from the Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Justice Humza Yousaf, along with, Christina McKelvie MSP, Minister for Older People and Equalities of the Scottish Government.

The webinar was co-chaired by Dr Marsha Scott and Professor Kay Tisdall, Improving Justice in Child Contact, with presentations from:

• Dr Marsha Scott, on behalf of Scottish Women’s Aid
• Prof Kay Tisdall, on behalf of the Childhood and Youth Studies Research Group(CYSRG), University of Edinburgh
• Sarah Moton, on behalf of Matter of Focus
• Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Humza Yousaf, on behalf of the Scottish Government
• Minister for Older People and Equalities, Christina McKelvie, on behalf of the Scottish Government
• Laura Albu, on behalf of Fundatia Centrul de Mediere si Securitate Comunitara(CMSC)
• Heloísa Perista, on behalf of Centro de Estudos para a Intervenção Social(CESIS) and
• Susana  Pavlou, on behalf of Mediterranean Institute for Gender Studies(MIGS)
• Elena Triffonova, on behalf of Български център за джендър изследвания(BGRF)

Links to the presentations of all speakers and information sheets in each partner’s language are publicly accessible on the website of IJCC. These documents can be downloaded in PDF format.

• Presentation slides
• Information sheets in Bulgarian, English, Greek, Portuguese and Romanian

The recording and English transcript of the webinar with English subtitle is also available on the project website. The parts that show videos of young people in their avatars at the webinar have been deliberately removed from the recording in order to protect their confidentiality.