The Improving Justice in Child Contact project was set up to address the barriers to children’s participation in disputed child contact. Child contact is communication, such as phone calls or visits, between a child and a parent with whom the child is not regularly living. The project considers court processes in particular, asking how they […]

Dr Fiona Morrison and Professor Kay Tisdall published this blog about the progress of the Children (Scotland) Bill through the Scottish Parliament on 19 August 2020 under the Children’s Participation in Family Law Project.   The Children (Scotland) Bill will reform the law[1] that deals with how children participate in decisions about child contact. The Bill promises to improve […]

‘A’ is a young women supported by Women’s Aid in Scotland. She shared her experiences of the child contact system in the hope that it would help challenge the injustices experiences by children and young people. Her full story is available as the IJCC project briefing: A child’s experiences of child contact processes. It has […]

The Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation (BGRF) is taking forward the Improving Justice in Child Contact project in Bulgaria. BGRF hosted a seminar for the project in September 2019 in Sofia. Associate Professor Diana Kovacheva,Ombudsman of the Republic of Bulgaria, was the special guest at the seminar. The Ombudsman recently sent an opinion to the Ministry […]

The Improving Justice in Child Contact project partners are working to ensure the children and women affected by domestic abuse are supported throughout the coronavirus pandemic. We know that for many women and children these services are more essential than ever and we are adapting and adjusting our support to ensure it continues to be […]

Young people set out what they wanted from adults who work with them as part of Power Up/Power Down. Power Up/Power Down was a participation project for young people with experience of domestic abuse, jointly supported by Scottish Women’s Aid and the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland. The young people said that what they […]

A key part of the IJCC project is for each partner country to trial a model for engaging with children affected by domestic violence in relation to child contact decisions. UMAR  – União de Mulheres Alternativa e Resposta – one of the IJCC partners in Portugal, has recently completed a trial based on Power Up/Power […]

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) Article 12 states that children have the right to express their views and for those views to be considered, and that when decisions are made about them they must have the opportunity to be heard. But this is so often not the case when […]

This blog is also available in English. O CESIS – Centro de Estudos para a Intervenção Social e a UMAR – União de Mulheres Alternativa e Reposta dinamizam um Fórum Multissetorial no âmbito do projeto Improving Justice in Child Contact – IJCC em Portugal. Um grupo amplo e diverso de partes interessadas relevantes aceitou o […]

Este blog também está disponível em Português. The Centre for Studies for Social Intervention (CESIS) and the Women’s Union for Alternative and Response (UMAR) set up a Multi-sector Forum within the scope of the Improving Justice in Child Contact (IJCC) project in Portugal. A large and diverse group of stakeholders accepted the IJCC project challenge […]