By Michele Burman | Ruth Friskney | Jane Mair | Richard Whitecross 

This Report presents the findings of the Domestic Abuse and Child Contact: The Interface Between Criminal and Civil Proceedings research project, funded by the Scottish Government. The study set out to examine the relationship between civil and criminal law in the context of child contact proceedings which raise issues of domestic abuse. The impetus behind the study is to better understand how, if at all, developments in domestic abuse proceedings and changing definitions in the context of criminal law in Scotland, inform the handling of child contact cases which are conducted within the scope of civil justice. Scotland has seen several major policy and legislative developments aimed at reforming responses to domestic abuse, most recently the introduction of the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018. These developments have been primarily situated within the context of criminal law and the criminal justice process. There has been relatively less attention paid to civil law. The negative impact of domestic abuse on children is well-recognised in Scotland (see, e.g., Callaghan et al 2018). Growing awareness of the nature and impact of domestic abuse is reflected to some extent in the explicit statutory obligations, introduced by the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006, on the civil courts to consider domestic abuse in the context of actions for child contact. In further recent debate and reform of child law and family justice, domestic abuse has been highlighted and children placed at the heart of the decision-making process. Decisions in respect of child contact generally, and in particular where there are allegations of domestic abuse, continue to present significant challenges. Relatively little is known of how these provisions of Scots family law work in practice; of the extent to which the treatment of domestic abuse in the civil courts reflects criminal practice, or of the ways in which individual child contact cases may (or may not) interact with criminal justice proceedings. How child contact, more generally, works in practice in Scotland, is an under-researched area with Wilson and Laing’s (2010) study a rare exception. The significance of the interaction of the criminal and the civil, in the context of domestic abuse and child contact, was clearly identified by the Scottish Government in the commissioning of a significant scoping project: Contact Applications Involving Allegations of Domestic Abuse: Feasibility Study (McGuckin & McGuckin 2004) but the planned Phase 2 did not follow. Much of the research evidence we have on this specific issue in Scots family law derives from two doctoral theses (Mackay 2012; Morrison 2014). Overall, there is limited research evidence on the operation of family law in child contact cases, and whether and how the interpretation and application of the civil law statutory provisions are informed by contemporary understandings of domestic abuse and changing definitions or practices in the criminal law. The research which has been published has consistently stressed the need for further, large scale (e.g., McGuckin & McGuckin 2004; Wilson & Laing 2010) and longitudinal study (e.g., Mays & Christie 2001). Through a focus on the interrelationship between the investigation and prosecution of domestic abuse in criminal justice and parallel child contact proceedings advancing through civil justice processes, this research study contributes to addressing the current knowledge gap. The key stated aims of the study are: a. to understand the ways in which domestic abuse proceedings may inform the handling of and decision-making in child contact cases; b. to explore family law practitioner understandings of the impact and relevance of a course of conduct of domestic abuse and its implication in contact cases under s.11 7A – C of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995; c. to identify and explain perceived impediments or obstacles to communication and information exchange in such cases; and d. to examine the links or lack thereof between domestic abuse criminal proceedings and Child Welfare Hearings (contact). 

Edinburgh: Scottish Civil Justice Hub, Scottish Centre for Crime & Justice Research, 2022. 78p.

By Sukhwant Dhaliwal

This knowledge review is the first to provide an up-to-date overview of published research in relation to the sexual abuse of African, Asian and Caribbean heritage children. It sets out what this research says about the nature of that abuse, its impacts, the barriers that prevent children talking about it, and how concerns about it are identified and responded to – both within communities and by services. Equally importantly, it identifies significant gaps in knowledge and understanding, and recommends how these can be addressed. Commissioned by the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse (the CSA Centre) and Barnardo’s SEEN Centre for children and young people of African, Asian and Caribbean heritage, the review was conducted by the Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit (CWASU) at London Metropolitan University. In addition to examining 79 publications (including research studies, journal articles, book chapters and ‘grey’ literature) which related to 59 distinct research or evaluation projects, it collated information on ongoing research and convened four focus groups involving African, Asian and Caribbean heritage people with knowledge of child sexual abuse as academics/researchers, practitioners and ‘experts by experience’. Overview of the research literature The publications reviewed dated from between 1988 and 2023. There is a shape to their content and quantity, with recent years seeing rapid growth in the number of publications. Only a small number of studies were published up to the early 2000s. The period between 2010 and 2015 focused principally on the sexual exploitation of African, Asian and Caribbean heritage children; subsequently, there was a shift towards talking about child sexual abuse and sexual violence more widely. Most of the published studies were based on qualitative research and were small in scale. They typically focused on a particular ethnic group or on abuse in particular settings such as religious institutions, with an emphasis on the experiences of women and girls; the distinct experiences of boys were largely absent. Very few included quantitative analysis of larger samples. As a result, the literature tells us about the nature of the sexual abuse experienced by African, Asian and Caribbean heritage children, and the contexts in which it takes place, but not its scale. The review found that the sexual abuse of Asian heritage children, primarily those of North Indian and Pakistani heritage, received more research attention than the sexual abuse of African and Caribbean heritage children: only four studies focused solely on African victims/survivors, and another four on Black Caribbean victims/survivors. Moreover, children of African, East Asian and Southeast Asian heritage received hardly any attention. There was little research engaging directly with African, Asian and Caribbean heritage children; most relied instead on accounts from adult victims/survivors or practitioners, or on analysis of children’s case files. Studies involving the greatest direct engagement with children as research participants were those on gang-associated sexual violence, one on intra-familial child sexual abuse, and two on the experiences of unaccompanied asylumseeking minors. Although many of the studies included discussion of service responses to the sexual abuse of African, Asian or Caribbean heritage children, there were only three evaluations of support services or interventions.

Barkingside<Ilford: Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse, 2024. 112p.

Edited by Susanna Johansson · Kari Stefansen Elisiv Bakketeig · Anna Kaldal

This edited collection explores the background and implementation of the Nordic Barnahus (or 'Children's House') model - recognised as one of the most important reforms related to children who are the victims of crime in the Nordic region. This book discusses both its potential to affect change and the challenges facing it. The model was introduced as a response to a growing recognition of the need for more integrated and child-centred services for children exposed to violence and sexual abuse. In the Barnahus structure, different professions work together to ensure that victimized children receive help and treatment and that their legal rights are met. This original study is organised into four broad themes: child-friendliness, support and treatment; the forensic child investigative interview; children's rights perspectives; and interagency collaboration and professional autonomy. Each themed section includes in-depth chapters from different Nordic countries, outlining and analysing the practice and outcomes of the collaborative work engaged in by Barnahus from different perspectives. The introductory and concluding chapters offer a comparative lens useful for policy and practice implementation within the Nordic welfare state context and beyond, ensuring this book has global academic and practical appeal. This work was published by Saint Philip Street Press pursuant to

Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017. 402p.

By Carly B. Dierkhising and Bo-Kyung E. Kim

The authors of this report examine a project aimed at conducting an evaluability assessment of specialized units in Los Angeles County that interact with children and youth who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) and who are involved in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. The authors seek to fill an information gap by documenting those multidisciplinary service delivery models to help determine whether they are the most effective services for children and youth who have been and/or are at risk of CSE. The three overarching research questions addressed by the study were: what are the program components of the specialized units; what are the associated short-term and long-term outcomes; and how can the programs be assessed for implementation fidelity. By answering those questions, the five specific objectives of the project were to: conduct a scoping review of the literature on programs and program evaluation for youth impacted by CSE in the U.S.; specify and describe the activities of specialized units in Los Angeles County for children and youth who have experienced CSE; develop logic models that include program components and hypothesized outcomes of the specialized units; identify and/or develop measurement tools and a plan to assess program fidelity; and evaluate the research capacity of the agencies. The authors report that they were able to operationalize the activities and outcomes of the project, and they provide examples of a how a unit could be assessed for fidelity. The authors’ assessment of the research capacity of the units indicates that there is potential for successful future evaluation activities, however additional data collection processes would need to be implemented in order to capture the broad range of activities and/or outcomes included in the logic model. The report includes appendixes with relevant documentation, surveys, and forms.

Los Angeles: School of Criminal Justice and Criminalistics, California State University, 2023. 87p.