Being a parent in the child protection system
Authors: Bondsfield, C. and Lenz, T.
Pages: 99-110
DOI: 10.4324/9781041056874-8
Abstract:When you see me now, you would not guess where I have come from… I am 44 years old and a single mother of three boys: J is 23, L is 21 and E is 11 years old. We have been on a tough journey as a family and faced a lot of challenges on the way. Those challenges have meant that we were not always able to live together due to the way we were treated by professionals – we were excluded from being a family. I have jumped through so many bloody hoops to achieve where I am now, had to prove myself to people and professionals in particular. My friends and family knew who I was and always said that I put my kids first. I was shocked that people would see me in a different light. I was furious and frustrated that professionals were not listening to me and would not believe anything I said. I felt that whatever I was doing, it just wasn’t good enough for any of them. I was labelled by my then husband and by professionals as: mentally unstable, drug and alcohol user, described as a bad mother and letting my children down. I wish for people to understand that my kids are my life, and I would do anything for them. I want to tell my story as a victim of domestic violence and abuse, how my family was torn apart as a result and how we healed together later. Domestic abuse There are some 2.3 million victims of domestic abuse a year aged 16 to 74 in the UK (two-thirds of whom are women) and more than one in ten of all offences recorded by the police are domestic abuse related. The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 created a statutory definition and is a new piece of legislation that emphasises that domestic abuse is not just physical violence, but can take the form of emotional and economic abuse and controlling and coercive behaviours. It places duties on local authorities in England to support victims, including children who are exposed to domestic abuse. Source: Home Office (2021)
Source: Scopus
Being a parent in the Child Protection system
Authors: Lenz, S. and Bondsfield, C.
Editors: Hughes, M.
Pages: 99-110
Publisher: Critical Publishing
Place of Publication: St Albans
ISBN: 9781915080387
Abstract:This book places the expertise of people with lived experiences front and centre of the narrative on social exclusion, marginalisation and social stigma in the UK.
Source: Manual