Family Courts: A System Built to Protect — Now Weaponised to Harm

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The UK Family Court was designed to protect children and ensure justice in the most sensitive areas of life — relationships, parenthood, and safety.

But - behind the closed doors of the courtroom, a disturbing truth has emerged:

Abusers are using the system as a weapon.

From Protection to Punishment

The original goal of the Children Act 1989 was simple: - courts should only make orders that promote the welfare of the child. The “no order” principle was meant to stop unnecessary interference.

But what happens when the court becomes the weapon?

• Parents weaponise proceedings to maintain control.

• Victims of domestic abuse are dragged through endless litigation.

• Children are treated as pawns in a war they never chose.

Legal Aid: A Lifeline Cut Off

In 2013, legal aid was slashed under LASPO. Now, survivors must prove they were abused before they can access help. Many can’t — not because abuse didn’t happen, but because it left no bruises.

• Coercive control doesn’t come with a police report.

• Financial abuse doesn’t show up in medical records.

And if you’re the accused? Even falsely? You get nothing. No help. No voice. Just court dates and legal bills.

Parental Alienation: The Perfect Counterattack

Raise concerns about abuse? Expect to hear the phrase: “parental alienation.”

It’s a convenient defence — abusers claim their child has been “turned against them” by the protective parent. The court, desperate for neutrality, often treats this as equal to allegations of abuse.

Even though:-

• The research is weak.

• The concept is misused.

• The conversation shifts the focus away from the actual risk to the child.

Meanwhile, the abusive parent paints themselves as the victim — and the real victim fights to be believed.

Courtrooms as Battlegrounds

In family court, power and manipulation often win out over truth and trauma.

Survivors are forced to:-

• Represent themselves.

• Navigate complex laws.

• Face their abuser, again and again.

And the cost? Financial ruin. Homelessness. Emotional collapse.

Not just for the parent. For the children too.

Because while adults battle for control, children lose their childhoods.

Post-Separation Abuse: The Hidden Epidemic

Family courts are blind to a pattern that they should be experts on by now - post-separation abuse.

When the relationship ends, the abuse doesn’t. It morphs into:-

• Vexatious litigation

• Refusal to pay child maintenance

• Delays, false claims, and control through the court process

And the court, instead of stopping it, often enables it.

Where Is the Accountability?

There are no real consequences for:-

• Lying in court

• Withholding assets

• Manipulating proceedings

You can waste the court’s time, drain public funds, and destroy a child’s mental health — and walk out untouched.

Where’s the punishment for abusing the system?

It’s Time to Ask the Real Question:

Are our family courts fit for purpose?

Because if a system built to protect children it is instead traumatising them.

The family courts are being used to extend abuse.

If the family court is supposed to put the rights of the parent above the safety of the child — Then it is failing. And failure has consequences.

We Need Reform. Now.

• Recognise coercive control for what it is: domestic abuse at its most insidious.

• Restore access to legal aid for those at risk.

• Punish the misuse of the court system.

• Prioritise truth, not neutrality.

• And put the child’s safety above all else.

Because if the system keeps enabling harm, then it is no better than the abuser using it.

Our children deserve so much more.

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Deanna Newell Family Law

Advocacy for truth-tellers, survivors, and the children who deserve better