Nineteen More Child Homicides. Still No Reform.

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How many more children must die before family courts take coercive control seriously?

Nineteen children. Killed by fathers with known histories of violence.

Between 2015 and 2024, nineteen children — aged just three weeks to 11 years — were murdered by men who were granted access by the family courts, despite being known perpetrators of domestic abuse.

That’s not just tragic. It’s a systemic failure,  and it’s getting worse.

The number of child homicides linked to unsafe contact arrangements has increased by 50% since the previous decade.

These weren’t unpredictable events.  They were entirely preventable.

The facts are chilling:

15 of the perpetrators were the child’s father

All but one had a documented history of abuse or violence

Every single one had been granted access or contact by the family court

Children were handed over to men who had harmed their partners, threatened lives, or used coercive control, and the system looked the other way.

Why?

Because family courts are still operating under a dangerous myth:

That an abusive partner can still be a “good enough” parent.

That contact is a right, not a risk.

That a father’s access trumps a child’s safety.

But abuse doesn’t end when a relationship ends. Post Separation abuse starts! 

For many survivors, it escalates.

And the courts?

The courts continue to misunderstand, minimise, or completely ignore coercive control, despite it being recognised as a criminal offence under Section 76 of the Serious Crime Act 2015.

Women’s Aid is sounding the alarm.

Their new report — Nineteen More Child Homicides is a devastating call to action.

The report highlights how the “pro-contact” culture in the courts is putting children in harm’s way, time and time again.

“Every case is one too many… The system is not fit for purpose.”

— Farah Nazeer, CEO, Women’s Aid

And still, here we are.

Ten years after Jack and Paul Throssell were burned alive by their father during a court-ordered contact visit,  a father they had begged not to see, the same mistakes are being made.

Children are still dying.

Why?

Because the system:-

• Still prioritises contact at all costs

• Still downplays coercive control

• Still silences protective parents

• Still labels survivors “hostile” or “alienating” when they raise legitimate safeguarding concerns

• Still assumes every father is entitled to access, regardless of risk

And let’s be clear:-

• This isn’t about mothers vs fathers

• This is about safe parenting vs unsafe parenting

• This is about fact vs minimisation.

• This is about evidence-based risk — not outdated assumptions about “shared parenting.”

It’s time to end the presumption of contact

It’s time to put children’s safety before  a violent parent’s rights.

It’s time for the family courts to wake up

No more preventable deaths.

No more dismissed warnings.

No more families shattered by state-enabled abuse.

If the courts won’t protect our children — we will.

And we will not stop fighting until they do.

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Deanna Newell Family Law

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