Human Rights Abuses in the Family Court

A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF THE FAMILY

COURT SYSTEM

Paper presented

Child Sexual Abuse: Justice Response or Alternative Resolution Conference

convened by the Australian Institute of Criminology

and held in Adelaide, 1-2 May 2003

http://www.aic.gov.au/conferences/2003-abuse/abuse.pdf

Article 19

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

"Unfortunately, I can't identify myself or my child because of the secrecy surrounding

Family Court cases … secrecy that can hide bizarre decisions from the public. Secrecy

that enables Judges to hand children to their abusers knowing that they can't be sued

for their mistakes or the damage they might cause. If they had to be accountable, how

different things might be!"

Article 25

1. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
2. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

"I was a very vulnerable divorcee with two children ... when I met the father of my

youngest child. We lived together for only six months because of domestic violence.

My partner was sick but he refused to follow doctor's advice to have blood tests.

Later, I discovered that his refusal related to the fact that he was concealing

HIV/AIDS.

My partner was irresponsible with his disease, proof of which lies in the fact that I

became pregnant and gave birth to our daughter in 1995. I subsequently learned that

my partner had 26 criminal convictions, 2 of which were for sexual assault –

commuted from rape.

He also admitted to his doctor that he was bi-sexual and in 1997, when he seroconverted

to AIDS, it was estimated that he had been positive for up to 10 years and

had a life expectancy of only 7 years."

Article 6

Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

"Although my partner had not lived with us and had little contact with our baby

daughter, he applied to the Family Court for supervised access. He gained sympathy

and I was perceived as the bad person who was discriminating against an AIDS

victim."

Article 9

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 13

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State.
2. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country

"Concerned about the safety of my child, I moved away, taking her with me.

Three months later, I was tracked down by Federal Police who literally snatched my

young daughter from me and took her into foster care. I had no idea where she was."

Article 5

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

"Police notified her father of her whereabouts. He collected her and took her to his

home where she's been ever since.

The father was granted continuous access and, subsequently custody of the child.

Given his medical and criminal history, one can only assume that I was being

punished for trying to protect my daughter by removing her without the permission of

the Court. Interestingly, the Trial Judge described his sex offending as "trivial" and

irrelevant.

The abduction of my daughter was the most horrendous experience of my life. She

was only three years old, had neve r lived with her dad or anyone else but me.

It's widely known that trauma of this kind can cause brain damage to children of this

age. What could be more traumatic than being physically torn from your mother,

delivered into the hands of strangers, put into a strange bed in a strange house then

handed to a very sick man you scarcely know. She never knew whether she would see

me again and feared I was gone forever. In other words, my child was psychologically

abused by the very system designed to protect her.

Police told me that I would get my daughter back within a month if I returned to the

Adelaide Family Court. Four years later, at the age of seven, she is the primary

caregiver to a man dying of AIDS.

This is with the full knowledge and approval of Family Court Judges and Family and

Youth Services."

Article 3

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 26

1. Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
2. Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
3. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

"Her education is disrupted. She exhibits severe behaviour problems at school. She

can't socialise as other children socialise.

In the interim period, there have been numerous reports to the Child Abuse Helpline

that my daughter has been physically, sexually and emotionally abused and neglected

by her father and sexually abused by her half-brother.

FAYS will not act to protect my child because the case is in the Family Court. My

child is one of the many who have fallen into the gap between Federal and State

Govemments.

My contact with my daughter is restricted to three six-hour sessions a month or 9 days

a year.

International research shows that children lose their relationship with their parent if

they don't see them for 50% of the year.

Because I took my child away four years ago, I am considered to be the dangerous

parent and our meetings have to be supervised.

Each Christmas, I have to apply to the Family Court for her to spend time with her

maternal relatives and siblings. In 2001 I was granted from 9am-12 noon. I have to

travel 75 kilometres to my ex partner's home, have no car and, of course, on Christmas

Day there is no rural public transport.

Last year, I again applied for Christmas access and was told that my application would

be heard on January 6th … ensuring that no Christmas contact took place."

Article 12

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

"People ask, "Why is your child living with her father? You must have done something

wrong"

My crime was to try to protect my child from a man whose criminal history would

preclude him from working in any service with children.

My crime was to return to the Family Court again and again without legal aid while

my partner was almost always represented.

On one occasion recently, the Judge said I needed to get professional help to deal with

my inability to accept that the Family Court is fulfilling its duty to act in my child's

best interests.

Time after time, when I go to Court, the discussion revolves around the system:

completing appropriate forms, having permission to make an application. … lots of

legal jargon which has nothing to do with the dangers to, or the needs of the child.

Often, she isn't even mentioned.

The focus is on the rights of adults, not the safety of children."

Article 8

Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

"One Family Court Judge banned me from making applications without her permission

… and she refused permission.

Recently, the Judge told the father to put it in his will that I do not get my child back

when he dies of AIDS!

Why didn't I appeal against the Court's final decision?

The child's father was legally represented; I was not.

Had I lost the case, I would have had to pay his costs ... about 20 thousand dollars. I

would have had to pay for copies of the court transcript ... costing over $7000.

My concern right now is that my child lives with a dying man and nobody gives a

damn. There are no plans for her protection when he is too sick to care for her. And I

am assured by FAYS that when he dies, there is no guarantee that the Family Court

will return her to me … her mother.

She could go into foster care causing further psychological damage.

It seems that, for having the effrontery to challenge the system, the Family Court can

and may punish me for the duration of my daughter's childhood and adolescence.

And by that time it may be too late.

If this is the best that Australia can do to protect our children ... may God help them ...

because no one else will."