A serious rethink is required as to how female perpetrators of domestic abuse can be given the same chance as male perpetrators to reform their behaviour: Tori Adams reports
- Mothers who have been found to be perpetrators of domestic abuse face difficulties accessing support and demonstrating change to allow for contact with their child.
- The Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Programme is not currently available to women—particularly its group sessions, which are an integral part of the reform process.
When reference is made to domestic abuse in proceedings brought under the Children Act 1989, and consideration is being given as to what an ‘abuser’ can do in order to secure contact with their children, it is generally assumed that reference is being made to a male perpetrator. It has long been the position that if a father is found to have been a perpetrator of domestic abuse, he is required to complete the Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Programme (DAPP) before he is able to have direct, or unsupervised, contact with his children. In order to be accepted onto
