The National Family Violence Law Center at GW

Judicial training on domestic abuse used to be a closely guarded state secret. A new step forward in transparency was announced today, with the Judicial College making this information public for the first time. I've long called for better training - and greater transparency on domestic abuse training across the judiciary and legal profession.
Finally some progress has been made! 🥳
"The Right Honourable Lady Justice King DBE, chair of the Judicial College, writes in her foreword: “Alongside the prospectus, we are publishing an overview of training in domestic abuse for magistrates and judges in the family and criminal courts. It explains, for the first time, how training in domestic abuse is embedded across the curriculum."

Judicial College embeds domestic abuse training into 'continuous' curriculum for judges - Today's Family Lawyer https://share.google/OEQjpR0ho1DOyNWcX

https://amzn.eu/d/08poRCW8

Supreme Court rules intimate partner violence can be basis for lawsuits | CBC News In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court of Canada has created a new tort of intimate partner violence that will allow people to sue for damages when they have been subject to abuse in a relationship.

Intimate partner homicide has clear warning signs – and is often preventable, research shows Women are at highest risk of being hurt or killed after separating from a potentially violent partner, but interventions such as taking away the former partner’s fi****ms can protect them.

Drawing upon multiple case studies, this article examines how parenting double standards are reproduced in situations where women who have experienced domestic violence have been seen as ‘alienating’ mothers, while the men who have perpetrated
the violence have been seem as ‘good’ or ‘good enough’ fathers. In total, 25 cases studies were conducted with women who had experienced domestic violence, had at least one child and had been perceived by at least one professional as ‘engaging in parental
alienation’ at some point within the previous 5 years. Each case study involved at least one semi-structured interview with the woman and the analysis of relevant documents, including family evaluation reports, child protection reports and court decisions.

These double standards were identified when the mothers’ and the fathers’ behaviours and circumstances had been measured or evaluated using a different set of principles. The research findings reveal different main manifestations of parenting double
standards, which relate to the parents’ credibility and the parents’ past and personal histories.

To read the paper by Lapierre et al visit https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/cfs.13260 or search Abused Women as ‘Alienating’ Mothers and Violent Men as ‘Good’ Fathers: Double Standards in Child Protection and Child Custody Proceedings

EVENT 4/24 Preventing Harm, Promoting Safety: A New Vision for the Family Court Response to Child Maltreatment & Domestic Violence.

For Child Abuse Awareness month in April 2026, Kathryn Spearman PhD, MSN, RN has organized a special webinar event with leading thinkers and researchers for Penn State’s Child Maltreatment Solutions Network on issues for a crucial awareness event. Speakers include: Catherine Cerulli, Paul Griffin , Joan Meier & Danielle Pollack , Hon. Catherine O’Malley, Viola Vaughn Eden Leah Moses .s_law and Kathryn Spearman

Please scan the registration link and share with your networks. We hope to see you there for this important event!

Volare’s monthly support group, A Space for Us, will take place next Wednesday, December 17 from 6-7pm!

This month’s session is for survivors of sexual assault.

This group is virtual, and participants will be sent a link after registering.

Register here: bit.ly/asfu

R**e victims in England and Wales will be better protected from being labelled “serial liars” under new legal measures designed to limit how their past reports can be used in court.

The changes aim to prevent survivors from being unfairly discredited based on previous allegations, unless there is clear evidence of dishonesty. Campaigners say this could reduce the fear and retraumatisation many victims face when pursuing justice. Finally, the system may start believing victims instead of ripping them apart.

“New measures will stop the ‘profound injustice’ of victims being questioned, sometimes without warning, about past rapes that they have reported to the police,” said David Lammy, the justice secretary.

'Narratives of Femicide Perpetrators in Latin America', by Martín Hernán Di Marco, synthesises narrative research on men convicted of intimate femicide/feminicide in Latin America. Based on repeated biographical interviews conducted across eight countries, it offers a sociological exploration of the perpetrators’ lives and their processes of sense-making through the analysis of their narratives.

Link in the comments.

An important skills training program for interviewing children at risk of abuse is being offered by experts at APSAC.
For more information and registration, visit APSAC https://www.memberleap.com/members/evr/reg_event.php?orgcode=APSA&evid=46326921