Women's Aid Research - A research study to explore the experiences of victims/survivors of domestic violence and abuse, including children, in custody and access proceedings in the Irish Family Law system

Descriptions

This research project will provide an independent, evidence based, comprehensive examination of how effectively the Irish Family Law system proceedings related to Custody and Access, in intersection with other systems and factors; a) responds to the needs of victims/survivors of domestic abuse and b) vindicates the rights of the children to have their voice heard in such proceedings. This research should provide a clear evidence base, incorporate findings and recommendations from other recent relevant research and make new recommendations and/or validate existing recommendations to improve the Family Law system for these two groups. This research is not intended to examine proceedings under the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2022 in any detail. Women’s Aid wishes to invite researchers to tender for a research project that will provide an independent, evidence-based 360-degree examination of how effectively Custody and Access proceedings in the Irish Family Law system, both exclusively or in intersection with other proceedings, systems and factors, responds to the safety and wellbeing requirements of victims/survivors of domestic abuse, including children. The research will focus primarily on the experience of the non-abusing parent and their children , examining how safety and wellbeing are prioritised and how the rights of the children to have their voice heard are vindicated in such proceedings. The focus for this purpose will be adults with children engaging in District Court Custody and Access proceedings, where there is a history of, or ongoing domestic abuse, including coercive control. Children should also be considered as potential research subjects using ethical methodologies to garner their experiences. These families may also be involved in additional Family Law proceedings (domestic abuse order applications, maintenance, guardianship…) and there may be scenarios where there are related criminal proceedings, or external processes such as mediation.