A Swansea University-led study revealed that mothers involved in public law family court proceedings were 8 times more likely to have had exposure to domestic violence and abuse (DVA) than mothers not involved in proceedings.
DVA is known to have long-term and wide-ranging detrimental impacts on the health and well-being of children and families but is commonly underreported, with an estimated occurrence of 5.5% in England and Wales in 2020.
DVA is more common in groups considered vulnerable, including those involved in public law family court proceedings. However, there is a lack of evidence regarding risk factors for DVA among those involved in the family justice system.
The study, led by researchers at Population Data Science at Swansea University, linked family justice data from the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass Cymru Wales) to demographic and electronic health records within the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank.
Researchers constructed 2 study cohorts: mothers involved in public law family court proceedings (2011-2019) and a general population group of mothers not engaged in public law family court proceedings, matched on key demographics such as age and deprivation.
The findings revealed that:
• Mothers involved in public law family court proceedings were 8 times more likely to have had exposure to DVA documented in their primary care records than the general population group.
• Within the cohort of mothers involved in public law family court proceedings, risk factors for DVA with the most significant effect sizes included:
- Living in sparsely populated areas,
- Assault-related emergency department attendances, and
- Mental health conditions.
The 8-fold increased risk of DVA emphasises the increased vulnerabilities for individuals involved in public law family court proceedings. The evidence that living in sparsely populated areas and assault-related emergency department attendances are associated with increased risk of DVA could be used to inform policy and practice interventions targeting prevention and tailored support services for those exposed to DVA.
Rhodri Johnson, lead author and Research Officer at Population Data Science at Swansea University, said: This research provides new evidence in terms of DVA prevalence and understanding of risk factors for a group of mothers traditionally hard to reach and considered vulnerable, some of whom may not be represented in official DVA statistics.
With additional risk factors highlighted, there may be value in creating bespoke guidelines specifically relating to vulnerable groups, such as mothers involved in the family courts who were found to be much more likely to experience DVA than mothers in the general population.
Dr Lucy Griffiths, Associate Professor at Population Data Science at Swansea University, added:
This is the first population-scale study using primary care records to identify DVA and examine risk factors for DVA among mothers in Wales.
Our results support the case for using administrative data to improve understanding of DVA risk factors, especially for vulnerable groups, to improve the evidence base and inform policy guidelines.