Right to Equality is alarmed by the letter sent today (13 May 2025) by Jacky Tiotto, CEO of CAFCASS (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service), to internationally acclaimed psychologist, Dr Jessica Taylor. The letter demands a written apology for protected speech and opinions shared by Dr Taylor during the online launch of He Said, She Said: Truth, Trauma and the Struggle for Justice in Family Court, the new book by our Co-Director, Dr Charlotte Proudman.
The book exposes systemic failures in the family courts and gives voice to the women and children silenced within them. Dr Taylor’s comments were made in that context—as part of a conversation about institutional complicity and professionals who abuse positions of power. She highlighted the obvious but uncomfortable truth: statistically, it is likely that some social workers and CAFCASS staff—like members of all professions—may perpetrate domestic abuse or child abuse.
She rightly noted that this form of abuse exists across society, including in the family justice system. It is estimated that at least one in 10 children will be sexually abused before the age of 16 and that around a quarter to a third of child sexual abuse involves a family member [1]. Domestic abuse is also endemic. It is estimated that around 2.3 million people aged 16–59 experienced domestic abuse in 2023/24 many of whom will have children [2]. Our professions are microcosms of society.
Examples of professionals convicted of abuse include:
- Thomas Weller, a West Sussex social worker was jailed for sexually messaging two young teenagers on Snapchat in September 2024.
- Richard Ford, a former senior social worker was convicted for five years in prison for 10 charges related to child sexual abuse in February 2024.
- Raymond Poynor, a former social worker, was jailed in 2024 for more than five years for indecent assaults against children.
- In 2023, a senior social worker who works with vulnerable adults was found by a family court to have fractured his ex-partner’s hand “causing lasting disability” and used his temper to “frighten and control her” as well as being verbally abusive in front of the child and hitting their family dog. He attempted to prevent this judgment from being shared with Social Work England.
Last year, we welcomed CAFCASS’s new domestic abuse policy and Ms Tiotto’s public apology for the organisation’s failures:
“I am sorry that some four years on from the Harm Panel report, there are still children and adults in family court proceedings who do not receive the protection they deserve and require.”
We note this public apology now appears to have been deleted. We seek clarification as to why. Six months later, CAFCASS’s leadership has chosen not to engage with the serious issues raised in He Said, She Said, but instead to intimidate and silence a prominent advocate. The letter places Dr Taylor “on notice” and demands she circulate a written apology to all CAFCASS staff. This is designed to frighten a victim advocate and an eminent professional. We consider the letter to amount to intimidation and harassment.
This is not just a fundamental waste of public resources—it is a direct attempt to suppress free speech and to discredit victim advocacy. Dr Taylor’s Article 10 rights are engaged. That CAFCASS would respond to survivors’ testimony by targeting those who amplify it mirrors the very dynamics of coercion and silencing the book lays bare.
This is not an isolated incident. Dr Proudman herself was subjected to a malicious disciplinary complaint for criticising a judgment that echoed boys’ club attitudes to abuse. She was fully vindicated. The Bar Standards Board attempted to silence her and damage her reputation—a tactic now being replicated by CAFCASS. We are also aware that CAFCASS issued an apology to Dr Proudman following personal and unprofessional attacks made against her by one of their officers during a transparency hearing about domestic abuse.
There is a clear and troubling pattern: when women speak the truth about institutional failure, they are threatened. When survivors and advocates highlight abuse of power, the response is not reform—but retaliation.
CAFCASS’s record speaks for itself. In the case of Rose, they disregarded rape allegations and supported the father’s claims of parental alienation. Following a successful appeal, the father was found to have raped the mother—yet CAFCASS had aligned itself with his case and enabled contact. In the case of Mr White, a serial rapist, CAFCASS supported unsupervised contact between him and a child, and backed efforts to conceal his identity. These decisions have caused irreversible harm to children.
Instead of addressing these failures, CAFCASS is now targeting Dr Taylor.
Every week, Right to Equality hears from survivors punished for leaving their abusers or speaking out. He Said, She Said documents how the system retaliates against women who challenge its norms. CAFCASS’s response confirms the book’s central thesis: those who expose injustice in family courts are met with institutional silencing.
We stand firmly with Dr Taylor. We will not be intimidated. And we will continue to amplify the voices of survivors and challenge the abuse of power wherever it exists.
We seek an apology on behalf of Dr Taylor from the CEO of Cafcass.
Please add your signature here.
See CAFCASS’ initial letter below and at the link above: CAFCASS Letter to Dr Taylor