In recent years, growing concerns have been raised about decisions made in private family law proceedings in England and Wales—particularly where children are removed from their primary carer.
A recurring pattern has emerged: parents who raise allegations of domestic abuse or sexual abuse within child contact disputes sometimes face accusations of “parental alienation”. In some cases, these accusations result in the removal of children from the care of the parent who has been their primary carer.
What the research shows
- The Harm Panel Report (2020), commissioned by the Ministry of Justice, found that family courts often minimise or dismiss allegations of domestic abuse, while survivors risk being labelled as hostile or alienating.
- Barnett (2020) and Grey (2023) highlight how the concept of “parental alienation” is frequently invoked in ways that sideline abuse allegations and silence protective parents.
- The Domestic Abuse Commissioner (2023) raised serious concerns that survivors of abuse may lose custody of their children after disclosing violence.
- At the international level, the United Nations General Assembly Human Rights Council (2023) warned of the global misuse of “parental alienation” claims to undermine women’s and children’s safety.
Together, this body of evidence paints a troubling picture…yet there is no official or systematic data collection in England and Wales to confirm how widespread the practice is. Without this data, survivors remain invisible, and policymakers can avoid accountability.
To begin to address this gap Right to Equality and Survivor Family Network have launched a child removal campaign, beginning with a survey of primary carer parents across England and Wales who have had children removed from their care following private law family court proceedings.
We shared our initial quantitive survey results at a parliamentary event in November 2025.
Our final qualitative results and report will be available in spring 2026.