Hawkins declared November as Family court awareness month

Hawkins has announced that from hereon, November will be considered the family court awareness month. The decision was highly influenced by a request submitted by Heather Swift, a child safety advocate, who appealed before the court on September 26.

Swift, a domestic abuse survivor, believes that Family court awareness month could be a start to highlight child safety issues in the courts.

Usually, in the event of a divorce or family separation, when the matters pertaining to custody of children arise, the courts don’t always make the most factually correct or logical decision. The result? The children may face severe abuse from their separated, single parent, either physical or mental abuse. Thus, the child’s safety becomes a big question mark, and this situation needs to stop happening.

Child safety issues in a domestic household after separation

Speaking of the numbers, in 2020 alone, 758 children were murdered by their parents who had just gone through a divorce or separation. The following year, the figures crossed the 800 mark and reached 811. In 2022, it rose to 864, and the year is not over yet.

Statistics have shown that parents who used to abuse their partner are also likely to abuse their children once separated. The abuse could also be from a close family member. Either way, if the court fails to see behind the masks the parents put in front of the court, children are bound to get abused in some way or another. The best way to combat situations like this is by having an experienced Dayton Family Law Attorney as a representative and counsel.

The newly formed Family Court Awareness Month Committee (FCAMC) aims to improve the situation of the children trapped in custody battles once the parents are separated. Furthermore, the committee seeks to uphold the welfare and safety of the children in the event of divorce. Therefore, the children’s safety is considered of utmost safety, which will help the court make a better ruling.

The committee also aims to raise awareness of the importance of imparting better education about child trauma and abuse to households so that people will start taking some action to address these issues. In addition, the committee emphasizes considering how the child will feel and what they are going through when their parents get divorced.

As an extended effort, the committee is committed to training professional judges involved in domestic cases on what a child goes through during a divorce. The training and education will be based on the factually available data. The same will give the professionals an idea of how to make better decisions so that the child’s safety isn’t endangered.

The FCAMC committee is honoring over 100 children who had lost their lives when the court rejected the protection plea by the other parent. The committee strongly believes that the judge should be fairly educated about family dynamics to put a stop to this trend and give out a better ruling that gives child safety equal value. They should be able to see the problem at hand in depth to pass a verdict favorable to both the partners and the children involved.

Heather Swift is hopeful, as are the other parents and social workers who collectively worked to bring this issue forward in court.