Children's Rights

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:36 pm on 16 July 2019.

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Photo of Helen Mary Jones Helen Mary Jones Plaid Cymru 1:36, 16 July 2019

Diolch. I'm very grateful to the First Minister for his answer. There was a joint meeting last week of the cross-party group on violence against women and girls and the cross-party group on violence against children, looking at the family courts and the work that CAFCASS are doing. It was very encouraging to hear how CAFCASS Cymru are beginning to take a much more child's rights-based approach in how they deal with preparing reports for family courts. However, it was very concerning to hear from women whose families have been through that experience the extent to which the family courts sometimes ignore CAFCASS's advice, don't appear to understand how important the voice of the child is in deciding issues around, for example, custody, with children very often being asked their opinions, their opinions being, from their perspective, disregarded, though, of course, it may be what the child wants is not necessarily always best for the child. There were some real concerns expressed in that room by professionals and by women alike that the family court service does not really understand the impact of domestic violence on children and how children should be encouraged to get their voices effectively heard. Can I ask the First Minister today to do some further work with the Counsel General to try to ensure that the appropriate approach that CAFCASS Wales is beginning to take to the experience of children who go through domestic abuse is also reflected and that the family courts are much more aware of the long-term impact of domestic abuse on children and how they can express their views?