Report “Chiswick Women’s and The Problem of Battered Women” part II

Partial transcript

6. THE LAW
The many problems relating to the use of the law as a tool to resolve the situation of battered women has been discussed in a separate report.

These can be summarised as follows:

a) the inaccessibility of solicitors or of using the law as remedy by members of the public.
b) the lack of solicitors willing and competent to take on this type of work.
c) The unsuitability of magistrates courts to resolve this type of situation and even though the high court can resolve the situation more or less satisfactorily another type of court with a different atmosphere and structure, perhaps known as a family court, is needed.
d) lack of use of criminal law to cover events that are of a criminal nature.
e) difficulty in enforcing injunctions and unsuitability of injunctions as a means of prevention when the husband is mentally disturbed and out for revenge, and lack of co-operation by the police in enforcing these injunctions.
f) lack of realisation at the earliest stages of using the legal process that mental disturbances of the husband may be the cause.
g) difficulty of obtaining emergency legal aid and the need to petition for divorce to do so.
h) difficulties in obtaining maintenance quickly.
i) problems of getting custody where the wife has no immediate expectations of resolving her housing situation.

This is a formidable list of problems which in part will be tackled by setting up a law centre attached to Chiswick Women's Aid to concentrate in this area.