The government has confirmed it will scrap the long-criticised presumption of contact in family law: a legal principle campaigners say has placed children and survivors of abuse in danger for decades.

The move follows years of tireless campaigning and mounting evidence, including reports from Women’s Aid, linking the principle to 19 child deaths in the past decade alone.

What the Presumption of Contact Means

Under Section 1(2A) of the Children Act 1989, family courts are required to presume that “the involvement of both parents in the life of the child will further the child’s welfare.”

In practice, this has meant that during child arrangement order proceedings, judges have typically started from the position that maintaining contact with both parents is beneficial: even in cases where domestic abuse, coercive control, or even sexual offences have been proven or alleged.

Critics say this approach has created a “pro-contact culture” in the family courts, prioritising parental involvement over the safety of children and survivors.“The system’s optimism that perpetrators of abuse can still be ‘good enough’ fathers has cost children their lives,” said Farah Nazeer, Chief Executive of Women’s Aid.

Tragic Consequences

One of the most harrowing cases illustrating the dangers of this principle is that of Claire Throssell, whose sons Jack, 12, and Paul, 9, were murdered by their father in a deliberate house fire in 2014.

Despite a known history of violence and repeated threats to kill, he was granted unsupervised contact with the children.

“My boys should still be here,” Ms Throssell told BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour.
“The court gave their father the opportunity to destroy everything, because they believed contact was always in a child’s best interest.”

Now an ambassador for Women’s Aid, Ms Throssell has spent the last decade campaigning for reform, urging the government to put safety before contact.

Contact and Parental Responsibility in Sexual Abuse Cases

Campaigners also highlight the gaps in protection for victims of sexual violence.

Under current law, a parent convicted of serious sexual offences or even a rapist whose crime led to the birth of a child can still apply for contact and retain parental responsibility.

Parental responsibility gives a parent the right to make key decisions about a child’s life, including their education, health care, religion, property etc.

Survivors have described this as “a second sentence” when forcing them to face their rapist in family court and give them a legal say over the child conceived through violence.

A Long-Awaited Shift

Following Ms Throssell’s emotional appearance on Woman’s Hour, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has promised to act.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has now confirmed plans to:

  • Repeal the presumption of parental involvement, ensuring courts no longer begin from an unsafe assumption that both parents’ involvement is beneficial.
  • Amend the Victims and Courts Bill 2025 to automatically restrict parental responsibility for anyone convicted of serious sexual offences, particularly where a child was conceived through rape.

The MoJ said these reforms form part of the government’s mission to “halve violence against women and girls within a decade.”

A Flawed Principle Recognised Too Late

While campaigners have welcomed the announcement, many say the change comes far too late for families already devastated by the system’s failings.

“It is tragic that it has taken the loss of 19 innocent children to prompt this reform,” said Ms Nazeer. “But this change marks a turning point, where the welfare of children and survivors will finally come before the rights of abusers.”

The repeal of the presumption and the new restrictions on parental responsibility mark a historic shift in family law as it replaces outdated notions of “shared parenting at all costs” with a safety-first approach that puts the wellbeing of children and survivors above everything else.

Conclusion

Though long overdue, the government’s decision offers a glimmer of hope for countless families.

The deaths of nineteen children and the trauma endured by survivors like Claire Throssell have finally forced the system to confront its failures.

If implemented with care and urgency, this reform could save lives and ensure that no parent or child is ever again forced into harm’s way in the name of “contact.”