Domestic abusers who murder their partners should be stripped of all parental rights, say campaigners.
Survivors and their families are calling on the government to introduce Jade’s Law as part of its strategy to tackle violence against women and girls.
It is named after Jade Ward, who was murdered by her ex-partner in 2021.
Her family called for a law change after her killer attempted to keep taking decisions relating to their four children.
The Joanna Simpson Foundation – along with children and carers bereaved by intimate partner homicide – say the measure will ‘protect children from further trauma and prevent perpetrators from exerting control from behind bars’.
Founder Diana Parkes CBE became carer for her daughter Joanna’s young children ‘overnight’ after she was killed by her partner in 2010.
Ms Parkes said: ‘I have known the trauma and pain of losing my daughter through extreme violence.
‘She was killed by her estranged husband. My grandchildren were witnesses to this horrendous crime.
‘I became the carer of my grandchildren overnight supporting them through their grief as well as my own. I am pleased to say they have grown up confident and well adjusted.
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‘At the time in 2010, there was very little support for people like us.’
She said ‘more support from government is badly needed for children and their carers who are mostly grandparents’, adding: ‘They are like fish out of water trying to make sense of how to cope with what has happened to them.
‘Despite my daughter writing in her will that I was to look after my grandchildren should anything happen to her, I still had a legal battle to become their sole carer.
‘That is why Jade’s Law must be implemented.
‘We must continue to fight for carers and children to receive the very necessary Government support in VAWG.
‘I would suggest anyone in an abusive relationship should make a will as to who should look after their children should anything happen to them.’
Her co-founder Hetti Barkworth-Nanton CBE said Jade’s Law is a ‘vital step to safeguard children from further harm and ensure perpetrators cannot continue to exert control from prison’.
She said: ‘Children and their carers bereaved by domestic homicide have been overlooked for far too long. Their lives are shattered by unimaginable trauma, yet the support they receive is inconsistent and inadequate.
‘The Government’s upcoming Violence Against Women and Girls strategy must recognise these children and carers and commit to giving them the protection and care they deserve.’
Learn more about femicide
- On average, one woman a week is killed by a partner/ex-partner
- Of the 249 female domestic homicide victims between March 2020 and March 2022, the suspect was male in a staggering 241 cases
- Women’s Aid have found that women are over three times more likely to be killed by a partner than by not wearing a seatbelt
- A Killed Women survey found that only 4% of bereaved family members said their loved one’s killing was not preventable at all
- Nearly half (49%) of women murdered by their partner or ex-partner are killed less than a month after separation, 79% killed within six months of separation and 90% killed within a year of separation (ONS, 2017)
Every year in the UK around 200 children are left bereaved through domestic homicide.
In its 2000 Women report, the Femicide Census recorded that children witnessed the killings of at least 163 women – most often the killing of their mother by an intimate partner.
Roann Court, who was 15 when she saw her mother being killed by an abusive former partner, said ‘for years we have been invisible’.
‘I was 15 years old when I watched my mum being brutally killed,’ she said.
‘What followed was almost as shocking: there was virtually no support for me or my family.
‘We were left completely alone to deal with a level of trauma no child should ever have to endure. The consequences have stayed with us for life.
‘Children like me are not secondary witnesses – we are direct victims, whose lives are shattered in an instant.
‘For years, we have been invisible. The systems that should have protected us failed at every stage.
‘Children bereaved by domestic homicide need urgent, specialist support – not luck, postcode lotteries, or silence.
‘The reality is that far too many families across the UK are still facing the same abandonment that we did, and it is unacceptable.
No carer should have to fight through grief and the courts to protect traumatised children. The government must act now to ensure that what happened to us never happens to another family.’
Ellie Butt, head of policy and public affairs at Refuge, said: ‘Refuge supports The Joanna Simpson Foundation’s call for children and their carers – often grandparents who step in at a moment of profound trauma – to be explicitly recognised and supported in the government’s VAWG strategy.
‘Children bereaved by domestic homicide are victims in their own right, and carers face a huge emotional and practical burden while navigating systems that are too often fragmented or unresponsive.
‘We also urge the Government to implement Jade’s Law without delay, so children are protected from further harm and perpetrators cannot continue exerting control from prison.
‘No child or carer should ever be left to navigate such devastation alone, and the forthcoming strategy is a critical opportunity to make sure they never are again.’
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: ‘Our deepest sympathies are with the families of these victims.
‘We are committed to implementing Jade’s Law as swiftly and safely as possible so that families are protected from further trauma, and work with partners to commence the provisions is well underway.’
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