Child welfare adviser Cafcass has been accused of attempting to silence a chartered psychologist who spoke at an event to promote a book by high-profile family barrister Dr Charlotte Proudman.
Dr Jess Taylor, chief executive of VictimFocus, spoke on a panel at the remotely held event to launch He Said, She Said: Truth Trauma and the Struggle for Justice in Family Court last month. In answer to a question about the judicial system, Dr Taylor said, as summarised in the letter signed by Cafcass chief executive Jacky Tiotto: ‘On the basis of probabilities there must be social workers and Cafcass practitioners who go home and abuse their kids’.
The letter, sent a month after the event, described Dr Taylor’s comments as ‘extremely offensive’.
Taylor told the Gazette that her comment had been broader - she said that it must be taken into account that ‘people have their own personal bias and experiences not only as potential victims [but] perpetrators’, before listing a range of professions in the family courts including Cafcass practitioners.
However the letter added: ‘I seek to place you on notice that Cafcass takes such allegations extremely seriously. Not only is it unhelpful in the context of the debate about domestic abuse in the family court, but there is no evidential basis upon which the statement appears to have been made. Cafcass refutes the suggestion that any of its staff should be presumed to perpetrate abuse against their own children without any evidence whatsoever to support such a statement.
‘I would be grateful if you would acknowledge, by return, that your comments were inappropriate and made without foundation, and provide me with your personal reassurance that such comments will not be repeated by you in future. Further, I would be expecting to have a written apology from you that I will share with the organisation.’
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Taylor responded with an almost 10-minute video which she posted online. Refusing to apologise, she told the Gazette: ‘I was blown away. The comments that I made were broad comments about professionals. It was not a specific conversation about Cafcass.’
She said the letter felt like a ‘knee-jerk reaction’ from the organisation, adding: ‘I’m not sure exactly what the thought process is behind it, it was kind of threatening to me.
‘I lecture on this topic all the time, the professional sector is a microcosm of larger society. There is no evidence whatsoever that suggests that those in those sectors are any less abusive. Nobody is bias-free and there is not a single sector free of perpetrators of abuse. I think [Cafcass’] response is laughable.’
She had not been challenged on her comment during the event itself, she said. 'The conversation was about judges, I broadened it up. Perpetrators are at every level of every system. There is professional denial around the fact our own could be violent, abusive, rapists, murderers, paedophiles. I think that can be extremely dangerous. We should not see ourselves as any different.’
Proudman, in a statement published on social media, said: ‘It’s astonishing that Cafcass’ main response to a book exposing family court failures is an attempt to silence a woman speaking out on behalf of survivors.'
Right to Equality, a non-profit organisation championing gender equality, said it was ‘alarmed’ to hear of the letter which was a ‘fundamental waste of public resources’.
Cafcass said it had ‘no further comment to make on this matter’.
