Suffer the Little Children

Stopping the forced separation of children from their mothers
& the privatisation of child protection

Wednesday, 18 January 2017 6-8pm

Committee Room 11, House of Commons, SW1A OAA

  Westminster    All welcome.
(please allow time to go through security)

Kindly sponsored by Emma Lewell-Buck MP for South Shields
Shadow Minister (Education) (Children and Families)

Speakers:

Cristel Amiss  Black Women’s Rape Action Project

Dr Andy Bilson  Emeritus Professor of Social Work, University of Central Lancashire

Donna Clarke  fought not to have her grandchild adopted

Dr Anna Gupta  Senior Lecturer in Social Work, Royal Holloway University of London

Nicola Mann  Women Against Rape

Anne Neale  Legal Action for Women

Kim Sparrow  Single Mothers’ Self Defence

Suffer the Little Children – a Dossier by Legal Action for Women documenting mothers’ struggle in the family courts in England – will be launched at the meeting. The Dossier could not be more timely as the Children and Social Work Bill is now in the Commons and a public outcry has exposed the treatment of mothers who have suffered domestic violence by the family courts.

There are now more children in state “care” than at any time in the past 30 years. New research shows that local authorities with the highest adoption rates also have the highest increase in children in care. Prioritising adoption over support for families has led to a 65% increase in the number of children separated from their parents. Mothers on low incomes, single mothers, of colour, immigrant, with learning difficulties, teenage mums … are particularly vulnerable. Women who suffer rape and/or domestic violence are most likely to have their children removed.

Following the recent public outcry, the government is looking to stop violent men question the mother in family courts. This would be a welcome change but much more is needed to stop the horrendous sexism mothers increasingly face.

The Children & Social Work (CSW) Bill is now going through the House of Commons. The government is determined to re-impose measures overwhelmingly rejected by the House of Lords, which would allow local authorities to “opt out” of statutory child protection, opening the way for privatisation. This coincides with the lowering of the benefit cap, with its devastating impact on as many as 500,000 children whose families are being further impoverished. No-one knows how many more children will then be taken into care as parents are accused of “neglect” for no longer being able to keep a roof over their heads, especially if private companies can profit from such separations! Given the abuse of children in care that continue to be exposed in Lambeth, Rochdale, Rotherham . . . and in juvenile detention centres run by G4S and others, this is a frightening prospect. Together for Children, a consortium of over 40 children’s charities, women’s groups, social work organisations and others, are also opposing the opt out clauses.

A child protection social worker has warned about the government’s latest plans:

The ‘undeserving poor’ have lost their council homes; lost their benefits and lost their community services; why not make it easier to lose their children too?

We must act together to oppose this social cleansing precipitated by austerity policies and insist that MPs vote against the “opt out” measures. Mothers, grandmothers and other carers working with Legal Action for Women and other self-help groups are fighting back.

Called by: Legal Action for Women
law@allwomencount.net  020 7482 2496  http://legalactionforwomen.net