{"id":512,"date":"2015-06-16T10:39:53","date_gmt":"2015-06-16T09:39:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tayloremmet.co.uk\/blogs\/?p=512"},"modified":"2015-06-16T10:39:53","modified_gmt":"2015-06-16T09:39:53","slug":"nspcc-concerns-over-judges-comments-on-physical-abuse-in-a-cultural-context","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tayloremmet.co.uk\/blogs\/nspcc-concerns-over-judges-comments-on-physical-abuse-in-a-cultural-context\/","title":{"rendered":"NSPCC concerns over judges comments on physical abuse in a “cultural context”"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a recent High Court decision, the NSPCC has raised concerns about references the judge made about considering allegations of physical abuse \u00a0in a \u201ccultural context\u201d.<\/p>\n

The court case was a wardship matter, where the court is asked to make a child a \u201cward of court\u201d, in itself not a very common application.\u00a0 It included disputed allegations of serious domestic violence between a 7 year old boy\u2019s parents, as well as allegations of abusive behaviour towards the child himself.<\/p>\n

The parents had come to England from India in 2006, and their son was born here in 2007.\u00a0 The child had said that his father hit him with a long belt, on his back and leg and had nodded when asked if this hurt him and left marks. \u00a0The father had said that he had used a \u201cslap or a tap\u201d at times to \u201ckeep him disciplined\u201d, but denied ever using a belt.\u00a0 There had been both positive and less positive assessments of the boy\u2019s care by his father.<\/p>\n

In a case where there are disputed allegations, it is up to the judge, who hears and reads all of the evidence, to decide what is proven.\u00a0 In this case the judge decided that there had not been\u00a0\u201cpunitively harsh\u201d\u00a0 treatment of the child of the kind that she considered amounted to\u00a0 physical abuse. This was entirely a matter for the judge, but it was her following comments which have caused the NSPCC concerns –\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cProper allowance must be made for what is, almost certainly, a different cultural context. Within many communities newly arrived in this country, children are slapped and hit for misbehaviour in a way which at first excites the interest of child protection professionals. In this instance\u2026[the child]..did not appear to have suffered more than sadness and transient pain from what was done to him\u201d.<\/p>\n

The NSPCC say in their response<\/a>:<\/p>\n