Darcey Freeman: high emotions that lead to tragedies

Too often medical and police evidence of abuse is not heard or ruled inadmissible because the protective parent is seen as vindictive and having “coached” professionals, even when X-rays of broken bones can be produced.

In the US one lobby group has recently opened a photo exhibition with 15 appalling stories of abuse by family courts.

The same is happening here, but with our media gagged, the public, and politicians, never hear about them. For local stories see the website www.kidsindistress.org.au.

Parents and foster carers alike are forced to drag crying children to access visits with the parents they were removed from because of violence. Children’s terror is ignored by a system insisting contact with both parents is always beneficial.

Even under supervision controlling parents can engender extreme fear while not appearing threatening. Imagine being raped and forced to visit your rapist every fortnight.

I have repeatedly contacted journalists on Four Corners, Chanel 9’s Sunday program and ABC’s Lateline all but begging journalists to investigate this topic. Every time the answer is the same. Without “vision” there is no story. They can’t talk to the families involved, for fear of identifying them. Viewers, they argue, do not want to see pixilated interviews.

If it is true that politicians only respond to media pressure, then they will never respond to this crisis.

I call on the media and Federal Government, to review the shared care and adversarial legal system in which the very life of children is put shamefully at risk.

Last week, in response to Darcey Freeman’s death the Australian Psychological Society said FCA staff were not properly trained or equipped to deal with the complex psychological needs of children.

Adversarial systems create the kind of high emotions that lead to tragedies.

In death, Darcey represents all the other invisible children forced by our system to live in fear of their parents. Let her death not be in vain.