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Helen Russell-Johnson describes the implications of the significant change to the legal definition of 'harm'
KEY WORDS
Child protection
Domestic violence
Law
The definition of 'harm' in the Children Act 1989 has been amended by S.120 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002, quoted below.
S 120 Meaning of 'harm' in the 1989 Act
In section 31 of the 1989 Act (care and supervision orders) at the end of the definition of 'harm' in subsection (9) there is inserted 'including, for example, impairment suffered from seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another'.
The connection between domestic violence and child abuse has been recognised by professionals for many years; the risk to children is now recognised by and enshrined in law. Domestic violence is defined as '...any violence between current or former partners in an intimate relationship, wherever and whenever the violence occurs. The violence may include physical, sexual, emotional or financial abuse' (Department of Health (DoH) 2000:8). The Council of Europe (1986) has a broader and more inclusive approach to the subject by referring to and defining physical violence in the family as 'Any act or omission within the framework of the family, by one of its members, that undermines the life, any bodily or psychological integrity, or the liberty of another member of the same family, or that seriously harms the development of his or her personality'.
Family violence
Acknowledgement of the dangers to children inherent in violence between partners has rendered the term 'domestic violence' outdated; family violence is a much more accurate and relevant descriptor but is less often used in the literature. Family violence also implies that domestic violence and child protection are not separate issues, but...