ParentalAdvocacy&Rights (PAR)

An emerging charity fighting for the right for parents to access advocacy and support when their children in child welfare and protection system in Scotland.

[Natalie Page @NataliePage]

The family court has taken away the most basic human right of all:
The right to say “no” to a violent man.
When a mother tries to protect her children and says “I don’t want them in contact with their abusive father,” the system doesn’t listen.
It punishes her.
It calls her hostile.
It calls her an alienator.
It orders her to force the relationship anyway.
Children who say they’re scared or don’t want to go?
They’re told their feelings don’t count.
In the eyes of the family court, once a man has fathered a child, neither the mother nor the child is allowed to say no — even when he is dangerous.
That is not justice.
That is the weaponised system in action.
The System Is The Weapon names this truth so clearly: the court doesn’t just order contact.
It takes away your right to refuse it.

Out now.
https://t.co/nQePlyUa1C

[Natalie Page @NataliePage]

You were never the problem. Protecting them was never the crime.
Domestic abuse is present in 9 out of 10 private law family cases.

The System Is The Weapon
https://t.co/0G0A3Sx28y

[Family Law News @familylaw]

F v M [2026] EWFC 116 (B) (22 May 2026): Fact-finding in private law proceedings, concerning mother's allegations of coercive and controlling behaviour by the father. Allegations not proven. https://t.co/SWoqJT6e5k

[Scottish Women's Aid @scotwomensaid]

Our new research report, “It’s always there, like a shadow behind you”: Women’s Experiences of Coerced Debt and Recovery in Scotland, challenges the assumption that the end of the relationship means the end of abuse. Survivors and advocacy workers described an array of post-separation economic abuse, where debt, joint finances, mortgages or rent, child-related costs, and legal proceedings are used as tools to continue control. For many women, coerced debt becomes a lasting legacy of abuse that follows them for years.

The research by Scottish Women’s Aid, commissioned by @StopLoanSharks and @TSScot, draws on qualitative research with women in Scotland affected by coerced debt and the Advocacy Workers who support them, sharing their experiences in their own words.

Survivors should not carry the financial consequences of abuse. Systems must act.

Survivors should not be tied to their abuser through debt for years after leaving. Policies and services must address the long-term financial impacts of domestic abuse.

📄 Read the report and learn how systems must change: https://t.co/0w0cemSOWV

📄Short on time? Read the summary of the report: https://t.co/BFpe4pKmcN

[Family Law News @familylaw]

https://t.co/AiQsMXcztv

[Laura Richards BSc MSc MBPsS @thecrimeanalyst]

“None of you need go to prison today” Excuse me? 11 counts of rape against two different girls and Judge Nicholas Rowland said this and “I should avoid criminalizing these children unnecessarily.”Unnecessarily? So targeting different girls, using a knife, gang rape and filming and posting it are not serious crimes? WTF? 🤬

They criminalized themselves. They are serial rapists who knew what they were doing and they filmed it.

Two girls now have to live with trauma forever. They deserve prison time and the Judge must be removed. He’s a misogynist and there’s no place on the bench for men like him at a time of increasing male violence to girls and women. Get him out 🤬

#CrimeAnalyst #Pattern #serialperpetrator #MaleViolence @laurarichards99

[Natalie Page @NataliePage]

There’s no way to sugarcoat the reality of this framework. Nine out of ten private law applications involve domestic abuse, and nearly all abusers get contact with kids.
You’re not failing.
The system is.
https://t.co/SPp2dY6t4Q

[Natalie Page @NataliePage]

Because the family court's focus is forcing known abusers and victims into decades of contact they can’t pretend it’s about the child’s best interests anymore. It's about chaining victims to abusers.

https://t.co/SPp2dY6t4Q

[ParentalAdvocacy&Rights (PAR) @PAR_Scotland]

@familylaw Very interesting that the second child was also deemed to be harmed by constant separation from mother and sibling

[ParentalAdvocacy&Rights (PAR) @PAR_Scotland]

We had a lovely day - lots of plans

[ParentalAdvocacy&Rights (PAR) @PAR_Scotland]

Ladies from PAR are off to visit our friends in Glasgow at WIN at https://t.co/MtiUXgDqUb

We are building alliances to change the Scottish child welfare system do its just, fair and supports families

@ThePromiseScot @CRSWjournal @relationalacts @corrascot

[Reem Alsalem UNSR Violence Against Women and Girls @UNSRVAW]

https://t.co/bhkrFd5cbT

Neurologist accused of 48 counts of sexual assaults against 48 of his female patients has been acquitted recently by a male judge. 48!

In doing so, the judge dismissed the expert testimony of a female doctor and expert on whether vaginal and breast exams were part of the norm during neurological exams (They are not)

We are still a long way from addressing sexism and gender bias in the court systems. This all will serve to further undermine reporting. Victims legitimately ask "what is the point"

[reann @redpepper1011]

Cerebra’s new FII work focuses on turning its 2023 research into an active campaign to stop families being wrongly harmed by the “Fabricated or Induced Illness” label. What the new campaign is about
•Cerebra is now supporting a survivor‑led campaign calling for the FII label and its current guidance to be withdrawn because of the damage it causes to disabled children and their families. The campaign builds directly on Cerebra’s research with Leeds University, which showed FII allegations are widespread, often unfounded, and deeply traumatic for parents and children. Key messages and demands
•The campaign highlights that most FII allegations lead to no further action, yet still leave families with long‑term trauma, mistrust of services, and sometimes fractured family relationships. •It calls for immediate withdrawal of the FII label and associated guidance, and for a complete rethink of how professionals respond to “perplexing presentations” without defaulting to parent‑blame Who is involved
•The new campaign brings together FII survivors, clinicians, social workers, academics and disability rights advocates who have seen firsthand how easily ordinary advocacy for a sick or disabled child can be misinterpreted as fabrication. •Cerebra’s role is to back this coalition with evidence from its Legal Entitlements and Problem‑solving (LEaP) Project, amplifying families’ experiences in policy, safeguarding, and training spaces. What it aims to change
•The ultimate aim is safer safeguarding: approaches that genuinely protect children without tearing them from loving parents on the basis of poor‑quality guidance, stereotypes about disability, or institutional defensiveness. •The campaign is pushing for new national guidance that recognises the harm caused by false or poorly evidenced FII accusations, addresses discrimination against disabled parents, and is grounded in peer‑reviewed research rather than untested “alerting signs”

[ParentalAdvocacy&Rights (PAR) @PAR_Scotland]

@ianhendo1 @euanmccolm @paulhutcheon @TheTortoise The resources and services needed to prevent children coming into care are not there.

Ex parte hearings without parents are common when Child Protection Orders are taken out - with no representation from parents. It’s not a fair hearing

[ParentalAdvocacy&Rights (PAR) @PAR_Scotland]

Press Release from Parents Advocacy & Rights on the Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill

Scotland is funding care crisis instead of supporting families and preventing children coming into care

@euanmccolm @paulhutcheon @TheTortoise

[ParentalAdvocacy&Rights (PAR) @PAR_Scotland]

Thoroughly recommend Daisie-May Hudson’s film Lollipop on BBC2 tonight, then on iPlayer

https://t.co/9XhsdYjyvn

[ParentalAdvocacy&Rights (PAR) @PAR_Scotland]

https://t.co/TdCjm6fTf0

[ParentalAdvocacy&Rights (PAR) @PAR_Scotland]

Edinburgh and Lothians PAR Xmas Party

Happy Christmas everyone

[ParentalAdvocacy&Rights (PAR) @PAR_Scotland]

Orkney PAR gingerbread house party 2025.

Happy Christmas everyone

[Rebekah Pierre @RebekahPierre92]

I used to dread 20th December. It is the date that my foster carer kicked me out via a note on the kitchen table, with no warning or explanation. Seeing that date in the calendar used to bring back that memory into sharp focus - the deep sense of rejection, fear, & helplessness.