Table of Contents

Why Domestic Violence is Relevant in Child Custody Disputes
Assessing Safety and Responsibility in Child Custody Disputes
Changing Legislation and Legal Practice to Recognize Domestic Violence in Child Custody Proceedings
From Theory to Practice: The Varying Responses of the Court System to Domestic Violence in Child Custody Cases
A Framework for Action by Courts and Communities to Recognize the Plight of Abused Victims and Their Children After Separation

About the Author

Peter Jaffe is the Founding Director (1975-2001) and Special Advisor on Violence Prevention of the Centre for Children and Families in the Justice System of the London Family Court Clinic; member of the Clinical Adjunct Faculty for the Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Western Ontario; former chair of the Board of Directors of the Battered Women′s Advocacy Centre; and past Chairperson and a founding board member of the Board of Directors for the Centre for Research on Violence Against Women and Children. He gives presentations on violence and facilitates over 50 workshops a year for teachers, students, lawyers, judges, police, doctors, clergy and various community groups. Dr. Jaffe is the recipient of many awards and grants, author of numerous research articles, and co-author of four books dealing with children exposed to domestic violence.

As an undergraduate, Nancy K.D. Lemon helped create the first University of California Women′s Studies major, and received a BA with honors from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1975. Following her graduation from Boalt Hall School of Law (University of California at Berkeley) in 1980, she specialized in domestic violence legal issues. Since 1988 she has taught Domestic Violence Law at Boalt, where she wrote Domestic Violence Law in 1996, the first published curriculum on this topic published in 1996 and 2001. While working at various non-profit agencies around the San Francisco Bay Area from 1981 through 1993, she represented hundreds of battered women obtaining restraining orders, and advocated for them with the civil and criminal justice systems.


Ms. Lemon has been active with the Policy and Research Committee of the California Alliance Against Domestic Violence since 1984 and has consulted on numerous pieces of legislation. She is the Associate Editor of Domestic Violence Report, a bimonthly national publication. She has published many books and articles in this field, has worked with other attorneys as a trial consultant, and has testified as an expert witness on domestic violence issues. She is also a consultant to the California Center for Judicial Education and Research (CJER), with whom she developed curricula for new judges and for court employees. 


Samantha Poisson is the Acting Co-ordinator of the London Custody and Access Project at the Centre for Children and Families in the Justice System of the London Family Court Clinic, and is currently completing her Doctorate in Education in Applied Psychology at the University of Toronto. She has been published extensively both in collaboration and alone on topics related to family violence, research, and custody and access issues. Her teaching experience has involved presentations and workshops involving Crown attorneys, family law associations and conferences on children. As well as her active involvement in research and training, she has worked extensively in the area of custody and access and expert assessments. Ms. Poisson is qualified as an expert witness in Ontario Court (Ontario Superior Court of Justice, General Division) and New Brunswick (Trial Division).