Domestic abuse charity Women’s Aid highlights the dangers of “pro-contact” culture in the family justice system.

Devised by creative agency Hijinks, the charity’s latest campaign showcases the risks of prioritising parental contact over children’s safety.

This comes as the not-for-profit unveils its third report, ‘Nineteen More Child Homicides’. The research highlights that since Women’s Aid revealed that 19 children died due to the failure of the family justice system and statutory services, a further 19 have also died.

In the last 30 years, 67 children have been killed by a parent who is also a perpetrator of domestic abuse.

Jessye Werner, communications manager at Women’s Aid, said: “Almost ten years ago, Women’s Aid produced a report identifying 19 children who had been killed as a result of failure in our family justice system and statutory services.

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“Yet today, nearly a decade later, another 19 children have been killed in similar, preventable circumstances. This cannot continue.”

Titled ‘Hear the Children, Or Grieve’ theme, the marketing drive can be seen near the Central Family Court in London. It highlights the voices of the children who were ignored.

Gabriel Garcia and Felipe Sampaio, creative directors at Hijinks, added: “The idea behind the campaign is simple, but the message is urgent: children need to be heard by statutory services and the family courts.

“We wanted to create a moment of reckoning to highlight how the family courts’ ‘pro-contact’ culture ignores children and hands them straight to domestic abusers,  putting them at fatal risk.”