Hughes, J., & Chau, S. (2012). Children’s best interests and intimate partner violence in the Canadian family law and child protection systems. Critical Social Policy, 32(4), 677-695. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261018311435025
Through qualitative interviews, this study shows women in Canada caught between two systems with conflicting expectations. Child protection services expect them to leave abusive partners or risk losing their children, while the family law system pushes custody arrangements that keep them in close contact with those same partners. Women described struggling to get family law professionals to recognize intimate partner violence and receiving little help from either system, and the article recommends changes to both services.