Context and Background Matters When Protecting Children
Children depend on adults and professionals to protect their safety and well-being. In family-law proceedings, a child may be placed in the middle of adult conflict and treated as a pawn, a tool, or a weapon. That is psychologically harmful and contrary to the child’s best interests.
A child’s words and behaviour cannot be properly understood in isolation. Professionals, including therapists and child legal representatives, need to consider the child’s environment, history, family dynamics, relationships, and the full context surrounding the case. Virtual contact may show a child’s face, but it cannot necessarily show who is outside the frame or influencing what the child says and feels.
Parents who raise concerns or ask for evidence should not automatically be labelled “high-conflict.” Questions about a child’s safety, contact, treatment, or representation deserve clear answers and proper review. A child legal representative must remain independent and focused on the child, not become aligned with one parent or act without meaningful oversight.
Documented behaviours associated with parent-child interference can include limiting contact, interfering with communication, making allegations of danger without evidence, involving children in adult matters, asking them to keep secrets or report on the other parent, and withholding important information. These behaviours can place children under intense emotional pressure and force them into conflicts they should never have to carry. - Dr.Amy-Baker-Ph.D
Bill C-223 is specifically concerned with how children’s voices, family violence, coercive control, and allegations of parental alienation are addressed in family-law proceedings. The bill is currently before a House of Commons committee.parl+1
Children are not property to be divided, messengers to be used, or weapons in a dispute. Their safety requires evidence, independence, accountability, and attention to the complete picture. When professionals fail to examine history, context, and family dynamics, they risk deepening the harm they are meant to prevent.
Important links for families or those with children in their lives.
Report child abuse or neglect in British Columbia:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/public-safety/protecting-children/reporting-child-abuse
MCFD reporting portal:
https://mcfd.gov.bc.ca/reporting
B.C. duty-to-report guidance:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/public-safety-and-emergency-services/public-safety/protecting-children/t15-0191_dutytoreport.pdf
Bill C-223, Parliament of Canada:
https://www.parl.ca/documentviewer/en/45-1/bill/C-223/first-reading
B.C. child protection services:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/public-safety/protecting-children
For immediate danger, call 911. For concerns about child abuse or neglect in British Columbia, call 1-800-663-9122, available 24 hours a day.