The Safeguarding Review into the death of baby Victoria Marten has been published. It calls for a more supportive approach to parents and quotes from Constance Marten. Every mother who’s ever been in family court will recognise what she told the Review Panel:

“My mistrust of social services is not an innate feature of my personality, it developed due to my dealings with them.”

“…they were using the powers of the state coercively rather than constructively.” 

…there was a flow chart which would ultimately result in the removal of my children, step by step.”

“Attending a contact centre is one of the most painful experiences for a parent to endure. However, there was no support when leaving the contact centre despite the obvious distress…”

Protesting outside the trial, we said Ms Marten needed support NOT prosecution. Traumatised by the forced adoption of her four children, she went on the run to protect new-born Victoria from a similar fate. She should not have been sent to prison for 14 years when she is already suffering a life sentence of grief and loss. 

Rather than helping in these situations, the Children’s Wellbeing & Schools Bill now going through Parliament would enshrine even greater state control over families and children, giving social workers and professionals more power and monitoring children’s whole lives through a digital id (“consistent identifier”).  This is the opposite of the “trauma informed” approach the Panel recommends.

More than 5,000 unborn babies and infants under the age of one were subject to child protection plans last year. Separating new-borns and infants from their mothers is barbaric – the mother/child bond is fundamental to every child’s wellbeing. The UK is one of a few countries which allows the state to remove children and have them adopted against the wishes of their birth mother. This sadistic abuse of power must be ABOLISHED.

See previous blog posts supporting Constance Marten during her trials here, here and here.