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[Maska29]

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[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear Maska29

Welcome to Family Rights Group parents’ discussion forum and thank you for posting.

My name is Suzie, online adviser at Family Rights Group and I will respond to your post today. I am sorry to read that you experienced marital rape during your pregnancy which must have been very distressing for you. You mention that your placenta was low and it must have been an additional worry for you.

Congratulations on the birth of your baby and it is good that you are now enjoying life and caring for your baby daughter.

The report of marital rape during your pregnancy means that the police would make a referral to children’s services (the new name for social services) and this led to a social worker visiting you. The social workers who visited you should have explained what assessment if any they intend to carry out and, as your health visitor asked it could be child in need or child protection . If you click on the blue underlined words, you will be able to read more about these assessments.

You can also read more about the procedures that children’s services follow when they receive a referral HERE

Children’s services have up to 45 days to complete their assessment/investigations and this should be communicated to the family once a decision is made to carry out this work.

Rape is a very serious criminal offence and, although you did not provide a statement to the police, they can continue their criminal investigations and a decision made whether your husband will be charged or not. He is on bail now, which suggests the police are still looking into the matter and from what you say in your post, he has breached his bail conditions by coming to your home. I do not think children’s services will see what your husband is alleged to have done as less serious. It may be helpful for you to read about domestic abuse which is serious and there are likely to concerns for you and your baby daughter.

I see that your husband is having supervised contact with baby now. You wish to reconcile with your husband, and you have told this to the social worker. Children’s services are likely to have concerns about this as a safeguarding issue and the social worker should discuss this with you. They could carry out a risk assessment of him, but they will also want to know the outcome of the police investigation.

If your husband is charged with the rape and convicted, then it will be up to the court to decide on the sentence he gets. Should the police not charge your husband, and bail conditions are removed, it is not possible for me to say if your husband can return home as it will depend on what children’s services recommend. If they have no concerns, then it is a possibility but they might want both of you to do some work related to domestic abuse and your relationship.

A health visitor normally visits when a baby is born to check that all is well with mother and baby. A 6-week check is usual after the birth of a baby so I do not think you should read anything into this about how children’s services view the situation with you and your husband.

You can ask the social worker if she is doing an assessment and, if so, which one this information should have been given to you from the beginning of children’s services involvement.

I hope you find this information useful. You may wish to speak with one of our experienced advisers, and you can do so by telephoning our free confidential advice line on 0808 801 0366. The advice line is open from 9.30am to 3.00pm Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays).

Best wishes

Suzie

[Maska29]

Hi,
No, he didn’t break his bail conditions & he didn’t came to my house. What I meant was: if the court decides to lift his bail conditions after the court proceedings, would he then be allowed to come back home, or would the social worker need to agree to this first?