Universal-Womens-accesss-to-justice-Publications-Practitioners-Guide-Series-2016-ENG

142 PRACTITIONERS GUIDE No. 12
When making an assessment of the best interests of the
child, decision-makers must take into account the
existence of a context of domestic violence; 372
There should be effective supervision of the contact
between an abusive parent and a child; 373
State officials should uphold legal and policy frameworks
that aim at the prevention, investigation and
prosecution of domestic violence, so that the safety of
women and children can be protected in practice (the
State should exercise political will to enforce women’s
and children’s safety in order to discharge its duty of
due diligence); 374 and
States should investigate the existence of failures,
negligence or omissions on the part of public authorities
that may have caused victims to be deprived of
protection. 375
372
Ibid, paragraph 9.4.
373
Ibid, Paragraph 9.7.
374
Ibid, paragraph 9.9.
375
Ibid, paragraph 9.9.