"As everybody knows": Countering Myths of Gender Bias in Family Law

According to certain media commentators, supporters of the men's movement, and even some family lawyers, 'everybody knows' that family law is biased against men. This article draws upon empirical research which shows that the incidence of domestic violence in Family Court cases is relatively high, and that women are often reluctant to take out a domestic violence protection order even if domestic violence has occurred. Despite the high incidence of domestic violence, the Family Court generally supports men having contact with their children and, rather than the Family Court being biased towards women, the very opposite sometimes occurs. It would appear that what 'everybody knows' are a number of myths that can be located within a broader backlash against feminism, and that these myths fail to stand up to empirical testing.