The law has failed a woman and her child – let's fight back

Content warning: sexual assault

A High Court judge has forced a six-year-old girl, known as D, to keep the surname of the man who raped her mother. Because it was her father, the court says the surname is part of D’s identity and heritage – even though the man attacked her mother, hasn’t seen his daughter since 2021 and has threatened to kill them both.

This ruling hits hard and it could hit for life. D won’t share the name of her mother – her primary caregiver. Instead, she’s forced to carry the name of a rapist. The state is giving him a lifelong claim over her – and over her mother.

It’s wrong. And it’s state-sanctioned abuse.

The mother wants to change her daughter’s name, to erase this permanent reminder of what she endured, so she turned to Good Law Project for help. We’re aiming to set a precedent that forces courts to think harder about what it means to be raped – we think our justice systems needs to be properly trauma informed. Courts must protect survivors.

With your support, we’re challenging this judgment at the European Court of Human Rights under Article 8: the right to private and family life. We’ve put together a team of outstanding lawyers to fight this, including expert solicitors and a human rights KC.

For D’s mother, her daughter’s name is a vital part of her future.

“It’s so important for me that this is not overshadowed by that of an abuser and a sick control narrative that courts seem to want to promote,” she told us.

No survivor should face harm from the very system that is meant to protect them.

No child should have to carry an abuser’s name. 

It’s time to change the system.