We’ve filed an application with the European Court of Human Rights

Content warning: sexual assault

We have taken the next step in our legal challenge by filing an application with the European Court of Human Rights. We are asking the court to rule on whether the decision of the English courts was lawful. This ruling prevents a six-year-old, legally known as D, from taking her mother’s surname and forces her to bear the name of the man who raped her mother.

We’ve sent detailed witness statements from D’s mother about the ongoing trauma caused by this decision. No child should be forced to carry a name soaked in violence. No woman should be forced to confront her rapist’s name every day. And this is about more than a name – it’s about dignity, identity, and the right to heal. We are standing with D and her mother to demand that their fundamental human rights are finally respected.

We are now waiting to hear whether the court will grant permission for the case to be heard. Given the daily impact on D and her mother, we’ve asked for the case to be fast-tracked. We’ll share further updates as soon as we have them.

• A previous version of this article read “Court of Appeal” instead of “English courts”