Hear the children, or grieve them.

National domestic abuse charity Women’s Aid and creative agency Hijinks today staged a moving children’s choir performance outside Parliament. It was attended by several ministers from the Department of Justice including Jess Philips, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, Ministers Sarah Sackman and Alex Davies-Jones.

The 19-strong choir of children aged 7-12, who performed a version of the song “Lovely” by Billie Eilish and Khalid, was assembled to reflect the 19 preventable child homicides documented in Women’s Aid’s recent ‘19 More Child Homicides’ report, released on June 17 2025 and maintain pressure on lawmakers to end the dangerous ‘pro-contact’ culture that prioritises the rights of abusive parents over children’s safety.

The project goes live on the day that the government made the momentous announcement to repeal the presumption of parental involvement in the family courts. The decision looks set to end the dangerous ‘pro-contact’ culture placing the rights of abusive parents over children’s safety.

The performance began with all the children singing together acapella, but gradually they all stopped singing one by one until the choir became silent – symbolising how children’s voices and experiences have been so often silenced in the family courts.

Following the stunt, a film of the performance will be published on social media.

The idea builds on Hijinks’ previous OOH campaign for Women’s Aid, which launched in June with the message “Hear the children, or grieve them”.

Gabriel Garcia and Felipe Sampaio, creative directors at Hijinks, said:
“We chose Billie Eilish’s “Lovely” because it captures the quiet pain of feeling unseen and unheard. Its haunting tone mirrors the silence surrounding children whose voices are ignored by the courts. Hearing it sung by a choir of children adds a heartbreaking contrast. This idea centres on turning their voices into a call to action that inspires the kind of change that will protect future generations.”

Hijinks worked with production company Caviar and director of photography Natalja Safronova on the film, with post by Absolute. The production worked with Finger Music and received special permission from Billie Eilish to use her song, and worked with the Young Talent Academy children’s choir and choirmaster Mark Delisser.

The film will run on TikTok as online paid media, and on Women’s Aid’s social channels, including Meta, LinkedIn and YouTube.

The government’s decision today to repeal the presumption of parental involvement has ushered in a new era of hope for countless women and children, who have historically had the courts system used against them by perpetrators as a means of continuing abuse. Women’s Aid believes that despite this significant decision, we must never forget the many children who have been killed because of unsafe family court practices. The charity’s recent report found that in the last 30 years, 67 children have been killed by a parent who was also a perpetrator of domestic abuse, in circumstances relating to unsafe child contact.

Today’s event was set to coincide with the anniversaries of the deaths of Jack and Paul, beloved sons to Claire Throssell MBE, Women’s Aid survivor ambassador, whose deaths could have been prevented. In 2014, Jack, 12, and Paul, 9, were both killed by their father, despite Claire’s warnings that he was a danger to them. Paul died on 22nd October 2014, and Jack on the 27th October 2014. Claire has since campaigned tirelessly with Women’s Aid to stop unsafe child contact with dangerous perpetrators of domestic abuse.