No local child curfews have been is sued, according to the Home Office. But it is mothers, not men, who are being targeted for parenting orders. Working with mothers has nevertheless revealed to youth offending teams in hard-pressed communities that what they need to do is not scold the mothers, but empower them. Something about which both Blair and Straw have been silent. In one area, all of the mothers under parenting orders were the victims of domestic violence and most had endured abuse in their own childhoods.
Many mothers ultimately appreciate the parenting programme.
After all, at last they are getting help. But some of the women dread the challenge to their relationships with men for whom no one but these women take responsibility. They're all misogynists. Sometimes the objects of ASBOs are unfortunate souls whose mental health problems make them irritating or even menacing, but not necessarily criminal. They can't be locked up for their habits, but they will be locked up for breaching their ASBOs.