Earlier this year, parental alienation proponents petitioned the Scottish Government to recognise Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) as a severe form of psychological child abuse. The syndrome has been rejected several times in legislation and was swiftly rejected once again, as was its surreptitious sister, Parental Alienation (PA)
Read moreFamily Court Reporters: Gender Bias, Victim Blaming & the Whitewashing of Domestic Violence
Adult and child victims of domestic violence in the family court system get treated abhorrently; abuse is disbelieved, diminished and denied and evidence is covered up. Both child and adult victim are court-ordered into communication and contact with coercively controlling perpetrators. It delights the perpetrator and traumatises their victims, for years on end.
Read moreCoercive Control And The Family Court Trap
Leaving a coercively controlling relationship is one of the most stressful and painful times in life. If there is a child involved, dealing with the aftermath is worse. When the victim finds safety, stability and emotional freedom, it is quickly swiped from under them by the family courts. The victim and child are returned to a situation of vulnerability and become engulfed with worry and fear. They can get left in that precarious situation until the child becomes an adult.
Read moreSummary of Academic Research on Parental Alienation (In Cases Involving Domestic Abuse)
What happens when a parent raises claims of ‘abuse’ in a civil family court action and it gets counterclaimed with ‘parental alienation’ or similar?
Here’s what the experts say.
Read moreThe Domestic Abuse Victim's Nightmare Continues In The Perilous Family Courts
Many domestic abuse victims who flee dangerous relationships will end up in the civil family courts. Whilst criminal law in the UK has advanced in recent years, and made coercive control a crime, family law remains in the dark ages. Perpetrators use the family courts to continue their cycle of abuse, and the outdated system enables it.
Read moreScotland Leads The Way: Parental Alienation Plot Foiled
Scotland is currently in the process of ground-breaking family justice modernisation. Yesterday, Minister Ash Denham passed the Children (Scotland) Bill with a unanimous vote. The government listened to charities, and survivors of domestic abuse and their children, and they are making radical reforms to help protect the vulnerable and to make the family justice system a fairer, kinder and safer world to enter. Ministers from all parties worked together with their focus firmly set on the best interests and welfare of the child; something survivors have desperately sought from those working in the family court system.
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