The UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls is to investigate how family courts around the world approach “parental alienation” (PA) and how this may lead to the double victimisation of those who have suffered domestic abuse.
There is no single agreed definition of parental alienation but a generally accepted description is a child’s rejection of one parent as a result of psychological manipulation by their preferred parent.
Reem Alsalem will examine what is behind an increase in allegations of PA in highly acrimonious child custody cases, in particular when used to counter claims of domestic abuse.
Alsalem claims the majority of parents accused of “alienating” their child while alleging abuse are women. In some cases, mothers who have been accused of alienation have had their children permanently removed from their care or faced imprisonment.
“The tendency to dismiss the history of domestic violence and abuse in custody cases extends to cases where mothers or children have brought forward credible allegations of child physical or sexual abuse,” said the UN commissioner for human rights, who issued the call for evidence.
“In several countries, family courts tend to judge such allegations as deliberate efforts by the mothers to manipulate their child and pull them away from their father.
“This supposed effort by a parent alleging abuse is often termed ‘parental alienation’. The term generally refers to the presumption that a child’s fear or rejection of one parent, typically the noncustodial parent, stems from the malevolent influence of the preferred, typically custodial parent.”
The theory of “parental alienation syndrome” was coined in the 1980s by US child psychiatrist Richard Gardner. The syndrome element went on to be largely rejected. But the idea of alienation in the family courts has gained traction in many countries, including Brazil, Spain, Italy, England, Ireland, Australia and Croatia.
The UN claims there are emerging patterns across various jurisdictions that indicate that courts worldwide are using the concept of PA as a litigation tool, despite it lacking “a universal clinical or scientific definition”.
Earlier this year, it condemned a decision by a Spanish court to grant full custody of a seven-year-old girl to her father, despite allegations he had sexually abused her.
The court argued that the mother maintaining custody would risk further damaging the relationship between daughter and father, as the mother would be “inducing in the child the belief that her father is evil”.
The UN claimed children in Spain are exposed to risk of violence and sexual abuse by a “judicial system that appears to favour male parents in custody cases, even in cases where there is a history of domestic violence or evidence of abuse against children and their mothers”.
Meanwhile, it has called on the newly elected government of Brazil to repeal a law passed in 2010 making parental alienation illegal, meaning someone accused of alienating their child in the criminal courts could be jailed.
The legislation means that many mothers remain silent regarding abuse of their children by their partner or former partner, fearing they could be accused of alienation and lose custody rights.
The use of parental alienation in litigation has contributed to the playing down of violence against women and girls in Brazil, where a high level of domestic violence against children – in particular, girls – takes place against the backdrop of high rates of femicide, says the UN.
Proponents of PA claim it is a widespread problem and a form of child abuse.
The charity Shared Parenting Scotland expressed concern over the UN investigation, claiming the approach was based on “generalised assertions that are not well founded” and presented an “incomplete, inaccurate and prejudicial picture of a very important and serious issue”.
It added: “Our experience, supported by a number of recent Scottish and English court decisions, is that the unjustified rejection of one parent due to the intentional or unwitting influence of the other parent does happen in some families after separation … We know of both fathers and mothers in Scotland who have been rejected in this manner.”
