Parental Alienation
Parental alienation is a legal trick aimed directly at those cases where parents (overwhelmingly men) are accused of domestic violence and/or child sexual abuse — and it is deployed in their defense. It is not supported by scientific evidence, nor does it have a single clinical and scientific definition.
Urgent recommendation from GREVIO to Greece
GREVIO calls on Greece to take all necessary practical and legislative measures to end the removal of custody from non-violent parents, and to train judges and other relevant professionals on the lack of scientific basis for "parental alienation syndrome" and similar concepts.
The vicious cycle of secondary and repeated victimization of mothers and children who experience domestic violence, and the role of Patriarchy in maintaining and reinforcing it
Talk by Kiki Petroulaki (European Network against Violence), at the event titled: "Domestic Violence and Custody Rights: Protecting women and children from violence in light of the new Commission proposal for a European Directive," organized by MEP Elena Kountoura, held at the European Parliament on 24.1.2023.
Parental Alienation: A Disputed Theory With Very Serious Consequences for Children
International scientific organizations, agencies & experts such as the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the American Psychiatric Association, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges in the USA, and others point out that parental alienation is a pseudo-theory without scientific foundation.
The Best Interest of the Abuser
Family courts are dominated by the discredited pseudo-theory of parental alienation, which was specifically designed to offer legal protection to abusive men and which puts children's lives at risk in custody disputes.
Denial of Domestic Violence in the Courts: Empirical Analysis of the Phenomenon and Proposals for Addressing It
In Family Law cases, judges very often fail to take into account testimonies of domestic violence and child abuse. In many cases, judges even grant custody to the abusive parent (in the overwhelming majority of cases, the father) despite very serious and credible testimonies and evidence of abuse.
Parental Alienation Syndrome: Is It Scientific?
A thorough deconstruction of parental alienation theory, citing numerous scientific studies that refute its individual assumptions, by Stephanie J. Dallam.
UN Recommendation: legally prohibit the use of "parental alienation"
The Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem, submitted a report to the Human Rights Council on April 13, 2023, in which she condemns the use of the pseudoscientific concept of "parental alienation," and related concepts, in custody court cases.
The World Health Organization (WHO) refuses to include parental alienation in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11)
In a recent statement (December 2022), the WHO explains the reasons why parental alienation was removed from the term index of the category titled "Problems Associated with Caregiver-Child Relationship" in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD).
Brazil 2022: The expert committee of the UN Human Rights Council calls on the government to withdraw the parental alienation law
GENEVA (November 4, 2022) -- Experts from the UN Human Rights Council have called on Brazil's new government to repeal the law criminalizing "parental alienation" (2010), which leads to discrimination against women and girls, particularly in custody court cases.
The UN Commission on the Status of Women takes a stand against the use of parental alienation in legal proceedings
On March 17, 2022, at the 66th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Reem Alsalem, convened a working group aiming for the committee to openly declare its opposition to the use of the pseudoscientific and regressive theory of "parental alienation" in child custody court cases.
UK 2021: The use of parental alienation theory puts children at risk
Once the term parental alienation enters a custody case, neither the reasons why the child refuses contact nor, most importantly, the allegations of domestic violence are examined with due care—instead, they are immediately labeled as false and the product of manipulation.
Parental alienation as a legal trick to reward abusers
The results of a 19-year study (2000-2019) conducted by the Law School of Brunel University (London, UK) show that abusive husbands and fathers gain time with their children, as well as access to the abused mother, by accusing her of parental alienation.
The culture of contact at any cost and the best interest of the child
At the foundation of "parental alienation" theory lies the belief that the "right to two parents" outweighs the right — and indeed the obligation — to protect the child from abuse. The widespread belief in courts that violence inflicted by the father, whether against the child or in the child's presence, is less harmful than the interruption of contact with the abusive father, makes it impossible for mothers (in the overwhelming majority) to protect their children from men who know very well that they are dangerous to them, as well as to the mothers themselves.
Parental Alienation: the repugnant, profitable "industry" with the child as victim
According to the principles of child-friendly justice, the judicial system is obligated to seriously take into account children's views. This obligation contradicts the basic principles of "parental alienation" theory, and in particular the arbitrary belief that most allegations of domestic violence and sexual abuse are false.
The core claims of parental alienation theory are refuted by a wealth of significant empirical research
Important empirical studies refute the core claims of parental alienation theory.
What is the theory of parental alienation?
Parental alienation was first mentioned as a term in 1980, in the USA, by Richard Gardner. From then until today, there is still no single clinical and scientific definition, while the way "experts" approach it in the literature is constantly changing. A very broad description, however, that is most often found, is that parental alienation occurs when a child rejects a parent and resists contact with them without reasonable cause.