PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Mike Buchanan
Telephone: +44 7967 026163
Email: davia@endtodv.org
Groups Come Together to Support Families, Observe International Parental Alienation Awareness Day
April 22, 2024 – “Parental Alienation” refers to a set of controlling behaviors that leads a child to cut off from a loving parent (1). Parental Alienation often occurs during the course of a child custody dispute. In recognition of this problem, Thursday, April 25 has been designated as Parental Alienation Awareness Day, with groups around the world holding events to promote public awareness (2).
Recognizing the severity of the problem, Romania passed a law two weeks ago to ban attempts to alienate a child from the other parent. The law describes Parental Alienation as a “form of psychological violence.” (3) In addition, the problem of Parental Alienation has been confirmed by hundreds of research studies and recognized by laws in Brazil, Mexico, and India, as well as in numerous legal decisions (4).
But some persons want you to believe Parental Alienation is a figment of your imagination.
One such person is United Nations Special Rapporteur Reem Alsalem, who seeks to undermine the role of fathers in children’s lives. Alsalem launched her campaign a year ago when she published the report, “Custody, Violence against Women and Violence Against Children,” for consideration by the UN Human Rights Council (5).
Her report claims that fathers allege Parental Alienation by the mother as a ploy to cover up their own abuse.
But science confirms the fact that women engage in domestic violence (6) and child abuse (7) as often, or even more often than fathers. And shared parenting arrangements reduce the risk of child abuse (8) and result in lower levels of domestic violence (9).
Not surprisingly, Alsalem’s draft report generated intense criticism (10), and the Human Rights Council refused to approve her document (11).
Lacking approval of the Human Rights Council, Reem Alsalem’s continuing ideological campaign reflects poorly on the integrity of the entire United Nations system. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights should remove Reem Alsalem’s defamatory report from its website and censure her for dishonesty.
Contact: OHCHR-media@un.org
The Domestic Abuse and Violence International Alliance – DAVIA — consists of 142 member organizations from 35 countries in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America, and North America. DAVIA seeks to ensure that domestic violence and abuse polices are science-based, family-affirming, and gender-inclusive. https://endtodv.org/davia/
Links:
- https://paawareness.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/COMBINED-PA-Awareness-leaflet.pdf
- https://endtodv.org/parental-alienation/
- https://www.agerpres.ro/viata-parlamentara/2024/04/09/camera-deputatilor-lege-privind-reglementarea-instrainarii-parintesti-ca-forma-a-violentei-psihologice–1278224
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35653764/
- https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/ahrc5336-custody-violence-against-women-and-violence-against-children
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261543769_References_Examining_Assaults_by_Women_on_Their_Spouses_or_Male_Partners_An_Updated_Annotated_Bibliography
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/childabuseinenglandandwales/january2020
- https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/parenting-translator/202310/the-benefits-of-shared-and-structured-parenting
- https://www.iza.org/publications/dp/13810/bargaining-under-threats-the-effect-of-joint-custody-laws-on-intimate-partner-violence
- https://chng.it/6LvCkzTHDP
- https://endtodv.org/pr/ambassadors-should-not-allow-false-and-inflammatory-claims-to-remain-on-hrc-website/