UN Human Rights Council Report: Giving Free-Rein to Abusive Ex-Wives

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Mike Buchanan

Telephone: +44 7967 026163

UN Human Rights Council Report: Giving Free-Rein to Abusive Ex-Wives

June 9, 2023 – Child abuse can escalate dramatically following separation and divorce. One large British study found that children living with single mothers have a 14-fold higher risk of experiencing serious child abuse, compared to children living with their married biological parents (1).

Sometimes the abuse escalates to the point of denigrating the ex-spouse with the aim of harming the child’s relationship with the other parent. Such cases of child alienation have been described as a “weapon of destruction in a family.” (2) Parental alienation has been recognized by the laws and court decisions in countries all around the world (3).

While some surveys say mothers and fathers are equally likely to engage in parental alienation (4), other studies reveal the majority of parental alienators are mothers (5).

But the recent report submitted to the UN Human Rights Council on “Custody, Violence Against Women and Violence against Children” flatly denies the existence of parental alienation. The document inexplicably describes parental alienation as a “discredited and unscientific pseudo-concept,” and recommends that countries should “legislate to prohibit the use of parental alienation or related pseudo concepts in family law cases.” (6)

By denying the conclusions of hundreds of studies (7), the Special Rapporteur’s report fails to represent a good-faith attempt to summarize the research, balance the competing interests of the parties, or draw from best practices reported around the world (8).

If approved, this report would give free-rein to abusive parents who seek to harm the ex-partner by involving the innocent child in the conflict. The Domestic Abuse and Violence International Alliance urges the UN Human Rights Council to reject the deeply flawed document, “Custody, Violence Against Women and Violence against Children.”

The Domestic Abuse and Violence International Alliance – DAVIA — consists of 90 member organizations from 32 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/

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