Government TD Demands Inquiry into State-Authorized Abuse of Mothers Losing Custody of Children. Read The Irish Times report here
Irish Teachta Dála [Legislative Assembly] TD Bernard Durkan is urging an inquiry into his claim that hundreds of mothers have been stripped of custody of their children after alleging domestic abuse by their former partners.
He plans a press conference where mothers, who were accused of “parental alienation” in family law courts and labeled abusive parents, will join him to explain how abusive fathers, in league with lawyers and so-called child welfare experts, flip custody from mothers and into the hands of the abuser.
Rep. Bernard Durkin has more than 100 cases of mothers who lost their children because of false allegations of parental alienation.
Durkan has condemned the concept of “parental alienation,” which he says lacks any scientific foundation.
Parental alienation, which involves one parent, often the mother, being accused of manipulating their child against the other, has raised increasing concerns in Ireland in recent years.
Women’s Aid and the Rape Crisis Network argue perpetrators exploit this concept to silence women who report abuse. The UN human rights committee in Geneva will consider a recommendation to ban parental alienation in family law courts next month.
Supporters of parental alienation, including the controversial creator of the concept, Dr. Richard Gardner, sometimes make extreme contentions. In situations where a mother trying to protect her child from a father’s sexual abuse by distancing the child from him, she may be accused of parental alienation.
Dr. Garder says the mother’s alienation from the father is more damaging to the child than the father’s sexual abuse.
Gardner called parental incest a common practice of humanity that does not deserve all the hysteria.
“Pedophilia has been considered the norm by the vast majority of individuals in the history of the world,” Gardner said. And “There is a bit of pedophilia in every one of us.”
Advocates – which include so-called child experts who are paid big money to “find” parental alienation and tell the family court – argue that parental alienation should be recognized as a form of child abuse, which requires legal definitions and legislation.
The Irish Department of Justice is preparing to release two reports it commissioned regarding the use of parental alienation in family law cases.
Durkan has repeatedly raised his concerns in the Dáil since September, with his latest last Thursday. He asserts that parental alienation is being employed to harass and unjustly punish women and children in the courts that should protect them.
But lawyers and experts profit greatly, when an affluent father can pay to own his children and banish the mother from their lives, so that she can no longer bring his abuses to light.
Durkan initially became involved in this issue after being contacted by several mothers in his Kildare North constituency. Since then, he has received communications from 100 mothers and their families across the country.
“At this point, I have over 100 cases on my desk,” Durkan said. “These women are professionals: civil servants, teachers, pharmacists, and individuals in respectable positions. They have all experienced abuse and control, and when they speak out, they are accused of parental alienation and being unfit mothers.”
Durkan has submitted 16 cases, suitably redacted, to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Tánaiste Michael Martin, and Minister for Justice Simon Harris, urging them to initiate an inquiry.
He claims that once the concept of parental alienation is mentioned, there appears to be a lack of fairness, due process, or natural justice for mothers and their children.
In addition to Durkan’s efforts, a report by UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem, calls for the prohibition of the “pseudo-concept” of parental alienation and the exclusion of so-called experts on the subject from family-law courts.
This report will be discussed at the upcoming human rights council meeting on June 22nd and 23rd.
Reem Alsalam has evidence of the dire consequences to children when their mothers are ripped out of their lives as profiteers arrange to hand them over to affluent fathers.
Alsalem received over 1,000 submissions from NGOs, domestic violence support organizations, and numerous individuals worldwide. She contends that biased and profit-driven custody decisions can have catastrophic consequences, including instances where contact has been granted to fathers with a history of violence, resulting in the deaths of women and children.
Among her 19 recommendations is a call for member states to enact legislation that prohibits the use of parental alienation or related pseudo-concepts in family law cases, and the involvement of so-called experts in parental alienation and related pseudo-concepts.
