Custody, violence against women and violence against children

Omschrijving

1. The present report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences, Reem Alsalem, is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 50/7. The Special Rapporteur, along with the other members of the Platform of Independent Expert Mechanisms on the Elimination of Discrimination and Violence against Women, has voiced concern about the pattern of ignoring intimate partner violence against women in determining child custody cases across jurisdictions.  Since raising specific concerns to Brazil and Spain, the Special Rapporteur has received reports of cases from countries where such violence has been ignored and where mothers making such allegations have been penalized by law enforcement and/or the judiciary responsible for determining custody cases. The tendency to dismiss the history of domestic violence and abuse in custody cases extends to cases where mothers and/or children themselves have brought forward credible allegations of physical or sexual abuse. In several countries, family courts have tended to judge such allegations as deliberate efforts by mothers to manipulate their children and to separate them from their fathers. This supposed effort by a parent alleging abuse is often termed “parental alienation”.

2. The report examines ways in which family courts in different regions refer to “parental alienation” or similar pseudo-concepts in custody cases, ignoring histories of domestic violence, which may lead to the double victimization of victims of such violence. The report also offers recommendations for States and other stakeholders on how to address the situation.

3. In preparing the report, the Special Rapporteur sought contributions from Member States, international and regional organizations, non-governmental organizations, academia and victims, and held a series of online consultations with stakeholders and experts. The Special Rapporteur has received over a thousand submissions, of which a large number were duplicated individual submissions, particularly from fathers’ organizations. Most submissions were received from the Western European and others group, followed by the Latin America and the Caribbean group, and the majority addressed systemic issues and the impact of parental alienation.