Separated family life: could your child be a victim of parental alienation?
Parental alienation has been featured in a recent court case where the father alleged the mother’s beliefs and lifestyle were leading to parental alienation against him. The court found that the mother was involved in a cult and had not broken ties with it sufficiently. They were very concerned about the environment in which the child was growing up and they moved the nine-year-old girl to her father’s care. The Court will, in the end, take a drastic step and move a child from one parent to the other if a harmful family situation necessitates it.
The experience of victims of domestic abuse inside and outside the family, including stalking behaviour at the end of a relationship, has featured in a report on stalking. It noted that there were over 2,000 charges of stalking last year, double the number of the previous five years. This might be because the police are now more likely to recognise stalking as part of a wider pattern of domestic abuse, rather than seeing it as a one-off incident, or series of incidents. Analysis found that most stalking offences were committed by abusive ex-partners, and they all involved some kind of digital stalking, often including threats of publishing intimate photographs. This has not surprisingly intensified during lockdown.
Stalking is traumatic, and it seems nearly 80% of those who have experienced it show symptoms consistent with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. As a family lawyer having assisted clients deal with stalking problems, I find that stalking is on a continuum of abusive behaviour. It can be addressed in a court order forbidding various types of behaviour, a domestic abuse injunction. These orders give the victim stronger links with the police and better protection and can lead to the abuser’s imprisonment.
In my experience, it is common for a victim of domestic abuse gradually to become aware that a previous partner had also suffered similarly. Recently, in a case brought by a person stating she was a victim of abuse, the Court examined coercive and controlling behaviour perpetrated against a previous partner. The court’s view is that if it is relevant, and if it would be helpful to deciding the case, they will consider it. Obviously, it does not follow that just because someone was abusive in the past, they are abusive in the present. This is something for the Judge to decide, case by case.
The Family Court will attempt to tackle issues of domestic abuse seriously. My advice is to raise these issues clearly and early on. On the other side of this, if you find you are wrongly accused of controlling or coercive behaviour or domestic abuse, it can be devastating and undermining, professionally and personally. I would strongly advise anyone in this position to take urgent legal advice and tackle these allegations extremely seriously, particularly if they are linked to a case regarding care of your children.
If you have any questions or queries about this article or any of my other articles all of which are on our website www.hmbsolicitors.co.uk. please email me on [email protected].