In the press
Press articles on the pseudo-theory of parental alienation and the violation of children's rights in custody disputes. On custody cases that prioritize parents' rights and contact at all costs over the best interests of the child. On the distrust shown by judicial, police, and prosecutorial authorities toward reports of domestic violence.
Tsiaras Law: How much women's blood can a piece of legislation hold?
A critical analysis of the Tsiaras Law on mandatory joint custody and its consequences for women and children, victims of domestic violence, prompted by the femicide of Vasiliki.
New rules could ensure courts consider domestic abuse in separation settlements
An overview of proposed rules that would require courts to factor in domestic violence when deciding custody and other arrangements following separation or divorce.
Five years are enough: Declaration for the repeal of the law for forced joint custody in Greece
A declaration calling for the repeal of Greece's mandatory joint custody law, five years after its passage, outlining its harmful impact on victims of domestic violence .
The vicious cycle of secondary and repeated victimization of mothers and children who experience domestic violence, and the role of Patriarchy in maintaining and reinforcing it
Talk by Kiki Petroulaki (European Network against Violence), at the event titled: "Domestic Violence and Custody Rights: Protecting women and children from violence in light of the new Commission proposal for a European Directive," organized by MEP Elena Kountoura, held at the European Parliament on 24.1.2023.
Parental Alienation: A Disputed Theory With Very Serious Consequences for Children
International scientific organizations, agencies & experts such as the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the American Psychiatric Association, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges in the USA, and others point out that parental alienation is a pseudo-theory without scientific foundation.
Anatomy of a trauma
A psychotherapist speaks publicly for the first time about the sexual abuse she suffered as a child, shedding light on multiple facets of a collective trauma. Kiki Petroulaki of the European Network Against Violence points out, speaking to "Kathimerini," that over the past two years in Greece, younger children in particular have started speaking up immediately. However, the response of the system that should be ensuring their protection is, at the very least, inadequate. [...] According to the World Health Organization, one in five women and one in 13 men report having been sexually abused during childhood.
The Best Interest of the Abuser
Family courts are dominated by the discredited pseudo-theory of parental alienation, which was specifically designed to offer legal protection to abusive men and which puts children's lives at risk in custody disputes.
The Controversial Role of Jennifer Harman as a Scientific Consultant on Parental Alienation in Custody Disputes
Jennifer Harman, a leading proponent of the parental alienation pseudo-theory in the USA, testifies as a scientific consultant in custody trials and recommends forcibly cutting off contact with the preferred parent.
The Best Interest of the Child
Parental alienation and domestic violence. In custody disputes, mothers and children who report domestic violence and sexual abuse are met with distrust. Judges, lawyers, expert consultants, and mental health professionals without training in child abuse and domestic violence issues very often dismiss allegations of domestic violence as false - even when there is very strong evidence - and attribute them to parental alienation.
Distrust toward victims of domestic violence by expert consultants in custody cases without proper training
The Family Courts in Colorado started 14 years ago appointing expert consultants in custody cases, under a private law framework, to substitute for public officials. The cost, which is borne by the litigants, can reach tens of thousands of dollars. This has created a situation of complete opacity, with children as the victims, who very often end up in the custody of the abusive parent.
The truth about the 16 fathers accusing a child psychologist of false expert reports
Extensive reports and programs on popular media claim that men were falsely accused by their ex-wives of sexually abusing their children because of a "false assessment scheme," while claiming they have already been acquitted, and have therefore appealed to the Supreme Court. The reality is different.
The Fraud of "Parental Alienation"
The theory that, in the context of contentious divorces, children make false allegations of abuse against their fathers—allegations instilled in them by their mothers in order to "alienate" them—has no scientific basis. And its adoption by the courts leads to a flagrant violation of children's rights.
One year of mandatory joint custody: The ongoing ordeal of abused women and children
One year has passed since the law on mandatory joint custody came into force, which sparked reactions from the very first moment Minister of Justice Mr. Tsiaras submitted it to parliament, and the results are now evident. This tvxs.gr report documents tragic cases in which custody is granted to a father who has abused the child's mother but often also the child itself, even involving the child's forcible removal by the authorities, at night.
Dangerous games with mandatory joint custody of children and the unscientific «Parental Alienation»
Despite what is claimed in Greece by its supporters, Parental Alienation Syndrome is not recognized as a disorder by the medical and legal community, and Gardner's theories, along with the related research, have received widespread criticism for their lack of scientific basis.
In the Name of the Father
Even before the draft of the new law was revealed, it was evident that the "parental alienation syndrome" theory was employed by the men's rights lobby as a scientific argument in support of the reform. According to the theory, the "syndrome" occurs when a child becomes alienated from a parent as a result of the psychological manipulation of another parent, particularly in the context of conflictual family separation.
Tsiaras Law: Pseudoscience and the inspirers of «reunification camps» in Parliament
As for what happens when ideas about "parental alienation" are put into practice, in an extensive related feature titled "When a Child Becomes a Weapon," published in The Atlantic magazine in December 2020, the founder of the Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma also describes Family Bridges as "torture camps for children."
Appeal to withdraw the bill on joint custody
The child is approached from the perspective of a deeply patriarchal society, as a passive recipient of the exercise of parental rights and not as a bearer of rights [...] The child's refusal is considered parental alienation on the part of the other parent, and is punished by removal of parental responsibility.
Parental alienation and the children of gay couples
Minister of Justice Konstantinos Tsiaras loves to invoke arbitrary scientific studies and concepts. In the bill on joint custody, a purely legal text, the internationally disputed term "parental alienation" is reportedly being introduced. [...] it has been extensively criticized by legal circles and mental health experts, who believe it should not be used in child custody court cases by either legal or psychiatric professionals.