WRITE TO CANADA’S MINISTER OF JUSTICE

[Pour la campagne en français cliquez ici / for French campaign click here.]

Our family justice system is in crisis. Children across the country are being separated from their mothers and placed with abusive or neglectful fathers because of a pseudo-scientific idea that should not be admissible in court.

“Parental alienation” is a controversial pseudo-concept that is used in family law cases to silence mothers and children who report family violence by the father.

Instead of believing children, courts can consider that a child has been “alienated” or “brainwashed” by their mother, leading to dangerous and sometimes punitive measures to separate the mother and the child.

“Parental alienation” has been thoroughly discredited and should not be used by Canadian courts.

Last summer, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Girls, its Causes and Consequences, Reem Alsalem, presented a report on the use of “parental alienation” accusations against women and victims of family violence. Her conclusion?

States must “legislate to prohibit the use of parental alienation or related pseudo-concepts in family law cases.”

Join our campaign by emailing your Member of Parliament, Canada’s Minister of Justice and party leaders to ask them to ban parental alienation accusations in family court.

Add your voice to urge your Member of Parliament, the Minister of Justice, and Canadian party leaders to act now, before any more children are forced to live with a violent parent.

Join us in asking the Canadian government to commit to banning the use of parental alienation accusations.

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I am emailing you to request that you take immediate action to pass legislation banning “parental alienation” accusations from being used as a tactic in family courts.  I, along with many Canadians, am very concerned about its use to discredit mothers trying to protect their children from family violence.

When a child resists contact with a parent, even in situations of family violence, the estranged parent can claim “parental alienation,” using pseudo-science to distract the court from their violence.

Often, accusations of “parental alienation” come about when mothers raise safety concerns or disclose family violence, and children are framed as being “alienated” by their mother when they refuse to see their violent father.

Why does it matter?

“Parental alienation” accusations can lead to protective mothers losing their children, and children being placed with their violent father. In some cases, mothers who are seen as “alienating” are forbidden from having any contact with their children, sometimes for years, even when they have historically been the child’s primary caretaker. Courts have even placed children in group homes, sent them to “reunification” camps, and placed children with foster parents to separate them from their supposedly “alienating” caretaker.

This issue has been brought to light by a multitude of women’s rights organizations, shelters, feminist advocates, and concerned Canadians who recognize the risk of children being placed in harm’s way when this tactic is used to discredit mothers.

Canada must act to address this problem. Legislation to ban the use of “parental alienation” accusations is aligned with a 2023 recommendation by the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Girls, its Causes and Consequences.

You have the power to act and save countless children from continued violence. I am calling on you to act now to ban the use of these accusations in parenting disputes, to promote fair and unbiased proceedings that prioritize the safety of the child above all.

To protect women, children and victims of family violence, please follow the recommendation of the UN and the National Association of Women and the Law and commit to banning the use of “parental alienation” accusations in family courts by amending the Divorce Act.

Please be in touch to explain how you will take action on this crucial issue.

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