“Child Removals” Are Common & Harmful According to New Survey | Women’s Coalition

All entries on Feminist Legal Clinic’s News Digest Blog are extracts from news articles and other publications, with the source available at the link at the bottom. The content is not originally generated by Feminist Legal Clinic and does not necessarily reflect our views.

Action Against Child Removal” is a new study initiated by the NGO’s Right to Equality and Survivor Family Network. Although it was conducted in the UK, the results jibe with other investigations internationally and, of course, the lived experiences of countless women.

This latest study aims to understand the scale of the phenomenon of child removals and in what specific circumstances it is occurring.

“Child removal” is a unique way (at least in the U.S.) to describe the scourge of mothers losing their children in family courts. The term, in and of itself, suggests that these custody orders are unjust, that children were wrongly taken away, rather than the mother simply losing custody.

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

  • The vast majority of children lived with the mother before removal.
  • An average of 2 children were removed, ages ranging from 1-16 years-old with a mean of 8 years-old.
  • Over 1/2 of mothers had a mental or physical health condition related to the loss of their children.
  • A large majority of mothers had legal representation for all of part of the proceedings.
  • Almost all (97%) mothers had reported abuse by their ex of themselves and/or their children.
  • Over 1/3 of the mothers were found to have alienated their children.
  • 2/3 of cases had court-appointed experts (evaluators), over half of whom recommended child removal.
  • 3/5 of cases involved child removal based on recommendations by the legal representative.
  • Over 1/3 of mothers were subjected to a Restraining Order which kept them away from their children and from filing a motion for their return.

OVERALL SUMMARY: Judges are depriving primary-carer mothers of due process and making false findings to remove their children and give them to abusive fathers, often aided and abetted by appointees. This is seriously damaging to mothers and happens even though they have attorneys.

This innate bond between mother and her offspring has been evolving for 250 million years. But it has been conveniently disappeared by the Old Boys in law and societal consciousness, in service of replacing it with the concept that mothers and fathers are the same.

The fallacious notion gives men power in the family after divorce and supports legislation for mandatory 50/50 parenting. But the truth is, the best interests of children is to live primarily with their primary bond, their mother. Duh…

Source: “Child Removals” Are Common & Harmful According to New Survey

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.