Thank you to Reem Alsalem United Nations Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences
A thank you to Reem for her excellent report
Dear Reem,
Re: Custody, violence against women and violence against children report of UNSRVAWG
We are writing to you as organizations and representatives of thousands of children and mother victim-survivors of violence and abuse, who are further silenced, harmed and punished within the family courts via the regressive pseudo-concept of so-called ‘parental alienation’.
This is a brief note to express our sincere gratitude to you and your colleagues for the continued effort and work that you have undertaken to raise awareness and recommend much needed changes within these systems.
We all are sadly exposed to the abhorrent vitriol from certain aggressive groups and individuals and we realise this is something that you too have been exposed to over recent years, not least because of this particular aspect of your work.
You are an inspiration to us all and we wanted you to remember our gratitude as the report is disseminated more widely.
“Power is being able to say complete and utter nonsense and have it be believed, powerlessness is where no matter how much cogent evidence and proof one has, to not be believed.” Catherine MacKinnon.
Warmest regards,
Dr Elizabeth Dalgarno, Chair and Founder of SHERA Research Group and Lecturer at University of Manchester
Dr Emma Katz, Associate Professor Durham University.
Dr Claudia Galiberne Ferreira - Summum Iuris - Brazil (cont’d below)
Nataly Anderson, Co-Founder, Family Court Crisis
Dr Charlotte Proudman, Barrister and Academic, University of Cambridge, founder Right to Equality
H Atkin, NHS Healthcare professional and DV charity volunteer
Dr Saira Khan, HCPC Registered Practitioner Psychologist and member of the Domestic Violence/Abuse Working Group of the British Psychological Society
Caroline Canham, Co-Founder, DASG
Dr. Andreea Gruev-Vintila, Associate Professor Université Paris Nanterre
Ana-Luana Stoicea-Deram, Sociologist and Trainer in Social and Family Policies, Institut de recherche et de formation à l’action sociale de l’Essonne
Sara Davison, The Divorce Coach, CEO Sara Davison Global Enterprises Ltd
Dr Marie Tamarelle-Verhaeghe, Députée 2017-2022, Conseillere départementale de l’Eure
Eleanor Laidlaw Brown, PhD Researcher University of Huddersfield, Midwife and Specialist Community Public Health Nurse
Celine Pioger, Chairwoman “Association Proteger l’enfant” (France)
Vicki Wharton member of Shera Core group and survivor
Kathryn Spearman, MSN, RN, PhD candidate
Rasteen Riyahi-Boni, Childcare Caseworker, Duncan Lewis Solicitors
Legal Services at Mosac, a charity supporting non abusing parents and victims of child sex abuse
Helen Tyrell, Victim/Survivor
Tracey Tedford, Victim/Survivor
Tracy Thompson, Out of his Control
Pierre-Guillaume Prigent, PhD in sociology, University of Western Brittany, France
Kate Amber MSc, Founder/CEO: End Coercive Control USA (ECCUSA) & Victim/Survivor
Gwenola Sueur, PhD Student in sociology, University of Western Brittany, France
Natalie Page, Director Survivor Family Network, Founder #THECOURTSAID, Director, Paramily
Paola Motosi, Collective for Childhood Protection Maternal Voice, Brazil
Farah Nazeer, Chief Executive, Women’s Aid Federation of England
Cereinyn Ord, Survivor
Nikki Dhillon Keane, Founder Safe in Faith
Sara Kirkpatrick, CEO Welsh Women's Aid
Brenda Kilgour, Psychotherapist Working with survivors of abuse (Retired) UK
Dr. Linda C. Neilson, Professor Emerita & Research Associate of the Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research, University of New Brunswick, Canada.
Joan S. Meier, Esq., NFVLC Professor of Clinical Law, Founding Director, National Family Violence Law Center, George Washington University Law School, Washington, D.C., USA.
Nancy S. Erickson, Esq., MA (Forensic Psychology) Formerly Professor of Law, Brooklyn, NY
Kathleen Coulborn Faller, PhD, Marion Elizabeth Blue Professor Emerita of Children and Families, University of Michigan.
Dr Sonja Ayeb-Karlsson, University College London, UK