08/20/2026
August 12, 2026
“Alsalem said mothers who report domestic violence, child abuse or sexual abuse are often undermined by the application of the discredited and harmful “parental alienation” theory, resulting in children being severed from their protective parent, and forced to maintain unsupervised contact with the alleged abusing parent.”
“The information I have received suggests mothers who seek to protect their children from violence, including sexual violence, are too often disbelieved and portrayed as alienating the children from their fathers, unstable or manipulative,” the expert said. “At the same time, serious allegations of abuse are minimised or ignored.”
https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/08/israel-un-expert-concerned-parental-alienation-being-misused-discredit?fbclid=IwdGRjcATzUfhwZG9mBWZkaWQWUM3N6FEkrls-0lY2vBIZyK_cOqs2KmV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkCjY2Mjg1NjgzNzkAAR5fsLkpiWTXO2zU1o407TwwT38mx4grZL8_aQdkCxGynvFj0VVbBLuQiqioyg_aem_5DvnHneb6CF5t8CqEtZ4Vg
GENEVA – UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences, Reem Alsalem, today expressed serious concern over a troubling pattern in Israeli family courts and child-protection systems.Alsalem said mothers who report domestic violence, child abuse or sexual abu...