A/HRC/53/36
I. Introduction
1.
The present report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its
causes and consequences, Reem Alsalem, is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council
resolution 50/7. The Special Rapporteur, along with the other members of the Platform of
Independent Expert Mechanisms on the Elimination of Discrimination and Violence against
Women, has voiced concern about the pattern of ignoring intimate partner violence against
women in determining child custody cases across jurisdictions. 1 Since raising specific
concerns to Brazil2 and Spain,3 the Special Rapporteur has received reports of cases from
countries where such violence has been ignored and where mothers making such allegations
have been penalized by law enforcement and/or the judiciary responsible for determining
custody cases. The tendency to dismiss the history of domestic violence and abuse in custody
cases extends to cases where mothers and/or children themselves have brought forward
credible allegations of physical or sexual abuse. In several countries, family courts have
tended to judge such allegations as deliberate efforts by mothers to manipulate their children
and to separate them from their fathers. This supposed effort by a parent alleging abuse is
often termed “parental alienation”.
2.
The report examines ways in which family courts in different regions refer to “parental
alienation” or similar pseudo-concepts in custody cases, ignoring histories of domestic
violence, which may lead to the double victimization of victims of such violence. The report
also offers recommendations for States and other stakeholders on how to address the
situation.
3.
In preparing the report, the Special Rapporteur sought contributions from Member
States, international and regional organizations, non-governmental organizations, academia
and victims, and held a series of online consultations with stakeholders and experts. The
Special Rapporteur has received over a thousand submissions, of which a large number were
duplicated individual submissions, particularly from fathers’ organizations. Most
submissions were received from the Western European and others group, followed by the
Latin America and the Caribbean group, and the majority addressed systemic issues and the
impact of parental alienation.
II. Activities undertaken by the Special Rapporteur
4.
The Special Rapporteur continued to collaborate closely with the Platform of
Independent Expert Mechanisms on the Elimination of Discrimination and Violence against
Women, contributing to its first thematic report on the digital dimension of violence against
women.
5.
On 4 October 2022, the Special Rapporteur presented the report on the nexus between
the climate crisis, environmental degradation and related displacement, and violence against
women and girls to the General Assembly.4
6.
On 22 February 2023, the Special Rapporteur participated in a discussion organized
by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women at its eighty-fourth
session on the equal and inclusive representation of women in decision-making systems.
7.
On 6 March 2023, the Special Rapporteur delivered a statement at the opening
meeting of the sixty-seventh session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New
York and participated in the interactive expert panel on the priority theme of the session.
1
2
3
4
2
AL BRA 10/2022 and AL ESP 3/2020. These and all subsequent communications are available from
https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/Tmsearch/TMDocuments. See also joint statement by the Platform
of Independent Expert Mechanisms on the Elimination of Discrimination and Violence against
Women, 31 May 2019, available at https://rm.coe.int/final-statement-vaw-and-custody/168094d880.
AL BRA 10/2022.
AL ESP 3/2020 and AL ESP 6/2021.
A/77/136.
GE.23-06229