Mothers who are victims of domestic violence and are currently going through a divorce are viewed as “alienating” by DPJ staff. As a result of this labeling, their custody of their child will be completely revoked. Lawyers who specialize in family and juvenile law are concerned about the number of similar files that come across their desks.
“The Child Protective Services Department, you say? “It’s more about protecting fathers,” said Me Valérie Assouline at the microphone QUB. “How can mothers be accused by criminologists or human relations workers of parental alienation and having their children taken away?”
Another lawyer, Me Andreea Popescu, also denounces the situation.
“It is not uncommon for the child protection system to entrust certain children to their fathers while they are prosecuted for domestic violence denounced by their mothers.”
She describes the cases as “human suffering.”
QUB received exclusive recordings from DPJ speakers.
- Hear them exclusively with Yasmine Abdelfadel and Florence Lamoureux. Me Valérie Assouline then goes into more detail about the phenomenon. All this, um QUB :
Examples of cases in court
(names have been changed)
Marianne and Felix
“We have to break the dynamic, we believe that there is a form of alienation.” These words were spoken by a DPJ employee to a mother. The latter is fighting for custody of her children, who have already been beaten by their father.
The children had described the crimes and everything was confirmed by the violent father.
However, a DPJ employee concluded that there was parental alienation on the part of the mother. The children were entrusted to their father. Overnight, the mother was offered a single hour-and-a-half meeting per week and a short 15-minute phone call per week, alternating with each of her children.
Miguel
Little Miguel's mother experienced domestic violence and recently separated. The father has a serious criminal past and is always associated with bad people.
Police found impressive amounts of cocaine, money and even a loaded gun at his home.
During his visit to the pediatrician, the child said he had been hit in the stomach by his father. The doctor filed two reports with the DPJ.
Conclusion: A DPJ employee assumes that there is parental alienation on the part of the mother and entrusts the child to the father.
Overnight, the mother was offered a one-time, one-and-a-half hour weekly meeting with her child.
The DPJ employee tells this mother that she must “deprogram her child” by making a “drastic break” with him.
What raises even more questions is the fact that a judge ruled in 2022 that the father needed to be supervised during his contact with Miguel because he was unable to exercise parenting skills.
Lea and Rosalie
Her recently separated mother had custody of her children revoked by the DPJ due to parental alienation and a separation conflict. However, before the placement, she looked after the children almost alone.
Worrying: The DPJ considered it appropriate to give custody of Léa and Rosalie to the father, who is awaiting trial on domestic violence charges.
During her mother's court appearance, Léa burst into tears when she realized she would now be staying with her father. She screamed at the top of her lungs in front of the judge for almost an hour.
This clear demonstration of little Léa's fear and distress made neither the judge nor the DPJ employees flinch. On the contrary, the mother was even accused of not doing enough to alleviate her child's suffering.
Léa and Rosalie currently live with their abusive father.