Denial of Family Violence in Court: An Empirical Analysis and Path Forward For Family Law

Abstract

Over the past 20-30 years a critical mass of research and social media has described family courts in private custody litigation denying and punishing of women’s and children’s abuse allegations, often with a custody reversal to the alleged abuser.

In particular, the literature has condemned courts’ use of the controversial concept of parental alienation to dismiss mothers’ abuse allegations. This qualitative literature has been largely ignored or marginalized by leading mainstream family law scholars and family court professionals. While the reasons for this marginalization are complex and likely partially unintentional, this article is a call to bring family violence in from the margins of judicial, policy and academic attention. The article grounds that call in new empirical data from the first-ever quantitative national analysis of family court practices - data which empirically validates the reports and grievances of thousands of mothers and children in the United States.