As a parent who has personally experienced the heartbreak of losing access to my child due to parental alienation, I understand the pain and frustration that hundreds of parents go through. Parental alienation is a devastating issue where one parent manipulates a child against the other parent, often leading to the child expressing an unjustified hatred or unreasonably strong dislike of one parent, making it difficult for that targeted individual to maintain a relationship with their child post-divorce.

This issue is not well understood by courts and other systems meant to protect children. They often take at face value the child's stated wishes to live with the alienating parent, without looking deeper into potential manipulation or coercion. This leads not only to a rupture in family relationships but also deprives children from maintaining meaningful relationships with both parents.

According to research conducted by Baker & Darnall (2006), children who experience parental alienation are more likely than their peers to suffer from depression and low self-esteem. This shows that our current system does not always act in 'the best interest of the child,' as it claims.

We need legislation that recognizes parental alienation as harmful manipulation and provides protection for targeted parents' rights post-divorce. We call on lawmakers, judges, social workers, psychologists - all those involved in divorce proceedings - to educate themselves about this issue and consider both sides before making custody decisions.

This a charter of rights for the parents in the rejected position:

-          Parents have the right to be treated with respect by court/social services/Cafcass etc.

-          Parents should have access to their children, including school/medical issues/contact/email/social media and telephone unless there is proven abuse or contraindicated by a psychologist/expert who has expertise with children rejecting a previously loved parent.

-          Parents have the right to attend school events/ parents’ evenings/ get updates about their children/ have access to exam results or school work and have the right to meet with the headteacher and teachers as required. They should get regular newsletters and updates that all parents would get unless there is proven harm to the child if they do so.

-          Parents have the right to be given any and all information regarding their children’s medical issues and have a say in what happens as long as the medical staff agree that it is in the child’s best interests. If a child attends hospital or clinic, both parents should be informed immediately and should have access to visits and updates.

-          Parents should not be expected to pay child maintenance if there is a court order denying them access to their child. If they do so, it should be up to their own desires/ discretion.

-          When children are beyond the age of 18, parents cannot be charged with criminal offences when contacting their children, in the same way that non-parent child relationships are judged.

-          When court orders are broken, there should be an enforceable penalty.

-          There should be an acknowledgement that parents have the best interests of their children at heart and should not have court orders telling them what to say to their children or how to behave around them.

-          There should be a cap to solicitors fees.

-          There should be a system to review judgements with some universal guidelines, in the same manner as doctors practices can be reviewed as per medical guidelines or Bolam’s test ( a test of whether a proportion of their peers would have made the same decision). There should be accountability in the family court system          

Please sign this petition if you believe in equal rights for all parents post-divorce and want our legal system better equipped at handling cases involving parental alienation. Your signature can help bring about much-needed change for targeted parents like myself who simply wish maintain loving relationships with our children after divorce.