International complaint Against the United States on Behalf of Abused Mothers, Children
Mother’s Day complaint claims United States courts systematically violate children’s and mothers’ human rights.
On May 11, just before Mother’s Day weekend, ten mothers, one victimized child (now an adult) and leading national organizations will file a complaint against the United States with the Inter American Commission on Human Rights. Press conferences in Los Angeles and Sacramento will announce the details and motivation of the complaint. The complaint claims that U.S. courts, by frequently awarding child custody to abusers and child molesters, has failed to protect the life, liberties, security and other human rights of abused mothers and their children.
The petition seeks a finding from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights that the U.S. has violated the Declaration of the Rights and Responsibilities of Man and the Charter of the Organization of American States and a statement of the steps that the U.S. must take to comply with its human rights obligations in regards to battered women and children in child custody cases.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights was created in 1959 and is expressly authorized to examine allegations of human rights violations by members of the Organization of American States, which include the United States. It also carries out on-site visits to observe the general human rights situations in all 35 member states of the Organization of American States and to investigate specific allegations of violations of Inter-American human rights treaties. Its charge is to promote the observance and the defense of human rights in the Americas.
The complaint details several cases where there was documented medical evidence of child sexual abuse, yet in each instance the identified abusing father was given full custody of the children he abused. Several of the mothers were jailed by the courts because of their persistent efforts to protect their children from abuse. Every single mother was denied contact with her child for some period of time, though none was ever proven to have harmed them.
"My life was completely shattered apart on that day and my childhood was destroyed," said Jeff Hoverson, the adult child petitioner, about the day a family court judge ordered sheriff deputies to deliver him into the custody of his abuser. "It was as if I was just kidnapped. I was torn from everything I knew....I was made into a possession rather than a child." Hoverson endured years of trauma and fear living in his father's home before escaping and returning to his mother at age 17. He is haunted by years of feeling helpless to prevent his father's night-time visits to his sisters’ bedrooms.
“Abused parents in Alaska face the same obstacles to protecting their children as those faced by women across the country.” said Paige Hodson, founder of the grassroots Alaska Moms for Custodial Justice”. “Abusive parents often know how to manipulate the court process and have the money to litigate the protective parent into poverty. I get several calls or emails through my website each month from women across the state that have been re-victimized by the same court system that is supposed to be protecting them.”
Studies of gender bias in the courts, conducted in the 1980’s and 90’s, found disturbing trends of courts minimizing or excusing men’s violence against women, and favoring the abusers. In 1990 the United States Congress passed a resolution recommending the prohibition of giving joint or sole custody to abusers. Seventeen years later, the practice continues unabated. Ten years ago today, leading national organizations were joined by members of Congress in a protest in Washington D.C. to again raise awareness about the problems in family courts. Today, petitioners say, the problem is systemic and widespread in family law courts across the nation.
“For more than 30 years U.S. judges have given custody or unsupervised visitation of children to abusers and molesters putting the children directly at risk,” says Dianne Post, an international attorney who authored the petition. “These horrendous human rights violations have been brought to the attention of family court systems, and state and federal governments, to no avail. We turn now to international courts to protect the rights and safety of U.S. children.”
The national organizations supporting the international complaint include: The Leadership Council on Child Abuse and Interpersonal Violence, National Organization for Women, National Organization for Women Foundation, National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Justice For Children, Sexual Assault Report, National Family Court Watch Project, Stop Family Violence, Family Violence Prevention Fund, National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, Sidran Institute, Legal Momentum and the National Center on Sexual and Domestic Violence. The petition is supported by many state organizations as well.
In December 2005, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a petition against the United States with the Inter American Commission on Human Rights for their failure to protect Jessica Gonzales’ three children from their abusive father, who murdered them. Their petition, the first of its kind, asserted that domestic violence victims have the right to be protected by the state from the violent acts of their abusers.
More information, as well as speakers and plaintiffs, will be available at the press conferences. For additional information, contact Irene Weiser, Stop Family Violence
iw@stopfamilyviolence.org .The petition and supporting documentation will be available on the Stop Family Violence website on Friday May 11 at 10 am EST. www.StopFamilyViolence.org
Documentary films:
Small Justice: Little Justice in America’s Family Courts by Garland Waller
www.smalljustice.org
Breaking the Silence: Children’s Stories by Catherine Tatge and Dominique Lasseur
http://www.tatgelasseur.com/pages/bts.html
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Mother’s Day complaint claims United States courts systematically violate children’s and mothers’ human rights.
On May 11, just before Mother’s Day weekend, ten mothers, one victimized child (now an adult) and leading national organizations will file a complaint against the United States with the Inter American Commission on Human Rights. Press conferences in Los Angeles and Sacramento will announce the details and motivation of the complaint. The complaint claims that U.S. courts, by frequently awarding child custody to abusers and child molesters, has failed to protect the life, liberties, security and other human rights of abused mothers and their children.
The petition seeks a finding from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights that the U.S. has violated the Declaration of the Rights and Responsibilities of Man and the Charter of the Organization of American States and a statement of the steps that the U.S. must take to comply with its human rights obligations in regards to battered women and children in child custody cases.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights was created in 1959 and is expressly authorized to examine allegations of human rights violations by members of the Organization of American States, which include the United States. It also carries out on-site visits to observe the general human rights situations in all 35 member states of the Organization of American States and to investigate specific allegations of violations of Inter-American human rights treaties. Its charge is to promote the observance and the defense of human rights in the Americas.
The complaint details several cases where there was documented medical evidence of child sexual abuse, yet in each instance the identified abusing father was given full custody of the children he abused. Several of the mothers were jailed by the courts because of their persistent efforts to protect their children from abuse. Every single mother was denied contact with her child for some period of time, though none was ever proven to have harmed them.
"My life was completely shattered apart on that day and my childhood was destroyed," said Jeff Hoverson, the adult child petitioner, about the day a family court judge ordered sheriff deputies to deliver him into the custody of his abuser. "It was as if I was just kidnapped. I was torn from everything I knew....I was made into a possession rather than a child." Hoverson endured years of trauma and fear living in his father's home before escaping and returning to his mother at age 17. He is haunted by years of feeling helpless to prevent his father's night-time visits to his sisters’ bedrooms.
“Abused parents in Alaska face the same obstacles to protecting their children as those faced by women across the country.” said Paige Hodson, founder of the grassroots Alaska Moms for Custodial Justice”. “Abusive parents often know how to manipulate the court process and have the money to litigate the protective parent into poverty. I get several calls or emails through my website each month from women across the state that have been re-victimized by the same court system that is supposed to be protecting them.”
Studies of gender bias in the courts, conducted in the 1980’s and 90’s, found disturbing trends of courts minimizing or excusing men’s violence against women, and favoring the abusers. In 1990 the United States Congress passed a resolution recommending the prohibition of giving joint or sole custody to abusers. Seventeen years later, the practice continues unabated. Ten years ago today, leading national organizations were joined by members of Congress in a protest in Washington D.C. to again raise awareness about the problems in family courts. Today, petitioners say, the problem is systemic and widespread in family law courts across the nation.
“For more than 30 years U.S. judges have given custody or unsupervised visitation of children to abusers and molesters putting the children directly at risk,” says Dianne Post, an international attorney who authored the petition. “These horrendous human rights violations have been brought to the attention of family court systems, and state and federal governments, to no avail. We turn now to international courts to protect the rights and safety of U.S. children.”
The national organizations supporting the international complaint include: The Leadership Council on Child Abuse and Interpersonal Violence, National Organization for Women, National Organization for Women Foundation, National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Justice For Children, Sexual Assault Report, National Family Court Watch Project, Stop Family Violence, Family Violence Prevention Fund, National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, Sidran Institute, Legal Momentum and the National Center on Sexual and Domestic Violence. The petition is supported by many state organizations as well.
In December 2005, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a petition against the United States with the Inter American Commission on Human Rights for their failure to protect Jessica Gonzales’ three children from their abusive father, who murdered them. Their petition, the first of its kind, asserted that domestic violence victims have the right to be protected by the state from the violent acts of their abusers.
More information, as well as speakers and plaintiffs, will be available at the press conferences. For additional information, contact Irene Weiser, Stop Family Violence
iw@stopfamilyviolence.org .The petition and supporting documentation will be available on the Stop Family Violence website on Friday May 11 at 10 am EST. www.StopFamilyViolence.org
Documentary films:
Small Justice: Little Justice in America’s Family Courts by Garland Waller
www.smalljustice.org
Breaking the Silence: Children’s Stories by Catherine Tatge and Dominique Lasseur
http://www.tatgelasseur.com/pages/bts.html
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