17 November 2022

United Nations Human Rights Council: Special Procedures

via e-mail to: ohchr-InfoDesk@un.org

RE: Response to Alsalem, et al (2022)

Shalom from Israel,

I am writing on behalf of the Love for Israel Relief Fund, formerly a civil society with
special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. This is a
response to the statement “Brazil: UN experts urge new government to target violence against
women and girls, repeal parental alienation law” published on the UN Office of Human Rights
Special Procedures website entitled.
In May 2022 I published a quantitative analysis of all published parental alienation cases
in the Israeli judiciary up to 31 December 2020. I also searched through over 1,600 peer-
reviewed scientific publications on parental alienation to prepare the literature review for this
analysis. Likewise, Bar-On and Mazeh (2019), Lorandos (2020a), Lee-Maturana (2020), and
Miralles et al. (2021) covered many of these peer-reviewed publications in their surveys.
Characterizing parental alienation as a gender issue that lacks scientific basis is woefully
simplistic, inaccurate, and two-dimensional.
Firstly, such a baseless claim ignores the suffering of female victims of parental
alienation, whether they are targeted mothers or female relatives of targeted parents – including
grandmothers, aunts, sisters, female cousins, etc. Most importantly, it ignores the suffering of
alienated daughters. According to Halperin-Kaddari et al. 2020 the risk of sexual abuse against
children of all genders increases by 30% after divorce. If the two-dimensional gender-based
claim were true, then the solution to reduce incidents of sexual abuse would be to automatically
place children into the mother’s custody. However, Israel has been doing this under the Tender
Years Presumption for decades – yet sexual abuse of children increases by 30% after divorce in
the sole custody of their mothers. This 30% increase in sexual abuse after putting Israeli
children automatically into the custody of mothers means there is no scientific basis to blame
non-custodial biological fathers for the increase in sexual abuse.
Secondly, the science shows that all genders are victims of parental alienation. Data from
my quantitative analysis in Israel found that targeted parents included all genders and all sexual
orientations. These findings were consistent with international data on targeted parents. For
example Lorandos (2020) conducted a quantitative study of parental alienation claims in
American courts and found an approximately equal distribution of targeted parents among the
genders. Finzi-Dottan et al. (2012) conducted a qualitative study on targeted mothers in Israel.
The two-dimensional claim that targeted parents are non-custodial fathers and custodial parents
are mothers is a stereotype that contradicts international scientific data.
Thirdly, it ignores the psychological trauma that victims of parental alienation suffer –
especially children. Long-term studies on adult children of parental alienation, such as Baker

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(2005) and Bentley & Matthewson (2020), found that the long-term psychological harm included
self-hatred, alcoholism, difficulties bonding in relationships, depression, and even suicidal
tendencies. A study I conducted in 2016 on suicide rates in Israel found that Israeli victims of
parental alienation were five times higher at-risk of suicide than the general population.
International scientific data shows that the long-term psychological harm victims suffer is similar
to that of physical and sexual abuse.
Fourthly, discrimination in favor of any gender to the exclusion of others violates the
U.N. Human Rights Convention. Democracies protect people from discrimination based on
gender, sex, race, ethnicity, religion, age, etc. We live in an era when gender is complex and
nuanced. Bill C-16 amends the Canadian Human Rights Act and criminal code to make it a
human rights violation to misgender people. Likewise, CM/Rec(2010)5 is a similar law in the
European Union. Under these laws individuals determine their own genders regardless of
documentation on their birth certificates. In other words, a person in Canada or Europe is a
woman only if she identifies herself as a woman – and claiming otherwise would violate her
human rights. U.S. Supreme Court justice Ketanji Brown Jackson (2022) could not provide the
U.S. Senate with a legal definition of a woman. Brazil has one of the most diverse cultures in the
world – including diversity of gender and sexual orientation. Alsalem, et al (2022) calls on
Brazil to single out one gender to the exclusion of all others, which is contrary to Brazil’s
indigenous diversity, international democratic principles, and the Human Rights Convention.
Lastly, many of the arguments that Alsalem, et al (2022) raised in their call on Brazil to
repeal laws that protect children from parental alienation are actually irrelevant arguments.
Access to birth control and abortions has nothing to do with parental alienation. No scientific
study has ever linked these issues. Certainly, the Brazillian authorities should protect all genders
from rape and sexual abuse. However, Harman and Lorandos (2021) caution against confusing
such crimes with parental alienation. In fact, considering that the risk of sexual abuse increases
by 30% after divorce in jurisdictions that ignore parental alienation - repealing laws that protect
children from parental alienation will not reduce these crime statistics.
In conclusion, the Brazillian authorities have a law in place that protects children from
psychological abuse caused by parental alienation. This is one of several tools that the Brazillian
authorities need in order to take action against all forms of domestic violence, which includes
psychological abuse. Parental alienation is a form of domestic violence and psychological abuse.
Children’s lives and psychological well-being are at stake when authorities ignore parental
alienation. Instead of needlessly stripping children of this protection, Brazillian authorities can
find other methods to address unrelated social issues such as birth control and abortions.

Sincerely,

Dr. R. David Weisskopf, chairman

+972-52-230-4756
rw70@yahoo.com

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 References

Alsalem, R. Mofokeng, T., Estrada-Tanck, D., Madrigal, V. (2022). Brazil: UN experts urge
new government to target violence against women and girls, repeal parental alienation
law. United Nations Human Rights Council: Special Procedures.
https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2022/11/brazil-un-experts-urge-new-government-
target-violence-against-women-and-girls

Baker, A. J. L, (2005). The long-term effects of parental alienation on adult children: A

qualitative research study. The American Journal of Family Therapy. 33. 289-302.

Bar-On Kiverson, I, Mazeh Y. (2019). . ‫הורי ניכור‬: ‫[ ספרות סקירת‬Parental alienation: A literature
review.] Ministry of Work & Welfare Services, Jerusalem.
https://mazeh.co.il/source/Articles/-%D7%94%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%99-
%D7%A1%D7%A7%D7%99%D7%A8%D7%AA-
%D7%A1%D7%A4%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%93%D7%A8-
%D7%A2%D7%A0%D7%91%D7%9C-%D7%91%D7%A8-
%D7%90%D7%95%D7%9F.pdf

Bentley, C., & Matthewson, M. (2020). The not-forgotten child: Alienated adult children’s
experience of parental alienation. American Journal of Family Therapy, 48(5), 509–529.
https://doi.org/10.1080/01926187.2020.1775531

Bill C-16. An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code.
https://lop.parl.ca/sites/PublicWebsite/default/en_CA/ResearchPublications/LegislativeSu
mmaries/421C16E

Brown-Jackson, K. (2022). U.S. Supreme Court Senatorial confirmation hearing. [Video

recording] USA Today https://youtu.be/BWtGzJxiONU

CM/Rec(2010)5 (2010). Article 15.b of the Statute of the Council of Europe.

https://search.coe.int/cm/Pages/result_details.aspx?ObjectID=09000016805cf40a

Finzi-Dottan, R., Goldblatt, H., & Cohen-Masica, O. (2012). The experience of motherhood for
alienated mothers. Child and Family Social Work, 17, 316–325.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2206.2011.00782.x

Halperin-Kaddari, R. et al. (2020). ‫פניה דחופה והתייחסות לנוהל ''טיפול בתי המשפט לענייני משפחה‬
‫בהליכים דחופים שעניינס חשש לפגיעה במוגנותס של ילדים והבטחת הקשר בין הורים לילדיהם‬.
[Urgent application and referral to the procedure "Treatment of the Family Courts in

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 urgent proceedings concerning the fear of harming the protection of children and
ensuring the connection between parents and their children"]. Rackman Center, Bar Ilan
University.

Harman, J. J., & Lorandos, D. (2021). Allegations of family violence in court: How parental
alienation c judicial outcomes. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 27(2), 184-208.
https://doi.org/10.1037/law0000301

Lee-Maturana, S., Matthewson, M. L., & Dwan, C. (2020). Targeted parents surviving parental
alienation: Consequences of the alienation and coping strategies. Journal of Child &
Family Studies, 29(8), 2268–2280. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-020-01725-1

Lorandos, D. (2020). Parental alienation in U.S. courts, 1985 to 2018. Family Court
Review, 58(2), 322–339. https://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12475

Miralles, P., Godoy, C., & Hidalgo, M. D. (2021). Long-term emotional consequences of
parental alienation exposure in children of divorced parents: A systematic
review. Current Psychology: A Journal for Diverse Perspectives on Diverse
Psychological Issues. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02537-2

Weisskopf, R. D. (2016). Death and the Nation: At-Risk Populations for Suicide in Israel.
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

Weisskopf, R. D., Epstein, M., Domingo, A., Shoemaker, J., Maman, Y., Campbell, D., &
Hamlin, M. (2022). Quantitative Analysis of Parental Alienation in Israeli Court Cases.
Touro University Worldwide. https://library.biblioboard.com/content/a1a16fab-9451-
4e31-a734-5a2020f6c551