Our thanks to James for this piece in The Guardian. Given that the majority of social workers and CAFCASS staff are women, and given that judges are reluctant to enforce contact orders where women are the resident parents denying access – in itself a form of parental alienation – it’s difficult to be optimistic that a significant number of mothers could lose their children to their fathers. Extracts from the piece, in the opposite order in which they’re presented (the journalist is a woman, predictably):

Jerry Karlin, the chair and managing trustee of Families Need Fathers, said Cafcass’s new approach was “very welcome news”.

“The demonising of a parent has long been recognised as damaging the child not only at the time of separation, but reaching into his or her adult life,” he said. “Parental alienation is identified as the single biggest issue [J4MB emphasis] among those who come to FNF seeking help.”…

UK judges are increasingly recognising the phenomenon. One wrote about a case where she was forced to transfer residence to re-establish a relationship between a child and an alienated parent. “I regard parental manipulation of children, of which I distressingly see an enormous amount, [J4MB emphasis] as exceptionally harmful,” she said in her summary…

Sarah Parsons, the assistant director of Cafcass, said: “We are increasingly recognising [J4MB emphasis] that parental alienation is a feature in many of our cases and have realised that it’s absolutely vital that we take the initiative. Our new approach is groundbreaking.”