Just received:

Hi Everybody,

I have some exciting news about an event coming up next week. We have all been invited to the launch of Mothers of Sons – a new initiative by mothers speaking out about the injustice experienced by their sons. I think this is a great idea and I’m delighted that I have been given all the information to share with you.

The official launch of Mothers of Sons will take place via a Facebook live event from 7.00pm AEDT on Monday 1 February 2021.

Here’s the link you use to join the event – Facebook.com/MothersOfSonsMOS/

Please circulate this to everyone who might be interested in learning more about this new effort to fight for fair treatment for men and boys.

How it began

You may remember two years ago I made a video interviewing a young man, Dan Jones, who had spent five years fighting off false rape and violence accusations, which eventually led to his accuser, Sara Jane Parkinson, being sent to prison. Later that year Dan’s story featured on an hour-long 60 Minute TV special.

Following the program, the family was swamped with mail from families fighting similar battles, including many from mothers whose sons were in the firing line. Michelle Jones, Dan’s mother, started corresponding with some of the mothers and eventually this led to the idea of an organization using women, mothers, speaking out about what was happening to their sons.

I frequently find myself bailed up in a supermarket with a tearful older woman wanting to share her story about not seeing her grandchildren, spending her life savings to try to protect her son against false allegations of violence or sexual assault, or worrying herself sick as her son struggles against our biased legal system.

Michelle started gathering some of these mothers together and eight months later, the MOS group is ready with a sparkling new website: https://www.mothersofsons.info/

This has been a huge labour of love, with many talented people contributing their skills to ensure the MOS mothers are ready to make waves.

Watch the videos

Go to the website and you will see videos of the mothers’ extraordinary stories. Women like Michelle Jones and also:

Jo Thompson-Jones whose three-year-old granddaughter was murdered by her mother after the woman was told by a Family Court judge that she had lost custody to Jo’s son, Nathan.

Listen to podcasts

Those two mothers, Jo and Michelle, are the only ones able to speak publicly about what happened to their families. In Michelle’s case the accuser is in prison, and Jo’s son’s partner was found hung in prison where she was awaiting her homicide trial.

It is very telling that the rest of the current group of mothers are afraid to go public with their stories because they fear fresh accusations from the women who are persecuting their sons. MOS has changed their names to protect their identities, but you can read their accounts of what happened or hear podcasts from mothers like these:

Erin – After the rape accusations against her 18-year-old son fell apart in court, the jury stood outside and cheered the boy when he left the courtroom.
Katrina –  On the night when her sleeping son was beaten by his partner, the police treated him as the aggressor and took him outside to ‘calm down’.
Millie – Domestic violence accusations were used to obtain a permanent visa for the mother of her son’s child, setting off a series of court battles which destroyed her son’s life.
Mary – It took seven years for her son to convince the Family Court that his children were at risk from their mentally ill mother who’d threatened to kill them. But all it took was a new batch of lies for a magistrate to reverse this decision.

Read advice from the wise women

The mothers have put together their lessons learnt, hard-won advice for other families about how to deal with false domestic violence or rape allegations, handling the police, finding good lawyers, handling Family Court disputes.  Have a look at their words of wisdom – vital information to help all families dealing with these issues.

Mothers can use MOS forums to connect with other mothers.

For mothers struggling to help their sons it can be a real lifeline to connect with mothers who have been through similar experiences. The MOS forums give mothers the opportunity to share experiences, gather advice and support.

How you can join this powerful new voice for change

There are many ways you can help Mothers of Sons make a difference to the lives of men and boys.  Here’s how you might contribute:

• More mothers needed to share their stories. If you are a mother with a son who has experienced injustice, write to MOS. The mothers have editors to help you write your story, or perhaps make a video if you are in a position to speak out openly about what has happened. Men ask your mothers if they’ll come on board.
• Volunteers to help run MOS. The admin team urgently needs help with dealing with mail, monitoring the forums, editing stories, helping with promotion, social media and numerous other tasks.
• Donate to the MOS crowd-funder. The MOS mothers have already contributed to expenses involved in getting started. Every dollar helps to ensure they cover their costs.
• Send in news items about injustice against men – for MOS mothers to post on their Facebook page.
• Spread the word. Promote the MOS website on social media.
• Sign up for the MOS newsletter using the link at the bottom of the MOS home page.

Use this link to contact MOS and arrange to come on board.

I’m very hopeful Mothers of Sons will help change the public dialogue on injustice towards men, taking over  some of the public advocacy that characterized my own career.

Not that I’m hanging up my spurs – just picking my battles a little more carefully, for obvious reasons. You will hear more in my future  newsletters.

Cheers, Tina

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