Post date: Aug 10, 2011 4:37:29 PM
http://www.russellalexander.com/fl_parental3a.htm
EXCERPT
Why is PAS still with us?
Why is statistically uncommon parental alienation elevated to a syndrome and media hot topic, while more common problems such as non-payment of support or failure to exercise access are ignored? Why is PAS the go-to argument when a child does not want to visit a parent?
The answer to these questions is another question: Who benefits if PAS is a live topic? PAS is still with us because it has been useful for some litigants.
In the context of lack of access to legal aid, this “syndrome” can be useful in various ways. From an emotional perspective, it is much more satisfactory to explain access problems as arising from conduct of the other spouse than from one’s own shortcomings. For those who see control of the children as an objective, or as a means to control the other spouse, PAS is a weapon. Those who engage in litigation harassment can increase the other parent’s legal costs by alleging PAS.
This allegation will usually convince a court that a custody and access report is needed. If the report finds PAS, the alleged alienator will have to pay another psychologist to critique the report. At the least, there will be the expense of preparing cross-examination of the psychologist. If the court accepts that there has been PAS, there may still be reversals of custody. The rules relating to costs apply to family law cases. And a costs order can include the bill for preparing the custody and access report.
Family law in Canada is “gender neutral” in its language. This is a result of lobbying in the 1980s by, ironically, both women’s advocates and father’s rights organizations.
Gender neutrality can slide into gender blindness if there is an unwillingness to acknowledge that, as in other aspects of life, men and women are affected differently by family breakdown. Sixteen percent of Canadian women who are married to or in common-law relationships with the father of their children live below the poverty line. Forty-three percent of single mothers and separated or divorced women live in poverty. This statistic alone demonstrates who can afford to litigate or respond to litigation demands for experts to refute PAS allegations.
Crisis in access to justice
Canada is suffering from a crisis in access to justice and legal aid that is recognized by the U.N. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural rights and the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. The lack of legal aid for family law has a variety of negative effects on low and middle income men and women: inadequate or no support orders having to consent to custody and access arrangements that are not in children’s best interests, unfair property division and the prospect of self-representation. Women are disproportionately affected by cuts to legal aid.
Parent alienation as a “syndrome” illustrates why, now more then ever, it is important to openly discuss gender – meaning the experience of men and women and the power relationships between them - in family law.
This Article appeared in The Lawyers Weekly dated May 29, 2009, Vol. 29, No. 4 Written by Alison Brewin and Carla Lewis. Alison Brewin is the executive director of West Coast LEAF (Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund). Carla Lewis is a family law practioner in Vancouver.