F4J launch ‘Archie’s Law’ Purple Ribbon campaign to mark Parental Alienation Awareness Day
F4J launch ‘Archie’s Law’ Purple Ribbon campaign Fathers4Justice (F4J) have launched a campaign and online petition to raise awareness about what they call the ‘poisonous pandemic of parental alienation’ on Parental Alienation Awareness Day.
Archie’s Law – named after the youngest son of F4J founder Matt O’Connor – will use the hashtag #ArchiesLaw and purple ribbon to symbolise the plight of the 3m children living in fatherless homes and the 200 children who are cruelly separated from their fathers every day in secret family courts.
Supporters can sign the online petition here https://www.change.org/F4JParentalAlienation calling on the government to introduce Archie’s Law which will male Parental Alienation and Contact Denial criminal offences, as well as protecting every child’s right to a father with the introduction of 50/50 shared parenting for separated dads.
The family court welfare service Cafcass estimate that up to 80% of the most intractable cases in the family courts involve Parental Alienation which they define as ‘when a child’s hostility towards one parent is not justified and is the result of psychological manipulation by the other parent’.
As part of the campaign, family court survivors and separated parents will tie purple ribbons and pictures of their children in streets and at landmarks across the country and light candles of hope and remembrance.
Said F4J Founder Matt O’Connor; “We have a moral duty to raise awareness about the poisonous, hateful pandemic of parental alienation, which is tearing a stolen generation of children apart from their fathers in secret family courts.”
“Contact denial and parental alienation is child abuse and is putting children at risk of serious emotional harm. We want the government to make these criminal offences.”
“Archie’s Law and the purple ribbon will become a symbol of hope for families everywhere and will help protect every child’s right to a father.”
Archie’s Law is named after the son of F4J founder Matt O’Connor
DON’T FORGET TO SIGN THE PETITION HERE https://www.change.org/F4JParentalAlienation
PARENTAL ALIENATION: THE FACTS
- Parental alienation is responsible for around 80% of the most difficult cases in the family courts. Anthony Douglas, CEO, Cafcass, 2017
- The court welfare service Cafcass define Parental Alienation as ‘when a child’s hostility towards one parent is not justified and is the result of psychological manipulation by the other parent’. For the child, parental alienation is a significant mental disturbance, based on a false belief that the alienated parent is a dangerous and unworthy parent. Cafcass, 2017
- On 25th May 2019 Parental Alienation was accepted by The World Health Organisation within its classification of health conditions.
- It is generally accepted that PA is incubated in the family justice system and effects children who display an irrational dislike or hatred of the parent they have been separated from, normally caused as a result of the alienating conduct of the resident parent.
- There are 17 strategies of alienating parents including badmouthing; limiting contact; the child living in fear of losing the alienating parent’s love and approval; facing the child to choose between parents. Baker and Darnell, 2006
- Over 1/3 of separating families use the courts to resolve access disputes. Cafcass Analysis, March 2019
- More than 100,000 children were involved in family court cases over the past year. Cafcass, 2017
- 96% of parents who apply to the family courts are fathers. University of Warwick, 2015
- 97% of non-resident parents are fathers. Kielty, S. Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, University of East Anglia, 2006
- Over 3 million children live in fatherless homes. Office for National Statistics, Labour Force Survey, 2010
- More than 1 in 3 children never see their father again after their parents separate. Mishcon de Reya, 2009
- There are 2.9 million single fathers in the UK. Office For National Statistics, 2016
- The cost of family breakdown is £48 billion a year. Relationships Foundation, 2016
- Fatherless young people are almost 70 per cent more likely to take drugs and 76 per cent more likely to get involved in crime. Addaction, 2011
- Separating children from their parents contradicts everything we stand for as pediatricians – protecting and promoting children’s health. In fact, highly stressful experiences, like family separation, can cause irreparable harm, disrupting a child’s brain architecture and affecting his or her short and long-term health. Colleen Kraft, President, American Academy of Pediatrics, June 2018
- The government has rejected parental equality for separated dads, rejected shared parenting and rejected a legal presumption of contact between fathers and their children. Fathers4Justice, 2022
