The Silence of What Was Not Said

October WAS National Domestic Violence Month. I still hear the silence of what was not said:

· We have a national epidemic: victimization of mothers and children by family courts, government agencies and private agencies contracted by government.

· Abusers, aided by government funding, use family courts for their own ends.

· Responsible Fatherhood Programs, intended to connect deserving fathers with their children, are used instead to deliver children into the hands of abusive and even pedophile fathers.

· Biased judges, court appointed personnel, social services and mental health professionals are all failing families.

· Mothers endure junk science diagnoses (such as PAS) and abusive therapies. Mothers are issued gag orders; some are incarcerated, others institutionalized, and still others become homeless. Many lose contact with their children.

· Attorneys are more loyal to the courts and agencies involved than to the victims they are supposed to defend.

· Little is done to fight the trend of rewarding abusers and disempowering victims.

· Yet that trend manufactures the next generation of victims and perpetrators.

· In the USA thousands of mothers and children live underground, while some seek asylum in other countries, finding in this their only protection.

Ricky Jaffe
Newburg NY