What is “parental alienation syndrome” that the Incest Commission absolutely wants to ban?

In his documentary So loud silenceActress Emmanuelle Beart, who gives voice to victims of incest, highlights the exaggerations of a phenomenon that permeates court decisions: “Parental Alienation Syndrome” (PAS). To better understand this, he gives the floor to Sarah, a young mother on trial against her ex-partner, whom she accuses of abusing their daughter. The latter was 4 years old when his father sexually abused him for the first time. After the first complaint was rejected, the mother was suspected of forgery. “I was accused of parental alienation syndrome. As if I manipulated my child to say that papa touched his penis… I was doubly shocked,” Sara confides excitedly in front of the camera.

To coincide with the broadcast of this documentary, Ciivise (the Independent Commission on Incest and Sexual Abuse of Children) on M6 released a damning report on M6 on 24 September, drawn up after two years of investigation and based on 26,949 testimonies. The organisation, also interviewed by Emmanuelle Beart in his film, warns of societal denial of incest, which it estimates affects around 160,000 children a year. But also about the danger of using SAP, a “false concept” that presents the risk of judicial error and requires its prohibition.

Recruiting a child

How then can we define “parental alienation syndrome”? Theorized by American child psychiatrist Richard Gardner in 1985, SAP is “a childhood disorder that occurs almost exclusively in the context of child custody disputes. The child initially expresses this through a disparaging campaign against the parent, this campaign is based on no justification. SAP results from a combination of programming (brainwashing) by the teaching parent and the child’s own input into defaming the target parent,” the relay says. The cross . Problem: The expert, who died in 2003, also asserted that parental alienation was largely caused by mothers, who, he again said, were numerous in “inventing” incidents of incest to achieve their goals.

“In addition to writing on the subject, the psychiatrist had his own practice and helped families going through divorce. Only, mostly, only fathers defended themselves,” he says 20 minutes In an article dated March 26, 2023. The latter thus citing attempts of “manipulation” by their ex-husbands, trying to discredit their words.

Parental Alienation Syndrome has always been widely debated. First, because it has no scientific basis. to date, the WHO (World Health Organization) has not yet recognized its existence. Then again, because it can discredit the words of victims and people they trust. In 2017, Senator Laurence Rossignol brought the issue of considering this “alleged” syndrome to the attention of the Keeper of the Seals and Minister of Justice, Nicole Beloube. “In cases of domestic violence or child abuse, the SAP claim presents real difficulties. It leads to the discrediting of the words of the mother, exclusively the father or the child, thus denying them the status of a victim by shifting the responsibility”, – can be read in the note published on the website of the Senate.

The case of Priscilla Majani

In December 2022, a hashtag called #PriscillaMajani appeared on social media. A few months ago, in August 2022, this 48-year-old woman was arrested, accused of kidnapping her 5-year-old daughter in 2011, after rejecting a rape complaint against her ex-husband. Asserting that she wanted to “protect her daughter” from her abusive and incestuous father, the mother had no choice but to flee, going to live with her child abroad, before finally being arrested in Switzerland eleven years later. After several months of trial, he was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison on January 4, 2023, causing a real stir on social media and highlighting the excesses of parental alienation syndrome he was accused of. “I would do the same,” we could read on social networks. In October 2022, Priscilla Majani’s daughter also filed a complaint against her father for psychological, physical and sexual abuse.

Therefore, if Ciivise wants to ban the use of this syndrome, associations are still campaigning for its preservation, including ACALPA, an organization that fights parental alienation to preserve family ties. At the same time, the report of the commission to combat incest and sexual violence against minors reminds that only one out of five victims declares that they have turned to the court. Of those who dared to speak, only 8% claimed to have received “positive social support”.