On the facebook page "DV by Proxy" Protective Mother's Alliance's Executive Director, Janice Levinson takes the time to comment on the difference between Parental Alienation Syndrome and Domestic Violence by Proxy. Here is what she says:
As more and more abused women lose custody to batterers in family courts, they are wrongly embracing the very ideas that enabled their abusers to gain custody in the first place. False accusations of “parental alienation" are often used by batterers to gain custody and to defend against accusations of abuse.
Some unfortunate women after years of enduring domestic violence have lost custody to the batterers who abused them. In these cases, batterers have made good on their threat to attack their ex-partner in the place she is the most vulnerable—by taking her children away from her. After separation, these batterers continue to wage their campaign of manipulation and abuse by attempting to convince involved children that their mothers never loved them. Looking for a way to describe their batterers' behavior, some mothers have called what their batterer is doing "parental alienation syndrome."In reality, what these women are describing from their ex-partners is better termed Domestic Violence by Proxy (DV by Proxy), a term first used by Alina Patterson, author of Health and Healing. DV by Proxy refers to a pattern of behavior which is a parent with a history of using domestic violence or intimidation, uses a child as a substitute when he no longer has access to his former partner. Calling this behavior “parental alienation” is not strong enough to convey the criminal pattern of terroristic behaviors employed by batterers.
If what Janice has to say strikes a chord with you and you recognize it as your own experience, take the time to join PMA's new facebook group" DV by Proxy" and share your experiences with other women who have endured similar experiences. Go the the link listed below:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_102452536503180&ref=ts
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