A quick follow up on my last post now that mother and son in the transfer of residence case in the UK have been found (it seems mother gave herself up to the police). My major concern about this case is that it will now be affected by the gendered reactions in the media and society as a whole.  It seems that when fathers try to raise concerns about the family courts they are considered to be either bitter, revenge seeking or controlling but when mothers raise concerns, suddenly everyone is listening and feeling sorry for her. This is the gendered aspect of this case,  the gendered assumptions that society makes about men and women affect our responses to such situations.  Thus, if the mother has had her child removed from her for some it must be because she has done something really really bad (because mothers who lose their…

Full Judgement  below:-

11. As a result of the hearing in February 2015, Ethan began to spend four nights a week with his father and three nights a week with his mother. Reports were ordered from the Local Authority under section 37 of The Children Act 1989; orders under that section are made where a court is so concerned about a child that it requires a Local Authority to report as to whether a care or supervision order might be appropriate in relation to the child. Further the very eminent child and adolescent psychiatrist, Dr Berelowitz was instructed to report. By that stage Ethan himself had been joined as a party to the proceedings on the basis that his interests within the proceedings would be promoted by a guardian; this is a step that is taken in particularly complex private law cases to ensure that the court has sufficient information…

The story of the mum on the run with her son this week has brought all sorts of commentary, outrage, handwringing and despair out into the open. From the family members who are suspected of knowing where she is, to the words of the mum herself, ‘I am putting my child first,’ to the tub thumping of the parental rights groups, this case has hit the headlines. But for me, the most interesting things about it are not the mother on the run or even the fact that if this were a dad the words used would be kidnap, but the double standards of those for whom the family courts are the embodiment of evil.  In some quarters there has been a miraculous turn around and those same family courts are now not evil but are dispensing justice which should be obeyed. Some are even trotting out the old chestnut…

Originally posted on our Love letters To Our Children Blog ( link below)

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