UN Expert Raises Concerns Over Abuse Claims in Israeli Family Courts

Alsalem said children must be listened to when they report abuse and mothers should not face punishment for raising genuine concerns about their children’s safety.

A United Nations expert has raised serious concerns about the way some domestic violence and child abuse allegations are reportedly handled within Israeli family courts and child-protection systems, warning that mothers and children could face harmful consequences when safeguarding concerns are dismissed as "parental alienation."

UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls Reem Alsalem said information provided to her points to cases where mothers reporting domestic violence, child abuse or sexual abuse were portrayed as manipulative, unstable or responsible for turning their children against their fathers. She stressed that the allegations described in the testimonies require serious attention and impartial investigation.

Testimonies Raise Questions About Custody Decisions

Alsalem said she had received what she described as credible testimonies from 18 Israeli mothers concerning intimate partner violence, child sexual abuse, substance abuse and other safeguarding issues.

According to those accounts, such allegations were not always treated as decisive considerations when judges made decisions about custody and visitation, while claims of parental alienation were reportedly used to question the credibility of mothers who raised concerns about their children's safety.

Several mothers told the expert they had been threatened with losing custody or having their children institutionalised if they continued reporting alleged abuse, while some said they effectively lost custody.

Concerns Extend to Children Reporting Fear and Trauma

The Special Rapporteur also highlighted accounts involving children who had disclosed violence, expressed fear of a parent or displayed signs associated with trauma, saying some were reportedly disbelieved and required to continue contact with the parent accused of abuse.

Some children were also reportedly made to undergo "reunification therapy," a practice intended to restore contact between a child and an estranged parent but which Alsalem warned can create serious risks when allegations of violence have not been properly addressed.

She said claims of parental alienation should not be used to silence reports of violence or replace thorough and impartial investigations into allegations involving children and their parents.

UN Expert Calls for Child Safety to Come First

Alsalem renewed her call for Israeli authorities and family courts to remove laws and policies that rely on what she described as the discredited concept of parental alienation when assessing legitimate safeguarding concerns raised by women. She also pointed to states' responsibilities to address legal and customary practices that allow violence against women to persist, while ensuring the best interests of children remain central to custody and other proceedings affecting their lives.

Alsalem said children must be listened to when they report abuse and mothers should not face punishment for raising genuine concerns about their children's safety. The Special Rapporteur is in contact with the Israeli Government about the issues raised. The concerns outlined by Alsalem represent the findings and allegations communicated to the UN expert and should not be read as judicial findings that abuse occurred in each individual case.