The Family Court Outcomes Study​, continued

The Study collected and coded all published relevant court opinions from every state during the ten-year period between 2005 and 2015, coding simply what parents alleged, and what courts believed and what they ordered.  These data show that courts only believe less than half of women’s allegations of partner violence, and less than one-third of their claims of child abuse, with far lower rates of belief of child sexual abuse allegations. When the accused father counter-claimed that the mother was committing “parental alienation,” these rates plummeted.  Most strikingly, where a mother reported child sexual abuse by the father and he claimed she was committing “parental alienation,” only one court of 49 (2%) believed the abuse and protected the child.  Independent prior research indicates that 50-75% of child sexual abuse claims in family court are likely valid.

​