Parent alienation?

[Disabrie22]

Is it now a crime for a parent to turn a child against a parent? I have a friend who’s escaped a toxic relationship and is struggling to share custody while this is going on. Advice needed please.

What do you mean is it 'now' a crime??. It has never been appropriate to turn a child against another parent. Parents are allowed to fall out/even hate each ither, but they should never burden children with their problems, it's cruel.

*other

it is a while since I went through the court system but parental alienation isn't particularly accepted as a 'thing' in this country. And sadly, there are countless cases of women having to share residence of their children with abusive men who will do anything and everything to make things difficult for their ex. Of course, there are women too who will do what they can to make life difficult as well.

Much will depend on the levels the ex is working at. If there is clear abuse/threats of abuse/threats of violence/actual violence, looking at how this can be overcome for your friend might help. For example, at it's peak of problems with my ex, my friend used to come round and literally sit herself with a cup of coffee in my front bay window so my ex could see her when he rocked up to pick up the children. This stopped a lot of his nastiness on the doorstep because he had a witness. She could also look at doing handovers in a public place - not ideal (and I have seen some sad looking children handed over to their other parent in pjs in car parks) but if this can be acheived, it helps keep the abuse out of handovers.

A solicitor should be able to help. The services of a solicitor should be free if there is documented domestic abuse (ie involvement of the police or social services), but if it's low level nastiness, a letter from a solicitor may be all it takes to get the ex to back down a bit. If it's more overt abuse, then looking to make handovers public and/or witnessed in some way would help. If it's actual violence towards either child or parent then all evidence needs to be kept (I would recommend keeping all texts, voice messages and emails, regardless of what is said in them), report it to the authorities and get a solicitor involved. I know legal help is prohibitively expensive but often it is the only way to deal with these issues.

Thank you - good advice

Zombie