Press Conference - Mothers of Lost Children

Press Conference - Mothers of Lost Children

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Connie Valentine 916-233-8381

October 1, 2010

A press conference will be held on Friday, October 1, 2010 from 11:00 am to noon in front of the U.S. Department of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, D.C. On the first day of Domestic Violence Awareness month, advocates and protective mothers whose children have been ordered into the custody of batterers and molesters are gathering to call for an investigation by the DOJ into family court corruption.

These mothers are deeply concerned about their children. Mildred Mohammad, former wife of Beltway Sniper John Mohammad, took part in the Mothers' Day vigil at the White House on May 9, 2010. "I was without my children for two years when they were kidnapped by John and the courts didn't listen to me," she told reporters.

As in the Mohammad case, family courts across the nation ignore or minimize child safety.

The revelations of the Courageous Kids Network further demonstrate the frequency in which courts fail to recognize valid complaints of abuse. Courageous Kids are young adults who have aged out of their custody orders and decided to speak out about the harm caused by these orders. The context is important in understanding their stories. These are cases in which the court disbelieved the mothers’ abuse allegations and gave the fathers complete control. The children have been threatened, coerced and punished if they continue to complain about their father’s abuse or seek a relationship with their mother. In other words the fathers have had tremendous assistance in silencing the children. Accordingly the children now speaking out represent a small minority of those mistreated by fathers the court believed were safe. The descriptions by the Courageous Kids demonstrate the fathers deliberately sought to hurt the mother and children based upon their belief system that the mother had no right to leave them. The children have had little or no contact with their mothers often for many years so we know the mothers could not be influencing the children’s decision to speak out about the fathers’ abuse. These are all too common examples of cases in which the court professionals failed to believe valid allegations of abuse.

Research shows that 70% of batterers who request custody receive it, leading to 58,000 children per year who are forced to live with their identified abusers.[1] Many are killed. Batterers are over 6 times more likely to sexually abuse their children.[2]

The social ramifications of this trend are frightening. Children who are abused are at a high risk in adulthood for problems such as addictions, obesity, suicide attempts, heart disease and cancer. [3]

After the press conference, the mothers and their supporters will march to the Senate to request Congressional hearings to investigate these violations of law and human rights.

The march will end at the Sewall Belmont House at 144 Constitution Ave NE, the suffragists' headquarters when, in 1910, they insisted that women receive the civil right to vote.

In 2010, mothers are insisting that children have the human right to physical and sexual safety. Please visit www.mothers-of-lost-children.com for more information.