Petition Parental Alienation. To extend the cross-government definition of Domestic Violence and Abuse to include Parental Alienation.

Parental Alienation is a phenomenon which occurs after parents separate; the children, under the influence of the parent they reside with, refuse to have any more to do with the other parent.

It is a subtle manipulation of the children by one parent who, for their own ends, poisons the children’s minds against the other parent. 24% of UK children have no contact with one of their parents and the primary cause is parental alienation by the resident parent. The alienated parent loses interest in life, and sometimes commits suicide. The rate of suicide among men is 3 times higher than among women, and parental alienation is a principal cause of this higher rate.

Including parental alienation in the definition of domestic violence and abuse is a first step towards criminalising this behaviour.